Focus on baseball
AREA RANKINGS
Records through Sunday
1. Catholic Memorial (17-3) 1 (last week)
2. Arrowhead (17-3) 3
3. Burlington (17-4) 2
4. Oconomowoc (16-5) 4
5. Kenosha Tremper (16-3) 5
6. Wilmot (14-4) 7
7. Waterford (15-6) 6
8. Racine Lutheran/Prairie (16-3) 8
9. Greendale Martin Luther (17-3) 9
10. Living Word Lutheran (15-5) 10
STATE RANKINGS
(Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association)
Division 1
1. Green Bay Preble (23-0), 2. Eau Claire North (16-2), 3. Janesville Craig (20-2), 4. Arrowhead (17-3), 5. Sun Prairie (18-5), 6. Kenosha Tremper (16-3), 7. Burlington (16-4), 8. Wausau West (13-4), 9. Oconomowoc (16-4), 10. Kimberly (13-7).
Division 2
1. Catholic Memorial (17-3), 2. Beloit Turner (21-2), 3. West Salem (17-2), 4. Columbus (17-1), 5. Luxemburg-Casco (20-3), 6. Waupun (21-5), 7. Antigo (19-2), 8. Mount Horeb (17-4), 9. Prairie du Chien (18-2), 10. Jefferson (16-6).
Division 3
1. St. Mary Catholic (19-0), 2. Coleman (20-1), 3. Eau Claire Regis (22-2), 4. Shullsburg-Benton (21-3), 5. Winnebago Lutheran (15-2), 6. Cochrane-Fountain City (19-5), 7. Cumberland (13-4), 8. Unity (14-4), 9. Neillsville (13-5), 10. Elk Mound (14-6).
Division 4
1. Pecatonica (17-1), 2. Ithaca (15-3), 3. Clear Lake (22-1), 4. De Soto (20-5), 5. Webster (16-4), 6. Almond-Bancroft (19-2), 7. Pittsville (18-4), 8. Royall (15-3), 9. Cashton (14-4), 10. Living Word Lutheran (15-5).
NOTABLE
Player of the week: Tanner Williams, Arrowhead. The senior shortstop is one of the reasons Arrowhead won three games last week, including two against Wisconsin Lutheran in Wisconsin Little Ten Conference play. The Winona State recruit went 6 for 8 with six runs scored and two RBI. He leads the Warhawks with a .509 batting average to go with 22 runs and 17 RBI. Williams also was recently selected to play in the All-Star Classic.
Team of the week: Wilmot. The Panthers began the week with a 10-game winning streak after going 3-0 last week. The week started with an 8-3 win over Southern Lakes-leading Burlington and was followed by 9-5 and 10-5 victories over Union Grove. Pitchers Kyle Gendron, Troy Hickey, Josh Schattner and Gunner Peterson have been consistent on the mound, according to coach Josh Pye, who also complimented the offense and defense. “Offensively, our entire lineup decided it was time to start hitting,” he said. “We are putting the ball in play, making productive outs by moving runners and doing a great job of recognizing what it takes to push a run across the plate. Defensively, we are playing well as a unit. Our defense has made adjustments in realizing that we can’t give away free bases in order to eliminate big innings.”
Bring on the playoffs: The first round of the Division 2-4 playoffs begin Thursday, and Division 1 starts on May 30. In Division 1, two area teams are seeded first: Reigning state champion Burlington and runner-up Arrowhead. The second-ranked Warhawks are in the MATC South Sectional and every other team is from the City Conference. Milwaukee Riverside is seeded No. 2 and lost to Arrowhead, 7-2, on Wednesday. The third-ranked Demons host their sectional, and it is loaded. It also features No. 5 Tremper (seeded second), No. 7 Waterford (seeded third) and No. 6 Wilmot (seeded fourth). No. 4 Oconomowoc is seeded second in the Sun Prairie Sectional. The host Cardinals are ranked fifth in the state. No 1 Catholic Memorial is seeded first in the Division 2 Evansville Sectional, and will be fighting No. 8 Racine Lutheran/Prairie (seeded second) and No. 9 Martin Luther (seeded fourth) just to reach the sectionals. In the Waupun Sectional, Wisconsin Lutheran received a No. 1 seed and St. Francis is second despite each having a losing record. In Division 3, the highest-seeded area teams both received a No. 2: Lake Country Lutheran and Kenosha St. Joseph. It is the same in Division 4, as the highest seeded teams are also second: No. 10 Living Word Lutheran and Burlington Catholic Central. The Timberwolves are behind top-seeded Oakfield despite the Oaks not in the top 10 of the state poll. The state tournament will be held June 13-15 at Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute.
COMING UP
Arrowhead vs. Catholic Memorial, 5 p.m. Tuesday at Infinity Fields: The Wisconsin Little Ten teams entered their contest Monday tied atop the conference standings. If the winner can sweep the two-game set, it will own sole possession of first.
Delavan-Darien at Greedale Martin Luther, 4:30 p.m. Tuesday: Another team likely disappointed in its seed is the Spartans, who will have to take on top-ranked Catholic Memorial in the second round if they beat the Comets.
Lomira at University School, 4:30 p.m. Thursday: The Wildcats are seeded fourth in Division 2 despite having recent victories over Lake Country Lutheran, St. Francis and Kettle Moraine Lutheran – teams all seeded higher.
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