Hello Fastpitch Folks,
The first week of high school softball action is underway with the first games scheduled for Tuesday. I took a look at the wissports.net website because I am interested in following some of the Tuesday games on tap.
I will be trying to get a feel for where the strong teams in all the conferences are to begin with and there are some games where some strong teams are pitted on Tuesday. Here is a list of the games that are actually posted on the Tuesday slate of wissports.net. I believe there are many more games on tap that are not yet on the wissports.net site so all coaches should get their schedules posted on the team page of wissports.net. If you do not have admin rights with wissports.net to load up your roster, your schedule and then load up your team stats be sure to contact them and get that information so you can get on as your team admin.
Here is a look at some of the games I picked out to mention tonight. With the lack of a season last year there are lots of questions to be answered. Who has that crack pot freshman pitcher or the sophomore pitcher that can lead her team to the title in the conference and perhaps a state title? I’ll be watching all the 2019 state tournament teams closely to get a feel for how they will fare. if there is a game or games that you know of that are key matchups just email them to me. I can mention them in Monday's Fastpitch Bulletin.
I will start out with the Capitol North because I’m very familiar with that conference as I coached in it for years. Columbus is playing at Lake Mills on Tuesday. The only teams to have won a Capitol Conference title since the North was formed are Poynette, Columbus and Luther Prep. Poynette has been the dominant team over the years and has never finished more than a game out of first when they did not win it. Lake Mills ought to be the odds on coaches’ favorite out of the gate but in my humble opinion the title still runs through Poynette. The L-Cats feature a senior pitcher in Taylor Roughen (pronounced Rowan). She moves the ball right along and has great control. They are said to have some good young talent and expect to make a run at some titles. Columbus has been strong the past few years. Pitching will be the question to begin with. They always hit. The other two Capitol North games pit Lodi traveling to Poynette where a very young and inexperienced Pumas’ team is set to defend its conference title and back-to-back Division 3 state titles. Poynette certainly has a pitching staff to make a lot of noise as two sophomores and a junior are in the stable The two sophs can pop the yellow pill along in the high 50s and a 60 or more as well. If there is some movement and some control they could cause a lot of angst for the teams they play. Lodi is really an unknown. The other Capitol North game pits two WELS private schools against each other. Lakeside Lutheran and Luther Prep are the two private schools in the conference so year in and year out, the other four North teams have to play a wait and see game as to what towns and cities the Lutheran players are from and in Prep’s case what state they are from. That game will tell a lot about what could happen the rest of the season.
In the Badger North Portage takes on Reedsburg while Baraboo opens against Waunakee in an interesting matchup as well. DeForest and Beaver Dam square off in a key matchup in the Badger North. Mount Horeb and Sauk Prairie are the other two going at it on Tuesday. It will be interesting to for me to see where the top pitching is in the North this season.
Farther up north the game between Marshfield and DC Everest is a good one to keep our eye on and if you are in that neck of the woods Tuesday I suggest you take in that game. The rest of the Wisconsin Valley will be looking at that game closely.
Prescott in the Middle Border is a real question for me. In 2018 Prescott lost in the state semi-final in a tight game and graduated most of the team. In 2019 with a new coach and younger team they surprised the state and got to Madison but was beaten by Poynette. Prescott returns pitcher Sydney Matzek who was 17-10 in 2019. They play Cadott Tuesday to open the season.
A game I am interested in is Superior against Eau Claire North. Superiors has one of the top pitchers in the state according to my sources including her pitching coach who also happens to be the USA Softball Boys’ 18 Under pitching/catching coach. He just returned from Oklahoma City tonight after a weekend training session those boys trying out for that USA boys’ fastpitch team. His report to me about Superior’s Haley Zembo. According to Davey Haley can really pop it.
Westosha Central, always a tough club takes on Delavan-Darien on Tuesday and another interesting game, way, way, way up north pits Hurley and Drummond. I’m also interested in the Lake Country Lutheran vs Franklin game. Menomonee Falls is always strong and Divine Savior Holy Angels in recent years has been good so that game Tuesday is on my watch list. Southern Door could be a sleeper in D3 and they take on Green Bay Notre Dame to open the season. Keep your eye on that game.
Here is partial list of my other games to note on Tuesday.
Xavier vs Seymour – can Seymour challenge for two state titles in a row?
Mishicot s Sheboygan North – Mishicot will be a D4 top 5 team in our first rankings by week’s end.
Arcadia vs G-E-T will be great game to keep your eye on. Both are coached by men who have a great history in men’s fastpitch.
Belmont vs Dodgeville – A defending state D5 Champion against arguably the second best D3 team in the state in 2019 (lost in 11 innings to State Champion Poynette and also sectional final in 2018).
Luther figures into the Coulee title every year and take on Black River Falls Tuesday.
Brodhead has coach Steve Krupke back and they are taking on a good Jefferson team .
Glenwood City has been reported to me to be a team to keep track of. They play Spring Valley, a team that for years was dear to my heart with Earl Gunderson at the helm.
West Salem won the Coulee last year and opens against LaCrosse Central
Gilman will host Eau Claire Regis
Milton plays Monona Grove
Pepin/Alma has moved to the Dairyland and opens against always tough Cochrane/Fountain City outfit
Tomahawk and Mosinee square off on Tuesday so will be interested in that outcome.
The Fastpitch Chronicle rankings will be out by the end of the week. At least we will list teams we think are in the top 15 in each division even if we do not rank them numerically the first week. If you have some thoughts or interest in those rankings feel free to type them up and forward them to me at faspich1@gmail.com. I will read them and consider your thoughts because probably know more about the teams in your geographical area than I do.
I’d like to start doing announcements about Wisconsin players who are planning on playing fastpitch collegiately so send your information my way and I will get started at that just as gets done for most of the other sports. I will look forward to those announcements.
You are reading this but trust me, most of your fastpitch friends do not, so tell them all to check out the information on the website. There will be plenty of news to keep everyone appetite nourished.
Have a great day!
Keep it Rising!
Bob
