The Wisconsin high school baseball season kicks off on April 27, opening day for regular season action under WIAA regulations. Over the next several weeks, leading up to opening day, we’ll be publishing our team previews ahead of the 2021 spring season, touching on programs spanning all state classifications, leading into a countdown through the official PBR Wisconsin Preseason Power 25 Rankings.

Perennially, we’ve submitted a Preseason Questionnaire to high school head coaches across the entire state. Their responses have been flooding in and we’re using the detailed insight they’ve provided in our team-by-team preseason analysis. These preseason previews are also assembled with the help of Joe Waite and his comprehensive Baseball Wisconsin Yearbook, and the 2021 edition will soon be available for purchase here.

Our 2021 preseason coverage continues today.

Team: West De Pere
Preseason Rank: No. 19
2019 Record: 28-3
Conference: Bay
WIAA Division: 1
Head Coach: Joe Rukamp

TOP PLAYERS

OUTLOOK

The Phantoms have won the Bay outright six times in the last 10 seasons, and have had at least a share of the conference crown the past five seasons. The past few editions of West De Pere proved to be one of the best pound-for-pound squads in the state, and it culminated in a D2 runner-up finish at the 2019 state tournament. The bumped up to the D1 class for 2020 where they were set to compete in that new-look playoff atmosphere alongside their strong 2020-21 classes, but the season sadly would never start.

This squad was especially affected by its graduating 2019-20 classes, and the lost season prevented head coach Joe Rukamp from acclimating some of his less experienced talent to the varsity scene.

We’d become used to the Phantoms’ rolling out quality arm after quality arm, but that’s actually set to be their weakness in 2021. Instead, West De Pere will lean on their skilled lineup, featuring several familiar names who earned regular playing time as sophomores in the 2019 state tourney.

They’ll be led by C Kaden Kosobucki, who’s actually going to need to take on a frequent role from the rubber, too. Kosobucki might just be one of the state’s most productive hitters by the end of the season. His right-handed bat features inherent bat-to-ball skills – unfazed facing older competition in 2019 – and he began to unlock more natural loft and power potential last summer, which the Phantoms will lean on. He hit .421 with seven doubles as a sophomore, so expect more of those barrels to land over the fence this spring instead.

? ALERT ?

MOONSHOT

3 RUN DINGER ⚾️

2021 C/RHP Kaden Kosobucki of ISA Stars Royal with an absolute bottle rocket to deep left! #TOC pic.twitter.com/988hNzmCSf

— PBR Ohio Scouting Coverage (@PBROhioScout) August 6, 2020

Senior and Illinois State recruit OF Josh Blount is one of the state’s best athletes, which helps him cover a ton of ground in center field. His quick, but raw, left-handed swing should be prepared to take on an even larger responsibility in his senior spring. As a regular in 2019, Blount hit .245 and he stole 10 bags, but we’re betting on him to up both those numbers significantly.

More seniors like OF Joshua Brud, OF Jourdon Schuyler, INF Braydon Skenandore, and 1B Myles Jensen will shape the offense into a mature one, one that should be able to manufacture plenty of runs. Brud’s a quality overall athlete who should hit near the top of the order; Schuyler has right-handed bat strength; and Skenandore has exhibited a feel for the barrel on more than one occasion in front of us over the years, and he knows when to tap into his power, too – and he tallied seven extra-base hits in just 23 sophomore at-bats as evidence of this.

RHP Bryce VandeHei is a tall, lanky senior who should take on a stater’s role this spring; and fellow senior RHP Drake Vandeven could be in the same position. We’ll keep an eye on juniors RHP Ethan Susa and RHP Sam Cherney as well, as a pair of newcomers to watch. Fellow 2022s Tyas Olson and Wyatt Desmidt are projected to man the middle of the infield.

BOTTOM LINE

While they’ll need to figure out the right recipe and order for their rotation and bullpen, this offense is capable of buying their pitchers some time before the playoffs start. Menasha and New London are fielding some strong Bay squads themselves in 2021, so the Phantoms will need to fend them off once again, but it’s hard to bet against the winning senior experience in this dugout.

Make sure to follow @PBRWisconsin on Twitter for the most up-to-date coverage throughout the 2021 season.

Find more information on the 2021 Phantoms below:

+ Team Website

+ Team Schedule

PRESEASON POWER 25 COUNTDOWN