WIAA Playoffs: D-1 Regional Preview (Part Two)

SECTIONAL NO. 3

Sectional No. 3 is where the defending D-1 champs reside: Waunakee. They entered this spring as the No. 1-ranked team on our Power 25 and maintained that spark out of the gate but cooled considerably from a late April stretch to mid-May. Still, they’re playing really well again and still went on to claim the Badger North title. Led by plenty of familiar faces on last year’s championship team, namely senior Nathan Stevens (Arkansas commit), the Warriors have also been injected by the presence of Joe Hauser, one of the Midwest’s top two-way players who recently committed to Arizona State. This is the junior’s first season in the Waunakee dugout, after transferring from Sun Prairie.

Again, a lot of the players in the dugout this spring are the ones who made last year’s run possible. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Waunakee lifting the trophy again next month.

They’ll await the winner of Tuesday’s tilt between Verona and Oregon. They actually suffered a loss to Verona in their lone meeting this spring back on May 6 but beat Oregon twice in a doubleheader in early April. Verona is working with a hot hand, too, winners of three straight and nine of 12 in the month of May.

Middleton earned an opening round bye at 13-8 overall this season. It’s been a middling May for the Cardinals, having lost five times this month. While they work on getting right for Thursday, Middleton will also be paying attention to Tuesday’s contest between Madison Memorial and La Follette, because they’ll be playing the winner. They split both two-game series with Memorial and La Follette, so all three squads are very familiar with each other.

No. 3-seeded Madison West will await the winner of Madison East and Watertown on Thursday. West, however, is heading into the postseason on poor form, losers of four straight – though all four losses came to back-to-back sweeps by Craig and Sun Prairie. Still, none of the four contests finished particularly close, so the Regents will have their work cut out for them, no matter who they play on Thursday.

Sun Prairie, No. 17 on our Power 25, is young but typically talented. Their youth is probably responsible for a couple of their losses this spring, but when you look at the Cardinals’ resume, there isn’t a bad loss on it. Since opening the season with losses to Waunakee and Madison Memorial, Sun Prairie has won 18 games, including meetings with Kimberly (1-1) and Oak Creek. They’re led offensively by sophomores Liam Moreno, one of the best all-around bats in the region, and Carson Shepard, a top-of-the-order energizer. They have depth in their 2020 class and a couple seniors to lean on, too, which makes them a threat throughout these sectionals and beyond.

They’ll be playing either DeForest or Beaver Dam on Thursday, two Badger North teams that just met on May 20, in a game that went the Beavers’ way, 5-2.

SECTIONAL NO. 7

The Milwaukee-area sectional, Sectional No. 7, has Oak Creek at the top of it. The Knights have a rotation full of quality arms, though a couple of the ones they lean the heaviest on lack this kind of postseason experience, like sophomore RHP Tyler Peck. Also, watch for senior righty Cade Pisca (St. Cloud Tech CC), who has given Oak Creek a ton of robust innings this season. They’ve been subject to hot-and-cold streaks all spring long and are currently in the middle of one of their hot stretches, winners of six straight. They’re deep, well-coached, and eager to prove that they belong in the spring title scene in their first season.

On Tuesday at The Rock, Milwaukee’s Hamilton and Bradley Tech programs will meet to fight for the chance to upset the Knights on Thursday. Bradley Tech is actually 12-0 this season, and beat Hamilton twice in a doubleheader on April 26 and again on May 14 – though two of the three games were decided by a single run.

South Milwaukee, the Woodland East champs, earned a bye as the No. 4 seed. While they don’t mean much in hindsight, the Rockets did drop their final two games of the regular season to playoff-quality opponents Greendale and Sussex Hamilton. SoMo struggled in games against ranked opponents this season, dropping all four of their games against teams that spent any time on the Power 25 this season. Fortunately for them, they’ll open their postseason with a non-ranked team, which should help the Rockets find their winning ways again.

Milwaukee Reagan and Bay View/Lifelong Learning will play on Tuesday to see who advanced to meet those Rockets on Thursday. The Reagan Huskies are the strong favorites here, and they’ll look for some revenge on South Milwaukee after losing to them, 10-3, during the regular season.

At 14-7, West Allis Central earned a No. 3 seed in Sectional No. 7, but are another example of a team that has struggled against Power 25-ranked opponents this spring. With two losses to Pewaukee and Greendale each, the Bulldogs are still looking for the right combination to carry them in these playoffs.

Central will play the winner of Tuesday’s game between No. 6-seeded Greenfield and Milwaukee Pulaski/Juneau. The Hustlin’ Hawks finished third in the Woodland East but have three straight losses and need to get things ironed out before tomorrow’s contest.

Finally, the Franklin Sabers are ranked No. 2 in Sectional No. 7, on the opposite end of rivals Oak Creek. Franklin looked well on their way to a share of the Southeast Conference title until they dropped their last two games of the regular season – to Tremper and the Knights – which pushed them back to third place and gave them the No. 2 seed in this sectional, rather than the top spot. Still, Franklin has some on-the-rise talent like sophomore Joe Turco, ranked No. 41 in the state’s 2021 class, as well as two-way prospect Mitchell Alba, a top-30-ranked prospect in the state’s junior class. There’s a core set of seniors here that really strengthen this squad, as well.

The Sabers will be playing the winners of Milwaukee South and West Allis Hale on Thursday.

SECTIONAL NO. 4 & 6

The sectional champs from either side of sectionals Nos. 4 and 6 will meet each other in the state quarterfinals in Grand Chute on June 11. Here’s a .PDF of the bracket, courtesy of the WIAA.

SECTIONAL NO. 4

The 14-10 Manitowoc Lincoln Ships are the top seed in Sectional No. 4. Despite losing two of their last three, Lincoln had previously won six straight prior, including one over ranked De Pere. They also beat Slinger back on May 23, which happens to be the No. 2 seed in this sectional. However, the Ships share a conference with ranked teams De Pere, Preble, and Bay Port and Lincoln managed to win just one game combined in their six games against the three. For a team that needed to plug in a number of new and inexperienced faces, the Ships have handled it well.

Cedarburg and Fond du Lac will play on Thursday for the right to face Lincoln next round. The Bulldogs finished under .500 this spring but is coming into the playoffs having won four of five. Fond du Lac is also sub-.500, at 9-12, but has done a good job this spring at limiting their opponents on the scoreboard. A little boost offensively and the Cardinals could help their legendary head coach Marty Paulsen see another deep playoff run.

No. 4 seed West Bend West came into the regular season ranked No. 24 on our preseason list. The Spartans started strong but a tough May had them tumble down the rankings and North Shore Conference. Still, West has a true ace to lean on for contests exactly like this elimination game they have on Thursday: RHP Gavin Hinckley. The junior remains one of the more interesting uncommitted talents in the state and will give the Spartans a solid chance to win whenever he takes the mound next. Should that be on Thursday, he’ll be taking on the winner of Oshkosh North and Sheboygan South.

The North Spartans just missed a bye as a No. 5 seed and returned quite a bit from last year’s squad, and they improved significantly because of it, winning five more games than in 2018.

Sophomore Joey Spence (Notre Dame) has proven to be one of the best hitters in the state this spring, regardless of class. He’s going to help take the West Bend East Suns as far as he can come Thursday, when they play next. While Whitefish Bay ran away with the North Shore title, the Suns can claim they finished second in the conference and outside of a tough five-game losing streak midseason, East has been really impressive in 2019. They look like a team being collectively underlooked right now, so be sure you don’t do the same.

The Suns will play either Oshkosh West or the favored Hartford Union Orioles on Thursday. West looks a lot different than the team that won a regional title last year, while Hartford is surviving a difficult May in which they’ve lost nine games – though they have beaten Slinger and West Bend West along that stretch.

Speaking of Slinger, the Owls have just one win in their last five tries but up until recently they’ve really looked like a top seed this season. They have a couple of playoff-caliber arms and have an offense fortified by senior Logan Mantz (Madison JC). It’s a well-rounded team that picked the wrong time to fall out of form. Still, with a week in between games, maybe this stretch will refresh the Owls and allow them to tune up for Thursday when they play the winner of the game between Neenah and Sheboygan North.

And while Neenah finished the regular season under .500, they actually did just beat Burlington on Saturday, snapping a brief three-game skid, so the Owls should be wary of that. Sheboygan North won just five games this season, and has just one win in their last 11 tries.

SECTIONAL NO. 6

In our final sectional to cover, Menomonee Falls snags the No. 1 seed after earning a share of the Greater Metro Conference title, finishing the regular season 17-8. A healthy senior presence, like Dayne Fuiten, has propelled the Indians to a solid 2019 from the middle of the order. And when sophomore Billy Howard, one of the top-ranked arms in the state’s 2021 class, isn’t starring on the mound, he’s been a force in the middle of the order as well. It feels like Falls has all of the right pieces to make a real run to Grand Chute if everything lands in place.

The Indians will await their opposition at Trenary Park on Thursday, and it’ll be either Milwaukee King or Nicolet headed their way. King went 11-12 this spring but closed the regular season on a 1-6 stretch. Nicolet also finished 11-12 but their six-game win streak only just ended last week in a loss to Slinger.

Brookfield Central will play Thursday after earning a bye as a No. 4 seed. While they finished just a game over .500 (13-12), the Lancers have been playing much better over the last month or so. We saw junior righty Mitch Mueller shut down a ranked Wauwatosa East squad a couple of weeks back and he’ll be able to help Central earn a consecutive regional title in 2019. The Lancers also roster one of the better infielders in the 2021 class, Bobby Ball – a dynamic defender who also puts in the work at the plate.

The No. 5-seeded Germantown Warhawks are the odds-on pick to win tomorrow against Milwaukee Languages Co-op. Whichever team wins gets Brookfield Central next.

On paper, Brookfield East looked like it had a chance to be one of the most formidable opponents in the state if everything clicked. While the Spartans have a rotation of seniors Bailey Banaszynski (Winona State) and Riley LeTourneau (Madison JC), things have yet to totally lock into place. They got off to a 1-4 start to the season and then ripped off nine straight wins. But, since, East has lost four times in May. Regardless, this team is rostering some of the best talent in the entire sectional. Look for sophomore Q Phillips to jumpstart this lineup while one of the seniors takes the mound to shut down their opposition on Thursday.

That opposition will be either Milwaukee Riverside or Homestead. The favorite here is Highlanders, led by one of the state’s top uncommitted juniors Arthur Liebau. Liebau lifts Homestead from both the batter’s box and from the mound, so we’ll see which role he plays on Tuesday – it could be both.

The No. 2 seed in Sectional No. 6 belongs to Wauwatosa East. The Red Raiders spent a good portion of the season on the Power 25, but having lost five of nine, East is off the rankings for now. Still, East has one of the best rotations in the state. And everyone knows that when the playoffs roll around, there’s no better strength to have. Sophomore LHP Tommy Meyer has been one of the highest risers in the 2021 class in 2019, so this year’s postseason might be the platform where he fully breaks through. We also saw fellow sophomore Cal Dobbe pitch very well against Brookfield Central earlier this month in a narrow 1-0 loss, so Meyer has plenty of reinforcements behind him.

The Red Raiders will be tasked with either Marquette University or crosstown rivals Wauwatosa West on Thursday. Neither program will be satisfied with the regular seasons they put together, but the Hilltoppers have won five of six, realizing the potential we thought they had when we ranked them inside the top-25 in the preseason. The two split their two-game series just last week, so Tuesday’s contest is a genuine winner-take-all.

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