Baseball Team Goes to State
The players, coaches and fans will have plenty to shout about at the State Baseball Tournament. (Photo by Vicki Waller)
Prairie baseball team
and fans look forward to
a great State Tournament
By Ted Pennekamp
The Prairie du Chien baseball team is heading to the State Tournament for the first time since finishing as runner-up in Division 2 in 2008. The Blackhawks won the Division 2 State Championship in 1993.
This season, the team earned their berth with a 12-3 drubbing of Arcadia in the Aquinas Sectional final. The Blackhawks are the champions of the Southwest Wisconsin Conference with a 9-1 SWC record.
Prairie du Chien is 24-1 on the season and will take on Markesan who is 24-0 at 1 p.m. in the Division 3 State Semifinal at Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute on June 15.
The Markesan Hornets won the Trailways North Conference with a 13-0 record. It was 1957 when Markesan participated in its only State Tournament. That appearance resulted in a first-round defeat. The Hornets return almost six decades later thanks to a six-inning, 12-2 triumph over Palmyra-Eagle in the Ripon Sectional final. Markesan has a Prairie du Chien connection. Former Prairie du Chien District Administrator Duane Bark is the Markesan District Administrator.
“We open up with Markesan who is undefeated at 24-0,” said Prairie du Chien Coach Mark Pedretti. “They are a solid hitting team with a good pitching staff and I am sure our team is looking forward to the challenge.”
The winner of the Prairie du Chien versus Markesan game will take on the winner of the St. Mary Catholic versus Unity game for the state championship. The Division 3 State Championship game will be held at noon on June 16 at Fox Cities Stadium.
St. Mary Catholic returns to State for the fifth time overall and for the first time since 2012. The Zephyrs made three straight appearances from 2001-03, which produced a runner-up finish in 2003. They beat Marathon 7-4 in the final of the Pacelli Sectional to advance to State. They are the champions of the Eastern Wisconsin Conference with an 18-0 record. The Zephyrs have a season record of 24-0.
Unity will experience the State Tournament for the first time following a 5-4 victory over Durand in the final of the sectional held in Durand. Prior to making the transition to the spring season, the Eagles made six appearances in the State Summer Baseball Tournament. They won the State Title in 1992 between two runner-up finishes in 1991 and 1993. The Eagles finished first in the West Division of the Lakeland Conference this spring with a 12-2 record. They have a 22-4-2 record overall.
“There are four solid teams in our division at State and the players and coaching staff are looking forward to these competitive games,” Pedretti said.
This school year continues to be an excellent one for Prairie du Chien High School sports. It is believed to be the first time in school history that the Prairie du Chien boys have won the football, basketball and baseball conference titles in the same school year. The football team won the Southwest Wisconsin Conference with a 4-1 record. The basketball team had a 10-0 conference record and went to the State Basketball Tournament for the first time in 30 years. The baseball team won conference with a 9-1 record and now is headed to State.
“We have had a great season. The kids have worked hard and we are ready to take that next step towards one of our goals,” said Coach Pedretti about the upcoming State Tournament. “Our coaching staff at all levels have had great seasons. The junior varsity was 17-4 and is coached by Dale Hanson and Kalen Hagen. The varsity reserve was 21-1 and was coached by Nate Cejka. Tim Halton and Steve Jones are volunteer coaches at the varsity level with myself. We also have had an awesome fan base throughout the season and we really appreciate all their support and loud cheering which gets the players fired up.”
The pre-finals of the State Baseball Tournament will be broadcast live on NFHS Network. The Division 1 quarterfinals and the semifinals of all four divisions of the WIAA State Spring Baseball Tournament will be streamed live on the WIAA.TV portal of the NFHS Network on a subscription basis. To purchase a subscription to the live programming, log-on to www.nfhsnetwork.com and click on the image in the middle of the screen to begin ordering your subscription.
Fans can watch the WIAA State Spring Baseball Championship finals of Division 2, 3 and 4 live on FS Wisconsin and the Division 1 final on the FS Wisconsin Alternate Channel. Check local cable listings for the channel in your area.
