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. 9 this evening.

Team: Pewaukee
Preseason Rank: No. 9
2019 Record: 23-6
Conference: Woodland West
WIAA Class: D-2
Head Coach: Adam & Marc Dobberstein
Playoff Run: Sectional Semifinalists
2019 Final Rank: No. 18
Returning Starters: 7
Returning Pitchers: 7 

OUTLOOK

The 2020 Pewaukee Pirates were perfectly balanced by senior depth, impact juniors, and rising sophomore talent. They had the right ingredients to escape one of the most difficult Sectionals in the state, regardless of classification.

The seniors here looked like difference-makers, even if some of their more productive talent lived in their 2021 and 2022 classes. We’ll highlight those seniors in the section below, after we detail the names and faces we can get used to seeing this time next year.

Most importantly, the Pirates returned every one of their arms from a season ago and now they’re all healthy. Towering, spindly RHP Logan Dobberstein played a critical role down the stretch as only a freshman in 2019 and he looked sharp back in March at our Madison event. There, he was up to 85 mph with some improving offspeed. He’s an imposing presence and was set to be one of the team’s go-to arms, if everything came together. After returning from injury halfway through last spring, he pitched in 20.1 innings and had allowed just one earned run over that stretch.

Logan Dobberstein (3/15/20)

Luke Sopha is another member of this 2022 class to know ahead of time. His versatility is integral to Pewaukee, as he’s athletic enough to cover ground in the infield and outfield – and he hit .341 as a freshman, too.

Fellow sophomore OF/LHP Carson Hansen was also at that same Madison event and he, too, looked to have improved over the offseason. Hansen took a loud round of batting practice from the left side, with a mature approach beyond his years. He looked ready for an everyday role in 2020.

Junior two-way star Grant Ross (Valparaiso commit) is arguably the team’s most important weapon, and they’ll take at least a little comfort knowing he’ll be back in 2021. While Ross is certainly capable of starting on the mound with more regularity, his aggression and live arm fit best in high-leverage relief roles and it allows him to start at shortstop everyday instead. He hit .383 as a sophomore and is remarked as one of the most competitive players in the state.

Grant Ross (7/31/19)

Left/left prospect Vince Zipperer also looked like he was going to make his mark as a junior this season. He carries some projection to his lean 5-foot-10 frame and could be used on the mound, in the outfield, or at first base.

It’s a shame we won’t get to see these aforementioned juniors and sophomores excellently complement the seniors ahead of them, because this had the makings of a special spring in Pewaukee.

SENIOR SPOTLIGHT

As mentioned at the top, this roster looked ideally balanced. The unoccupied holes surrounding the juniors and sophomores here were smoothed over by this senior group. 3B/RHP Josh Cottrill battled some injuries in his junior season and kept him under the radar and eventually he earned himself a commitment to Valpo. He’s an athletic 6-foot-3 two-way player for these Pirates and was all set to be one of the team’s most productive all-around players.

LHP Travis Bentley is a reliable, strike-throwing southpaw who’s headed to the next level on a golf scholarship, but was a dependable force in this rotation. He was 4-1 as a junior with a 1.75 ERA and had been on the varsity team since he was a freshman.

And fellow senior RHP Quinn Berglin, a Lawrence commit, has shown that he’s an effective low-slot righty on this staff and he’s also used to pitching at this level.

It’s a deep staff – and that’s not so common a saying at the D-2 level. OF/DH Justus Zemberi also would have helped bolster this offense after hitting .344 in his junior season.

To us, Pewaukee and Catholic Memorial were set for a sure-fire playoff contest that would have determined the favorite to win the D-2 title. That matchup had game-of-the-year energy attached to it after last year’s regional finals meeting. We're left with imagining the outcome instead.

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