Prep Thursday: How did they do?

To conclude this season’s Prep Thursday coverage, let’s take a look to see how previous featured teams and players have fared down the stretch of the spring season.

May 27 – Kettle Moraine Lutheran Soccer, Samantha and Abigail Hoerchner.

Since I Am Sportacus talked with the sister scoring duo, the Flyway Conference champion Kettle Moraine Lutheran soccer team has become Division 3 Regional champions. The No. 1 seeded Chargers defeated Living Word Lutheran, 3-0 and Brookfield Academy 2-1 to advance on to Sectionals. KML is the host school for the Sectional and will attempt to return to the State tournament on their home field. The Chargers take on Cedar Grove-Belgium tonight for the opportunity to play in the Sectional final.

May 20 – Michael Handel, Sun Prairie Baseball

Handel threw a perfect game when I Am Sportacus spoke with him. His Cardinal baseball team went on to tie rival Middleton for the Big Eight Conference championship. Sun Prairie earned a No. 2 seed in its WIAA Division 1 Regional but was bounced by No. 10 Oshkosh North, 8-0, after receiving a first-round bye. North went on to the Sectional final before losing to Madison LaFollette.

May 13 – Eileen Gehring; Edgewood track and field

Gehring had a hectic WIAA Division 1 State Track and Field meet. She brought home three medals, two of which were the gold variety. After finishing second in qualifying heats, Gehring won the 100-meter dash title with a raced clocked at :12.11. She also won the 400-meter championship. She had the fastest prelim time at :57.75 and lowered it to :56.72 to win the 400 finals. She took sixth in the 200-meter dash, clocking :26.09.

May 6 – Lancaster softball

The Flying Arrows finished the regular season undefeated en route to winning the Southwest Wisconsin Conference with a 14-0 record. River Valley finished a distant second at 12-3. Lancaster will play in a Division 3 Sectional final versus Poynette Friday. The No. 1 seeded Flying Arrows have allowed just four runs to be scored by opponents while marching through the Regional and Sectional semifinal. Lancaster won convincingly over Darlington, Mineral Point and Riverdale to reach Sectionals. Once there, the Flying Arrows (23-0) defeated La Crosse Aquinas 4-2 to get one game away from the State tourney.

April 22 – Waterloo Baseball

Waterloo tied pre-season favorite Wisconsin Heights with an 11-5 record to claim a share of the Capitol-South Conference title. The Pirates earned a No. 2 seed in their Division 3 Regional and a first round bye. Waterloo got past Deerfield before falling to Capitol Conference crossover rival Watertown Luther Prep, 1-0. Luther Prep proved to be a formidable foe, advancing all the way to the Sectional final before succumbing to La Cross Aquinas.

The I Am Sportacus team would like to congratulate all prep athletes on their successful season. I Am Sportacus would like to extend a sincere thank you to all the coaches and players who have participated in Prep Thursday interviews. Please check the blog regularly this summer until Prep Thursday features begin again in the fall.

Berndt sideline, juniors stepping up for Pirates

Last season, the Waterloo High School baseball team relied heavily on the powerful harm of starting pitcher Jericho Berndt. Injuries threw the Pirates a curve ball, and Berndt has been sidelined with a bad back during the early goings of the 2010 season.

“Jericho has only pitched six innings this year,” Waterloo head coach Steve Leistico said. “We’d like to slowly work him in. He’s been doing some running. He’s been doing some limited throwing tonight. Hopefully, we get him back and things will start going for us a little bit.”

The six innings Berndt threw were against Capitol Conference opponent Poynette, and the right-hander fanned 14 Pumas and earned the win.

“In the Poynette game, I felt great,” Berndt said. “I knew my fastball was working very well and my curve ball was on.”

Berndt last pitched April 13 against Lodi. He experienced pain during the start, prompting Leistico to shut down the pitcher’s activity.

In the meantime, Leistico, a 25-year veteran coach, has turned to his tandem of junior pitchers, Kyle Farnsworth and Brian Krieg to fill in for the injured ace. Farnsworth, a lefty took the hill for Waterloo last night, and delivered a much needed win over conference foe Columbus, 9-6.

“We had a big win at Columbus. We had previously lost our last two conference games in a row, and just not playing too well,” Leistico said. “Kyle really gave us a win. He’s got to work, but he’s just a goofy enough left-hander that if he throws strikes, he can be very affective.”

Farnsworth finished with five strikeouts and four walks in 6.3 innings. He gave up six runs, but only three were earned. Krieg closed out the game pitching a perfect two-thirds of an inning.

“Brian has had some good outings too. They’re both taking an added role,” Leistico explained. “As a coach, you’d like to think this will all pay dividends down the road. The guys are getting in some meaningful games and as the season wears on, we’ll need three or four pitchers.”

As the coach deals with the pitching situation, his offense is slowly coming around. Leistico said the team’s bats struggled before breaking out 13 hits against Columbus.

One constant, however, is Travis Ellis. The coach raved about his middle infielder noting his .665 batting average. Against Columbus, Ellis went 3x4 with a home run, a double and two RBIs.

“I worked a lot – going to camps, working in summer ball and a lot of open gyms – just so I feel comfortable going up to the plate,” Ellis said of his offseason regimen. “He threw the curve ball a lot and I knew it was coming and that’s what I hit the home run off of.”

Catcher Ryan Thompson is batting over .500, Leistico said, noting his arrival to the varsity squad allowed him to make some changes defensively. The biggest change was moving catcher Trever Deppe to shortstop.

“Trevor Deppe has never played infield before. Travis Ellis we moved from shortstop to second base. Kyle Farnsworth has never played varsity first base,” Leistico said. “So we’re kind of young and it’s taken us a little while to fill it out.”

The coach likes the progress he is seeing with his squad.

“The screws may be turning a little slowly with this team, but I think it’s starting to turn,” he said. “I was pleased with what I saw and it’s probably (happening at) a good time.”

As for Berndt, the pitcher has his sights set high for season accomplishments and his return to the diamond.

“My personal goal is to get all-conference and player of the year,” he said, adding his main goal to simply win. “I want to come back very strong and, hopefully, I can soon.”

As a pitcher, coming back may depend on the situation.

“I feel really good right now,” he added. “If we have a game Friday, I’m going to try and play that one and see how it goes from there.”

The Pirates are scheduled to play a doubleheader against nearby conference rival Marshall, Friday. There is rain in the forecast, but Berndt is hopeful the game will be played and he will be involved. It’s no surprise he is anxious to play the Cardinals considering last season, when he threw two one-hitters against the rival team.

“I always love playing Marshall,” Berndt said. “Marshall has always been a big game for me, so I hope I’m healthy by then.”

In addition to Marshall, Leistico is looking to be successful against the entire Capitol South. The coach thinks his team belongs at the top of the standings.

“I think we can be really competitive in the south. I’m pretty confident with our three pitchers,” he said. “I feel really good about our outlook … We just got to take care of business.”

The Pirates are currently 3-2 overall and 2-2 in the Capitol-South, leading the conference.

Pirate relay team reloaded for 2010

The 2009 Waterloo girls’ 3200-meter relay team had many accomplishments. They qualified for the state meet, finished ninth in the Division 3 race and set the school record of 10:05.01 in the process.

Distance coach Eric Keen doesn’t see the success ending there, however. Every member of the record setting relay team returns to the team this season, and Keen sees the potential to achieve much more.

“They’re going to be in control of their own destiny. What they want to achieve is up to them. The sky is the limit. They don’t even know their full potential yet,” he continued. “It’s very exciting and I really look forward to working with them for the next two, three years and just see what they are capable of doing.”

The distance coach has the girls doing strength work to build a solid base of training. As the season wears on, he will begin sprinkling in speed workouts to help the girls’ peak at the end of the season. So far, the girls have shown promise, but injuries have popped up among the Pirates.

“Everyone is looking faster,” Keen said. “The unfortunate thing is Haley (Madderon) went down with a pretty bad knee injury, basically the second week of practice. She’s a huge question mark. She might try to run a little bit.”

Madderon wasn’t always on the relay team, however. The 2009 team of Tiffanni Stout, Laura Crave, Cassie Forman and Jasmine MacLaughlin qualified for the state meet with a third place finish at the sectional. Keen and the other Waterloo coaches decided to make a line-up change for the state championships in La Crosse.

“Tiffanni also qualified in the pole vault,” Keen explained. “We thought we would utilize her strictly in the pole vault and give one of the younger runners, Haley Madderon, a chance to run.”

The strategy proved successful. Every girl on the team ran a personal best time, and set the school record.

“They got into a fast race and ran what they were capable of,” Keen said. “None of them had the state experience. They had all had a taste of a big race … but nothing of the state caliber.”

After their performance at the state track meet, head coach Shane Seefeld said the relay team had its sights set on breaking the 10-minute barrier. According to Keen, the feat is a very real possibility.

“We ran 10:21 in sectionals to qualify; we ran 10:05 [at state]. Just to drop 16 seconds in one race, shows me that they were capable of running near or sub-10 minutes all year,” Keen said. “Now that they’ve run that time, I don’t think there is anything holding them back from breaking that 10-minute mark.”

Stout is the team’s only senior. Crave (sophomore), Madderon (sophomore), MacLaughlin (junior) and Forman (junior) will be back next year, which allows the team to have future success.

However, with Madderon’s knee issues, which may require surgery, and MacLaughlin recovering from her own surgery, the injuries could slow their progress. Keen does likes what he sees overall, despite of the setbacks, and he said the team is “in a lot better shape than they think.”

“I just want to see them be competitive,” Keen said. “Your main focus is to get to state every year. It’s not something that’s an automatic or a given. Hopefully, we can make it back to state and go from there. It’s always nice to get on the podium. That’s definitely something we’ll try to build upon."

Spring sports outlooks

Spring prep sports are getting underway. Josh has been talking with Waterloo and Marshall coaches for The Courier newspaper. Checkout the links below to see his preview stories with new Marshall baseball coach Juan Guerrero, veteran Waterloo baseball coach Steve Leistico and Marshall softball coach Bruce Wuchterl.

Marshall baseball

Waterloo baseball

Marshall softball

Madison area D-III boys primed to make state run

There are several Madison area boys’ basketball teams hoping to make a deep run in the WIAA playoffs, beginning with regional play March 2. Not all of those schools are large D-I programs. Madison area D-III schools could have success, especially in the Verona sectional.

In the top half of the bracket is No. 1 Cuba City, who should have little problem getting past Mineral Point in its opening round game. If the Cubans (21-0) make it to the second round they would face either Belleville or Orfordville-Parkview.

Parkview tied atop the Rock Valley-South Conference with a 10-5 record. The Vikings (15-6 overall) faced tougher competition this season and came out with a better record than Belleville (14-7) did in the Capitol-South. Whichever team wins, will have a difficult time with Cuba City.

The Cuban’s biggest test could come in the regional final when they may meet up with Capitol-South champ Wisconsin Heights. The No. 2 Vanguards (18-2 overall) ran the table in their conference finishing 10-0. The one-two punch of Dustin Helmenstine and Bryce Barsness could give CCHS a run for its money.

If Wisc. Heights does not make it to the regional final, No. 3 Darlington is likely responsible.

Darlington (18-3 overall) lost just one conference game - it came at the hands of rival Cuba City. If Darlington meets up with the Cubans in the regional final, the rivalry factor comes into play. At that point, flipping a coin could be the most accurate way to predict a winner.

The bottom bracket in the sectional pits local rivals against each other immediately. No. 4 Deerfield hosts No. 5 Cambridge. Though the schools play in separate conferences now, they used to face off regularly. The schools met in a non-conference game Jan. 2 and Cambridge held off a late Demon run to win 59-57.

The Demon’s (14-7) will be looking for payback when Cambridge (8-13) returns.

In the second rivalry game, Waterloo will look to beat nearby Marshall for the third time this year. Waterloo (10-11) won 49-43 and 58-36 in the team’s two Capitol-South matchups. Marshall (2-19) has a young squad and can pin their ears back and play with a ‘nothing-to-lose’ attitude. In a rivalry setting, the Pirates will have to come ready to play.

Whichever teams come out of the rivalry parings in the middle of the bracket could make a deep run as the top two seeds – No. 1 Poynette and No. 2 Beloit-Turner – do not have as strong of resume as the top bracket’s 1 and 2 teams.

Poynette (13-8) Struggled at times in the Capitol-North finishing 6-4 in conference play. Senior Cody Odegaard has the ability to take over a game and the Pumas will need that leadership to reach the sectional tournament.

Turner (13-8 overall) finished fifth in the Rock Valley-South. The only team it ranked ahead of was Palmyra-Eagle (1-20). Luckily for them, the Trojans play P-E to start regional play.

The early favorite to claim the sectional crown is Cuba City. However, if the Cubans fall, look for whoever claims the top regional to claim the sectional title. The top bracket is more loaded than the bottom.