The Fastpitch Chronicle

Put Me in Coach, I'm Ready to Play -- Today

 Hello Fastpitch folks

Tomorrow will be an interesting day in Wisconsin high school fastpitch circle. I have a list of games I am really interested in seeing scores from and hearing about so send me some information.

Lake Mills at Columbus -- The Cardinals beat Poynette 1-0 in 8 innings on Tuesday behind a gem of a game by senior pitcher Claire Smedema. She allowed four hits, walked none and got out of a couple of jams. Lake Mills and pitcher Taylor Roughen beat Columbus back on April 27th 2-0 on two unearned runs and Roughen whiffed Columbus batters 15 times. It will be game to watch if you are in the area. Youo may even see me there doing a little scouting. Lake Mills and Poynette each have one loss in the Capitol North while Columbus has two so they have to win. to stay in the hunt. Poynette is at Lodi.

Elkhorn at Mukwonago should be a good game and tell us something about the strength of both. Elkhorn was ranked 8th in our Fastpitch Chronicle opening rankings and did not make the top 10 in the Coaches Poll released today.  

Peshtigo at Bonduel -- Peshtigo ranked 10th by our Fastpitch Chronicle rankers did not make it into the Coaches Top 10 however. 

Amherst at Wautoma -- This one will be really interesting. Amherst enters Waushara County with a record of but in our opinion has not played the same strength of schedule that Wautoma has. But the Hornets have faltered lately losing to Westfield and Oakfield. They will have to get it together. Wautoma was ranked 7th in the first Fastpitch Chronicle rankings and also did not make the first Coaches Poll while Amherst enters the game ranked 8th in the Coaches Poll. This will be a "proving ground" game for both teams.

#2 Hortonville at Kimberly -- Hortonville just may be The Fastpitch Chronicle's #1 ranked team in the next rankings but Kimberly could mount a stiff challenge for the Polar Bears offensively. 

Oregon at Monona Grove -- Neither of these teams enter the game ranked in either poll but the game just interests me after having watched MG play last Saturday in Portage. 

Wisconsin Rapids at Mosinee -- The Fastpitch Chronicle had Mosinee ranked 8th in Division 2 while the coaches left them unranked. RApids is rnaked 14th in Division 1 and out of the Top 10 in the Coaches Poll.

McDonnel Central at Cadott - Cadott has been on my personal radar since their first game but the book is still out on them right now but the coaches that voted thought highly enough of them give them a #10 ranking in Division 4 -- 

Superior at Grand Rapids, Minnesota -- I do not know much about Grand Rapids this season but I do know a lot about Superior and I know that they are not ranked in the coaches poll after beating Onalaska, Chippewa Falls and SPASH at the Chippewa Falls Invite on Saturday. They went 3-0 to win the event and have a solid team with Haley Zembow and Chesie McGlaughlin in the circle and Emma Raye behind the plate and with a bat in her hands standing in the batter's box. In that event on Saturday Raye hit a home run in all three games. Those teams they beat are not slouches, For heaven's sake Chippewa Falls and SPASH are elite programs in this state and Onalaska is good (with a Pepin girl coaching them-- I just had to get that in there). Chippewa Falls beat Middleton and Superior beat Chippewa with their #2 pitcher. A good friend of mine knows his stuff and says that Zembo, a sophomore is the real deal. That friend of mine knows this game as he faced some of the greatest fastpitch players in the world from just 46 feet away and handled them. I'd bet that our rankers have Superior in the 2 or 3 spot in our second ranking. 

Here are some other differences between the two polls this week.

In Divison 1 the Fastpitch Chronicle ranks 20 teams - Coaches Poll ranks 10. We are watching Divine Savior Holy Angels closely this week. We are also still watching Oshkosh West. 

In Division 2 we are following Winneconne closely, they did not make the Top 15 in The FPC poll but did are 8th in the Coaches Poll. We wonder what information they have that we do not. Some comments came my way about New London who the FPC had at #8 and the coaches did not have them in the top 10. My advice is to watch that team more closely. After all they are NEW LONDON. We had Altoona just out of the top 15 last week but they will move into the top 15 this week and replace Turner down in Beloit who has been inactive since their first game due to COVID-19. We are also folowing Whitnall closely. 

In Division 3 Poynette to Columbus 1-0 in 8 innings. Both pitchers were dominate. Poynette's Holly Lowenberg went 6 2/3 innings with a no-hitter but got bit by four errors that changed the number of batters she would have to face. Columbus chucker Claire Smedema is good. Lake Mills is also right near the top in Division 3 for one huge reason - senior pitcher Taulor Roughen (pronounced Rowan). She beat Columbus on4/27 with 15 Ks in a 2-0 win. Amherst at Wautoma will be huge in getting some thought from the FPC rankers. Howards Grove is brightening up. And how about Winnebago Lutheran ranked 5th in the Coaches Poll but failed to make the FPC top 15 but that could change after a 4-0 win over FPC 4th ranked Lomira ranked 10th by the coaches. Don't lose sight of Prescott up there in the Middle Border and Bloomer in the Heart O' North. Those two will tangle in the sectional again perhaps. Dodgeville is good. River Valley was ranked 15th by the FPC rankers and 4th right behind Dodgeville at #3 in the coaches poll and #2 in the FPC poll. They play each other on May 17th. RV has a couple of losses that stuck out in a couple of the FPC rankers minds.

Division 4 - Only four of the 10 FPC ranked teams made the Coaches Poll, our top 3 and 7th ranked Grantsburg. CFC, Cadott, Shell Lake, Elmwood/Plum City and Juda/Albany are all in the coaches top 10 but not in the FPC rankings. We'll watch all five and the strength of their schedules closely in the coming days. 

Division 5 - This is really a crap shoot. We sense a heavy dose of Southwest Wisconsin voting in the coaches poll. The top two are spot on and with Oakfield's win over Wautoma this week they move up in my world. More on Division 5 tomorrow night.

Have a great day preparing for a great weekend and as always

Keep it Rising!
Bob