On Monday, June 28, the WIAA state playoffs will commence at Fox Cities Stadium in Appleton, WI, home of the Milwaukee Brewers High-A affiliate Wisconsin Timber Rattlers.

This year’s state playoffs will take place across four days, with each particular division playing their respective tournament on an individual day. The D-4 playoffs started on Monday, resulting in Boyceville being crowned state champions, and are followed by D-3 today, D-2 on Wednesday, and ending with D-1 on Thursday.

With that being said, we’ll bring you in-depth previews of each respective field a few days before their individual tournament kicks off. We already broke down the D-4 and D-3 fields a few days ago and today we’ll take a look at the D-2 bracket; a pool with multiple highly-competitive teams vying for a state title.

DENMARK

The Vikings are in the midst of a historic season, posting an impressive 29-1 record and currently standing at No. 13 overall in our Power 25 rankings; the highest of any team not in the Division I landscape. They return to the state tournament for the third time in school history and for the first time since 2005. In both of their previous appearances, Denmark reached the championship game and finished as the runners-up twice.

Denmark’s strength is their pitching rotation - a group headlined by three seniors: LHP Reece Piontek (Concordia-St. Paul), RHP Logan Paplham (Lake Land JC), and RHP Brennen Miller (College of Lake County). Piontek is the workhorse of this staff, logging 50.1 innings this year and posting an incredible 0.55 ERA with 78 strikeouts across his workload. Paplham struck out 53 over 38.1 innings pitched to the tune of a 0.91 ERA and Miller finished with a team-high 51 innings pitched and a 1.09 ERA. Junior RHP Owen DeGrand is typically the bullpen ace for this team, making 11 relief appearances and finishing the season with a 0.84 ERA. 

Offensively, OF Hayden Konkol (2022) is built at a highly athletic 6-foot-4, 180-pounds and hits out of the three-hole for this team as an integral part of their offense. Sophomore backstop Rheis Johnson came on strong in the latter half of the year for Denmark and the aforementioned Miller led this team in hits with 31.

Denmark’s experience on the mound is certainly something that factors in their favor and they have a true ace in their back pocket with Piontek. They’ll draw a streaking Rice Lake team that upset a few quality D-2 teams on their way to the state playoffs at 11:05 a.m. on Wednesday.

CATHOLIC MEMORIAL

We were, internally, extremely high on the Crusaders prior to the spring season, ranking them inside the top-10 of our initial Power 25 rankings despite them being of D-2 classification. Inexperience at key positions caught up to them early and they certainly endured their struggles, but the talent that this team has from top to bottom is capable of matching up with quite literally any team in the state.

Catholic Memorial makes its first appearance ever in the state playoffs after defeating Lake Country Lutheran in walk-off fashion to win the Kewaskum Sectional. They finished third in the Classic Eight conference, behind Muskego and Arrowhead, and enter these state playoffs with a 20-8 record.

The Crusaders are one of the younger teams at the D-2 level, having only three seniors on their roster. They’re led by Notre Dame commit Rory Fox (2022), who had 33 hits in 66 at-bats, 28 RBIs, and three times (12) as many walks as strikeouts (4). Junior OF Grant Beth operated primarily out of the leadoff spot for CMH, jumpstarting their offense and, like Fox, also walking more than he struck out, finishing the season with a .415 batting average. C Charlie Jarvis (2022) continues to cement himself as a top name in the state’s incoming senior class, adding much-needed thump to the Crusaders’ lineup. He led the team in RBIs with 32, had 30 hits, and finished with 10 extra-base knocks. One of the three seniors on this team, OF Anthony Gross (Washington University MO), paced the offense all season with a team-high 33 hits, 17 of them going for extra bases.

The unquestioned ace of this staff and one of the top arms in the state, regardless of class, Catholic Memorial’s chances of winning increase drastically when Fox is on the mound. He struck 51 batters out in 30.2 innings this spring posting a 2.32 ERA in four starts. Senior RHP Kellan Short (Madison JC) comfortably led this team with 44.2 innings pitched and sophomore Presley Wachowiak is a highly-touted arm in the state’s 2023 class that should see some time on the mound throughout these playoffs for CMH.

As the two seed, Catholic Memorial will host the Jefferson Eagles in the second semi-final matchup on Wednesday, scheduled for an approximate first pitch time of 1:30 p.m.

JEFFERSON

The Eagles return to state for the seventh time in school history, the most of any team in this field of four. They’re back after defeating Beloit Turner and Mount Horeb in their sectional, two quality opponents, and finished second in the Rock Valley Conference this spring. Their last appearance came when they finished as the runners-up in 2018 and they actually won the D-2 title back in 2014.

If there’s one thing Jefferson can do, it’s score. They put up some pretty crazy offensive numbers this spring as a unit. INF Haygen Miller (2021) is a key piece to this Jefferson lineup. He starts at shortstop and led them in both batting average (.494) and on-base percentage (.596). Sophomore standout 1B/LHP Tyler Butina continues to enjoy an outstanding season for the Eagles, leading them in nearly every offensive category. Butina slashed .451/.543/.859 in 99 at-bats with 40 RBIs, 20 doubles, five home runs, and more walks (15) than strikeouts (9). Isaiah Hoffman (2021) is another key offensive producer, as the senior utility man batted above .400 and drove in 20+ runs. OF Aaron Heine (2021), 3B Eli Hoffman (2021), and INF Luis Serrano (2022) are all names worth highlighting as well.

Not only did he absolutely mash all season, but Butina played a pivotal role for the Eagles on the mound as well. He led the team with 51 innings pitched, striking out 57 batters, and pitching to the tune of a 2.05 ERA. Isaiah Hoffman went a perfect 7-0 on the bump for Jefferson with a 1.89 ERA over 49.1 innings pitched. Expect to see one of those two on the mound in their first game of the state playoffs.

Although they’ve played a rather tough schedule to this point, the Eagles are squaring up against a red-hot, ultra-talented Catholic Memorial team in the first round of the state playoffs. That likely means a matchup with ace Rory Fox, but this Jefferson lineup has shown all spring they’re capable of scoring runs on anyone. First pitch for that game is scheduled roughly for 1:30 p.m.

RICE LAKE

The Warriors are a fairly classic example of what can happen when a team gets hot at the right time. They entered the WIAA playoffs with a .500 record and rattled off five straight wins, including a win over No. 23 ranked Medford for a spot in the state playoffs. It’s the fourth appearance in school history for Rice Lake and their first since 1982.

Senior INF Joe Kroeger comfortably paces the Warriors’ offense, leading them in nearly every offensive category. Over 67 at-bats, Kroeger finished with a .448 batting average, an OPS above 1.200, 24 RBIs, and 12 extra-base knocks. OF Alex Belongia (2022) had a strong offensive season for Rice Lake, tallying 25 hits in 76 at-bats and finishing with 12 RBIs.

Rice Lake has a handful of arms they can turn to, but it appears that junior RHP Matt Juza is the staff ace. Juza struck out 57 batters and pitched to the tune of a 2.04 ERA across 48.1 innings for the Warriors. Another junior, RHP Christian Lindow, had a strong spring for Rice Lake, sporting a 2.93 ERA over eight starts and striking out 46 batters in 38.2 innings. Freshman Easton Stone worked primarily out of the pen for Rice Lake, leading the team with a 1.80 ERA across 28 innings pitched and he struck out 35 batters, too.

Things won’t get easier for Rice Lake, although they’ve proven to be fairly battle tested up to this point. They’ll draw a Denmark team in the state semi-final game that’s won 16 straight and is firing on all cylinders right now. First pitch for that game is scheduled for 11:05 a.m. on Wednesday.

RELATED CONTENT