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 kick off on Monday, followed by D-3 on Tuesday, 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 field a few days ago and today we’ll tap into the D-3 bracket; a pool with multiple intriguing teams vying for a state title. 

COLEMAN COUGARS

Coleman earned the top seed in the D-3 bracket and rightfully so; the Cougars went 24-2 during the regular season and comfortably won the Marinette & Oconto conference. They defeated Chilton 3-2 in the Crandon Sectional championship to make their fourth ever state appearance in school history, returning to the big dance for the first time since they won the D-4 title in 2012.

The Cougars are an incredibly well-rounded squad from top to bottom, but sophomore C Will Bieber and senior INF/RHP Zach Zablocki pace the Coleman offense. Bieber’s first taste of varsity action was an impressive one, as the 5-foot-10, 160-pound sophomore led the Cougars in hits (36), drove in 22 runs, and walked (10) more times than he struck out (2). The experienced Zablocki experienced a similar level of success with 31 hits of his own, 22 RBIs, and also more walks (11) than strikeouts (8) throughout the year.

Pitching may be the strength of this Coleman team, however. They had six arms log innings at the varsity level this spring and not a single one of them posted an individual ERA above 2.00, with the team total coming in at 0.79. RHP Karson Casper (2022) hurled 42 innings of sub-1.00 ERA ball, striking out 49 batters. Senior RHP Cayden Bintz posted a 0.21 ERA in 33 innings, and both RHP Ray Lemieux (2023) and Zablocki have 20+ varsity innings under their belt.

Despite their sustained success throughout the year, Coleman should draw a fairly tough assignment in game one of the state playoffs. They’ll almost certainly face RHP Cole Selvig (2023; Texas) when they draw Regis; a game set to take place at 11:05 a.m.

KENOSHA ST. JOSEPH

The Lancers experienced one of the more successful seasons in school history this past spring, winning 23 games and losing just once en route to a Metro Classic Conference title. They’ve won state three times since 2005 and have made six appearances total, the last one coming back in 2018. In order to get here, Kenosha St. Jo’s defeated undefeated Ozaukee 6-4 in the sectional championship.

Kenosha St. Jo’s had four qualified hitters bat over .400 this spring, led by left-handed hitting INF Brady Davidson (2023). The sophomore standout slashed .500/.545/.750 with 11 extra-base hits, 29 RBIs, and only struck out once all spring. OF/RHP Andrew Setter (2022), INF Jacob Ashmus (2022), and C Frank McGuire (2021) complete the quartet of Lancers that batted over .400. Seniors OF Jack Davidson and INF Max McCarville are two other bats worth noting in this lineup.

Sophomore RHP Luke Schuler enjoyed a sustained level of success for Kenosha St. Jo’s throughout his first taste of varsity action, tossing 28 innings with a 1.50 ERA. Senior RHP Peter Ruffolo threw 25 innings for the Lancers, posting a 2.02 ERA, and the aforementioned Setter was the team leader in innings pitched with 35.

Ozaukee was certainly a tough test that the Lancers passed, but their route to a state title certainly doesn’t get easier now. They’ll draw a streaking Marathon Red Raiders team that pulled off two major upsets last week against La Crosse Aquinas and Markesan in Monday’s state semi-final.

MARATHON RED RAIDERS

Briefly highlighted above, the Red Raiders endured arguably the hardest road to state of any team here. They pulled off two impressive upsets against D-3 titans La Crosse Aquinas and Markesan in last week’s Viroqua sectional to rightfully earn a place here in the state playoffs. Marathon has a fairly extensive history when making it to state; they’ve been here six times in school history and have three state championships under their belt.

The Red Raiders are a young team - they have just three seniors and a large chunk of their roster is made up of underclassmen. Those three seniors, however, are three incredibly important pieces to this squad, starting with RHP/INF Brock Warren. A physically imposing 6-foot-3, 230-pound athlete, Warren led the Red Raiders with 28 hits, eight extra-base hits, and he posted a 10-to-1 BB/K ratio at the plate. Warren anchored this Marathon pitching staff as well, posting an impressive 0.78 ERA over 54 innings of work, including seven complete games and four shutouts.

C Mike Ahn and OF Jake Sweno are two top-of-the-order type senior bats for Marathon that also play integral up-the-middle defensive positions. Freshman 1B Grant Warren finished just behind his older brother for the team lead in hits with 26 and junior SS Jaden Koeller serves as the spark for this offense out of the leadoff spot. Koeller, like Warren, is the other Marathon arm we’ll likely see in the state playoffs, as he started the sectional championship against Markesan for the Red Raiders.

Marathon draws another tough assignment in the semi-finals, squaring up against a Kenosha St. Jo’s team that’s lost just one game all season. They’ll play after Coleman and Regis square off, set for an approximate start time of 1:30 p.m.

REGIS RAMBLERS

Fourth-seeded Regis makes it back to state for just the third time in school history. In both of their previous appearances, the Ramblers made it to the championship game, winning the title in 2002 and finishing as runner-ups in 2007. They finished fourth in the West Division of the Cloverbelt Conference and defeated D-3 powerhouse St. Croix Falls in the Cumberland Sectional championship.

If Regis is going to make it to their third state championship game in school history, they’ll have to pull off another upset and defeat top-seeded Coleman, a 24-win team. Luckily for the Ramblers, they’re capable of winning any game that star RHP Cole Selvig (2023; Texas) toes the rubber. In 35 innings this spring, Selvig struck out an astonishing 81 batters, good for an eye-popping 20.8 K/9 ratio. He’s an ace in every sense of the word and Regis has to feel pretty confident they can take anyone when he’s on the mound.

Two more sophomores in OF Zander Rockow and 1B Sam Knickerbocker lead the Ramblers offensively, pacing them with 20+ hits each and 10+ RBI each. Selvig and junior UTL Mason Kostka are two more offensive threats worth a mention on this squad.

As we highlighted above, Regis will draw Coleman in a semi-final game slated for an 11:05 a.m. start time. It should be an ultra-competitive matchup with Selvig squaring up against the Cougar lineup.

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