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. We also declared 18 more programs official ‘On the Bubble’ teams, teams that earned sincere Power 25 consideration.

Today, we continue our countdown to No. 1, the top-ranked team on the PBR Wisconsin Preseason Power 25. We’ll be releasing a team a day in our lead-up to No. 1, and we’re onto No. 14 this evening.

Team: Hortonville
Preseason Rank: No. 14
2019 Record: 17-9
Conference: Fox Valley Association
WIAA Class: D-1
Head Coach: Greg Yeager
Playoff Run: Sectional Semifinalists
2019 Final Rank: No. 21
Returning Starters: 5
Returning Pitchers: 5 

OUTLOOK

The Polar Bears are perennial staples inside the historic Fox Valley Association and beyond and what was going to keep them in contention in 2020 was the fleet of arms they had on staff, even after graduating a few key pieces from their 2019 roster. There are several dependable seniors within this rotation, and we’ll get to them in our next section, but Hortonville can be counted on contending for the foreseeable future because of their highly interesting inbound 2022 and 2023 classes. We’ll start there.

The big-bodied Sam Dodd is an imposing force on the mound and from the right-handed batter’s box. The sophomore is listed at 6-foot-3, 190 pounds, and he was working in a more consistent rhythm when we last saw him in early March. There, he was up to 82 mph with above-average break on his 12/6 curveball with a firm changeup. The Polar Bears are going to graduate a hefty number of arms this year and Dodd will be among those counted on to pick up the innings lost next spring.

Sam Dodd (3/8/20)

LHP Carson Holmes is another interesting sophomore to know within this program. We saw him at our Appleton-area event in March, where he touched 81 mph, from a projectable 6-foot-1 frame working out of a ¾ slot. While he’s not yet harnessed his control, he has the raw stuff that suggests he’ll be an asset to this program as soon as next season.

INF/RHP Easton Plachetka is our third sophomore who could have made a big impression this spring. He had the potential to earn a starting spot at third base with reliable feet and hands to go with a balanced right-handed bat with some barrel feel.

There are some freshmen to know inside this dugout, too, even if they wouldn’t have made first-year impacts in 2020. INF John Sargent, in particular, swings a follow right-handed bat with some bat speed and feel that could have helped him take mature varsity at-bats, and he moves well on the infield, too. Big 6-foot-1 RHP Thomas Burns has an athletic, clean arm from a high slot that generates some tilt and arm-side action, sitting 80-82 mph and was up to 84 in March. Thin, 5-foot-11 RHP Jonah Conradt is yet another right-hander to know on Hortonville’s future staff. He gets the most out of his lean, whippy arm and was up to 82 mph earlier in the spring, though is still finding the consistent feel for his offspeed.

Thomas Burns (3/8/20)

INF/RHP Camden Kuhke is a name we were interested in seeing for the first time, a player who had a chance to earn significant playing time as a freshman. RHP Nathan Vela is someone to note for the future. He was up to 80 mph in Appleton with hard arm-side action and he could help restock this rotation in 2021.

Juniors RHP Tyler Upp, C Ben Beulow, RHP Ben Diedrich, and INF Gunnar Plachetka will have to handle the senior leadership role next spring. Beulow started as a sophomore and hit .280, so he’ll be especially relied on to guide his rotation in his senior season.

SENIOR SPOTLIGHT

This year’s Hortonville starting lineup and rotation was set to be dominated by seniors, minimizing the pressure applied to the underclassmen fighting for everyday roles. This rotation was going to be headlined by the senior trio of RHP/INF Mason Thiel, RHP Parker White (Bryant & Stratton, WI commit), and LHP/OF Reed Hafeman (Iowa Western CC), as well as LHP Connor Medvecz. Thiel is a big 6-foot-3, 190-pound righty who was credited with five wins and a 2.81 ERA as a junior. White and Medvecz were both efficient in their junior-year work. And Hafeman possesses the biggest upside of the bunch; he’s a lean/strong 6-foot-1 with a live arm that has been up to 86 mph for us in the past.

Reed Hafeman (7/16/19)

We haven’t really detailed much inside Hortonville’s lineup, and that’s because offensive production can be largely viewed as their weakness on paper. Many of the names above are primary pitchers but can hit, too. The run production will be left to fellow seniors 2B Logan Grossman, who hit over .300 last season, and DH Jose Concepcion, a physical and strong right-handed hitter.

This is where the aforementioned freshmen enter. If some of them are able to contribute from the plate rather than off the mound, the serious depth of this staff can take care of the rest.

It’s hard to count on first-year players, but the seniors in this program could have morphed these underclassmen to help this team compete right away, turning Hortonville into a state title contender in 2020. While the Polar Bears’ future remains bright, it’s unfortunate that these seniors won’t get the chance to acclimate the next generation of talent to this program’s winning ways.

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