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, starting with a look at the four teams competing for the D-4 championship today.

BOYCEVILLE BULLDOGS

The top-seeded Bulldogs are back at state for essentially the second-straight year, making an appearance in 2019 and likely doing so again last year had the season not been cancelled. They’re the early favorites to take home the D-4 state championship heading into these state playoffs, as they lost one game all season, have mashed their way throughout the playoffs, and ended Webster’s historic 50+ game winning streak with a 14-0 throttling in the sectional championship game.

Boyceville is led by a potent trio of seniors that are perched at the top of this lineup: C Trett Joles (Indiana State), SS/RHP Connor Sempf (uncommitted), and RHP Walker Retz (University of St. Thomas). It’s a three-headed monster that has adequately paced the Bulldogs all season long, carrying them to where they’re at right now.

Joles is an impact bat that would make a difference at any level as he’s expected to do so when he joins the Sycamores next fall. Sempf mans the 6-spot on the infield for Boyceville and has consistently pitched well for them throughout the spring, striking out 61 batters in 32 innings with a 0.22 ERA. Then there’s Retz, a 6-foot-2, 175-pound arm committed to recent D-1 St. Thomas that is a true ace-like presence on the mound, giving Boyceville a chance to win each game that he toes the rubber. Retz has 30 innings under his belt this spring with 63 strikeouts, a perfect 4-0 record, and a 0.72 ERA. He’s been contributing offensively as well, tied with Joles for the team lead in home runs.

With these three, and a handful of other quality athletes filtered in around them, the Bulldogs are certainly going to make things tough for whoever they play on any given day. They’ll square up against Southwestern in the semi-final game on Monday at 11:05 a.m.

ROSHOLT HORNETS

Rosholt earned the second seed in the WIAA D-4 state playoffs, as the Hornets return to state for the fifth time in school history and the first in nearly a decade. Their most notable tournament experience came back in 2008, where they finished as the runners-up.

The Hornets had a successful spring, finishing first in the South Division of the Central Wisconsin Conference this spring and posting a 20-3 record. To get here, Rosholt defeated Johnson Creek 3-1 in the Almond-Bancroft sectional.

Senior RHP/C Isaac Cychosz appears to be the lifeblood of this Rosholt team, leading them offensively with 44 hits in 72 at-bats, driving in 23 runs and striking out just once. The Hornets’ senior star logged 39.1 innings on the bump, striking out 64 batters to the tune of a perfect 7-0 record and 1.43 ERA.

Another name-to-note here for Rosholt is junior RHP/UTL Blade Niewiadomski, who like Cychosz, does it all for the Hornets. In 57 at-bats for Rosholt, Niewiadomski batted .544 with 17 extra-base hits, a team-high 29 RBIs, and 19 walks to two strikeouts. He also hurled 30.1 innings on the mound, striking 58 batters out with a 1.63 ERA.

The Hornets will draw three-seeded Greenwood in the semi-final game, scheduled approximately for a 1:30 p.m. start time; a team they already beat once earlier in the season.

GREENWOOD INDIANS

Third-seeded Greenwood returns to the state playoffs for the sixth time in school history and the first time since they actually won the championship in 2013. They’ve won two other titles, dating back to 1988 and 1990, and they finished as runner-ups in 1986. Greenwood finished second in the Eastern Division of the Cloverbelt Conference this season and they earned a spot in the state playoffs by defeating Edgar 7-3 in the Athens Sectional final. 

Senior OF/RHP Westen Schmitz leads the Indians both offensively and on the mound. Schmitz collected 24 hits in 43 at-bats, driving in 22 runs and walking 28 times. Schmitz posted a 0.74 ERA over 22.1 innings, making just two starts for Greenwood. Another name-to-note on this Indians team is senior RHP/OF Cooper Bredlau. Bredlau’s 23 hits finished one behind Schmitz for the team lead, although he drove in 24 runs and walked 15 times. The 6-foot-2, 180-pound Bredlau did most of his work on the mound, starting 10 games and logging a team-high 44.2 innings for the Indians, posting a 2.42 ERA.

Greenwood draws two-seeded Rosholt in the state semis, scheduled for a 1:30 p.m. start time. They’ll look to avenge their previous 7-2 loss that they suffered at the hands of the Hornets earlier this spring.

SOUTHWESTERN WILDCATS

The Wildcats enter the state playoffs as underdogs in a way. It’s only their second time ever making it to state, their first appearance coming back in 2010, and they entered with a regular season record of 6-10, 11-10 overall. Southwestern placed fourth in Southwest Wisconsin Activities League and made their way to state via a 4-2 win over Bangor in the Pecatonica Sectional final.

Southwestern is a young, inexperienced bunch that has just one senior on their roster. The rest of their upperclassmen have just this season of playing time under their belt due to the COVID-19 pandemic cancelling the 2020 WIAA season. With that being said, the Wildcats are led by junior RHP/INF Peerson Kephart, who batted .305 with 16 RBIs and posted a 2.89 ERA with 51 strikeouts over 41.2 innings pitched. Another junior, RHP Jordan Stanton, earns the title of “staff ace”, having K’d 69 batters over 41 strong innings this spring, to the tune of a 2.73 ERA.

Southwestern draws what will easily be their toughest assignment of the entire season in the first round of these state playoffs, as they’ll square up against powerhouse Boyceville at 11:30 a.m. on Monday morning. 

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