Prep Baseball Report

Summer High School Team Ranking Released



As the Summer High School baseball season is scheduled to get underway, we bring you our top ten preseason team rankings. Check out our picks to with a chance to bring home the hardwood in July.

1. Oak Creek HS (28-7)
As the returning state champs, Oak Creek looks to be primed and ready to make another run. They have top end pitching with Hayden Krimmer and Mitchel Makarewicz returning from last year’s title winners along with plenty of depth in Colton Giessel, Jesse Sustachek and Nathan Veloz. Offensively they only return four starters but sophomore Doran Turchin should be poised for a breakout year. The Knights will rely heavily on the right arm and bat of senior and Winona State commit Hayden Krimmer who has already been looking good this spring.

2. Menomonee Falls (27-5)
The Indians return a solid core of pitching in Brendan Paule (7-0, 1.90) Brett Krause (4-3, 3.43) and Tommy Wolf (3-0, 1.00) along with incoming freshman Ty Weber. Senior Brett Krause, an Illinois-Chicago commit, will lead the Indians both on the mound and at short. Krause hit .390 last year and will be asked to once again hit in the middle of the lineup and produce runs for the Indians. Cole Hernikl, an unsigned senior, is a force on the base paths and will be a nightmare for opposing batteries. Hernikl is a fleet footed second baseman who stole 47 bases last year and will look to match that total again this year.

3. Franklin (19-13)
Franklin is an intriguing pick to make a run this year. The Sabers have a one-two left-handed punch on the mound better than anybody in the state. East Carolina commit Evan Kruczynski (2013) leads the staff and has lights out stuff. We’ve seen Kruczynski’s fastball climb to 88 mph and shows advanced command of multiple pitches with a deadly breaking ball. Ty Gentz is the other senior southpaw that will anchor that Saber pitching combo. Gentz features a low to mid 80’s fastball that he too has great control of. He shows excellent pitchability and the kind of stuff that can baffle opposing hitters. Unsure of what the Sabers will bring offensively, these two lefties have shutout type stuff on a daily basis.

4. Homestead (21-10)
Homestead might lack high end talent but they make up for it with plenty of solid depth and senior leadership. The Highlanders will be returning seven starters from last year’s 21-10 team. Jake Erfourth will be asked to contribute both on the mound and with the bat as the Carthage College commit should play a significant role in the team’s success. Returning second team all-conference selection Thomas Fazio will need a repeat performance to take the Highlanders deep into the playoffs.

5. Arrowhead (23-10)
Arrowhead has the ability to be an offensive juggernaut in 2013. Returning first team all-conference selection Dom Todarello will lead the way bring a .470 batting average back the Warhawks. Sophomore catcher Mike Bauer hit .363 last year and has shown well this spring in the Hitters’ Spring League. Senior middle infielder Mitch Dubnicka will also be returning with a .367 average.  Arrowhead will need to replace some pitching but James Reinowski, Matt Robbins and Branden Frank will look to fill the void.

6. Germantown (25-10)
Germantown was the state runner up last year but has lost the majority of that team to graduation. The Warhawks will have to reload with fresh talent to pick up where they left off. Senior Ryan Anderson returns to the mound as a first team all-conference selection and will have to win a bunch of games for the Warhawks to see similar success.

7. Whitefish Bay (16-15)
Although not the best of records in 2012, The Blue Dukes will be following a similar path of Franklin HS. The Blue Duke feature two high end southpaws at the top of their rotation, the only difference is they are only sophomores. Nickolas Lackney and Joseph Kaszubowski both feature low 80’s fastballs with excellent secondary stuff. Although not as experienced as Franklin’s Kruczynski and Gentz, they are still a formidable combo. Returning second team all-conference selection Jackson Weber should lead the offense again, along with seniors Johnny Markwiese and Grant Menard.

8. Sheboygan Falls (25-5)
Last year’s sectional champions, the Falcons bring back five all-conference players. Ryan Halverson, Jake Meyer, Jake Wiesenthal, Mike Raeder and Nate Heili are all returning All-Conference selections and repeat performances by these five could take the Vikings back to another Sectional Championship or further.

9. New Berlin West (23-5)
The Vikings had a successful 23-5 season last year and returns a big portion of that team. They return 18 wins on the mound in seniors David Tsolak, Austin Frity and Mike Phillips. Allen Peil is a sophomore who put big numbers last year hitting .455 and will be expected to do much of the same for the Vikings in 2013. Returning first team all-conference selection Andy Knoll will also lead the offense for NBW.

10. Cedarburg (18-8)
Cedarburg will be a young team with some experience as last year’s regional champs head in to the 2013 season. The Bulldogs return a solid core of starters last year as well as adding newcomer Drake Daniels. Sophomore Jonathan Stiever should be a big contributor on the mound. Taylor Grimm is a junior catcher that had an excellent spring in the Hitters’ Spring League. The Bulldogs also return PJ Clemins who posted a 2-0 record with a 0.95 ERA last year.

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