On the Bubble: Boyceville

On Tuesday, April 21, the WIAA Board of Control asserted to cancel all 2020 spring competitions, baseball included. While saddened for the graduating class of 2020, the PBR Wisconsin staff will do its best to highlight what could have been this spring, in what was set to be an exciting campaign filled with intriguing storylines to know and players to follow.

We published our ‘Watchlist Squads’ post on Monday, April 20, spotlighting almost 20 need-to-know programs that fell short of official ‘Bubble’ or Power 25 status for our preseason team rankings. Today, and for the remainder of the week, we’re going to be individually detailing our ‘On the Bubble’ teams – teams that earned serious consideration for our Preseason Power 25 Rankings, but ultimately fell just short.

Our 2020 preseason coverage continues today.

Team: Boyceville
Preseason Rank: On The Bubble
2019 Record: 19-4
Conference: Dunn-Saint Croix
WIAA Class: D-4
Head Coach: Michael Roemhild
Playoff Run: D-3 State Semifinalists
2019 Final Rank: NR
Returning Starters: 7
Returning Pitchers: 3

OUTLOOK

With Webster’s 2019 class graduated and Mineral Point moving up to D-3 this spring, the D-4 rank is up for grabs. The Boyceville Bulldogs made it all the way to the D-3 state semifinals in 2019 and were set to compete in their new D-4 surroundings this spring as, arguably, one of the favorites to get back to the Fox Cities and win it all.

The Bulldogs are backed by one of the top players in the D-4 ranks: junior C Trett Joles (uncommitted). He is a physical right-handed-hitting backstop, among the state’s best at his position, equipped with both bat strength and arm strength, helping him stifle the baserunning game. He hit .349 with four homers as a sophomore, too. Fellow junior RHP/SS Walker Retz stands at 6-foot-2, 176 pounds, and punched out 78 batters in 2019. This ‘21 class is going to have this year and next to earn some silverware, and Connor Sempf (uncommitted) is another member of the class – up to 80 mph last July with solid-average offspeed. Sempf led the team with nine wins and a 0.98 ERA last spring. Lastly, 1B Trevor Hollister brings a confidence to the left-handed batter’s box and can be relied on to help churn the offense, bringing back a .394 batting average.

With this season’s state tournament cancelled, Boyceville can at least know that this robust class of 2021 will have the opportunity to win some hardware next campaign.

SENIOR SPOTLIGHT

It’s a younger roster that was set to lean quite heavily on those aforementioned juniors, but seniors like Brendan Sempf and Logan Knudtson were everyday starters for last season’s state-bound team and were surely going to be key cogs to this machine that had its eyes set on another state run at the D-4 level this time. Sempf hit .295 as a junior, operating primarily a second and third base on defense. Knudtson hit .250 as one of the team’s everyday outfielders.

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