Dynasties rule state baseball
On Friday the WIAA will host the state summer baseball tournament. Its conclusion will mark the end of an era.
For 54 years teams in the state, a large number from the Milwaukee area, opted for the better weather the summer season provided. At its height, there were 110 teams in the state playing the summer season. When the WIAA pulled the plug on summer ball this past winter, there were 50 teams.
A number of those programs made their mark. Here is one take on summer
baseball’s top dynasties (in no particular order).
West Bend West (2007-’17)
The Spartans won two of their four state titles during this stretch. Three other times during these 11 years – 2010, ’11 and ’13 – West reached the final, and seven times the program qualified for state.
State championships, each noteworthy for a different reason, bookend the era.
The 2007 team stormed through the tournament, winning four of its six postseason games by at least 10 runs. Two of those wins came at state, with the season culminating with an 11-1 victory over New Holstein that lasted only five innings. Paul Hoenecke and Adam Martz sparked that win with run-scoring hits in the first inning, but the team really broke open the game with a threerun fourth and a five-run fifth.
The 2017 team oneupped the 2007 squad, which lost just once, by completing a rare undefeated season. Led by Division I recruits Anthony Schlass (Oklahoma), Nathan Burns (Oregon State), Jack Thelen (UWMilwaukee) and Evan Albrecht (Purdue), the Spartans defeated Marquette, 6-4, in the final to finish 33-0.
Marquette (2006-’11)
Considering the Hilltoppers started state tournament play late – private schools didn’t join summer ball until 1999 – the fact they rank second all-time in tournament wins with 15 is especially impressive. Ten of those came during this six-year run.
The stretch was highlighted by championships in 2006 and ’08, but Marquette also advanced to the final in 2009 and reached the semifinals in 2007 and ’11, a time when the tournament still included quarterfinals.
The 2008 squad was dominant at state. The 2006 team’s run, on the other hand, was much more dramatic. Marquette scored twice in the bottom of the seventh to beat Cudahy, 5-4, in the semifinals with the winning run crossing home plate on an error. In the final, it erased a three-run deficit, taking the lead on a fifth-inning single by Dan Leveritt and eventually
winning, 5-3.
Oak Creek (2003-’05)
The Knights are the only program in the history of summer ball to win three straight titles, and when you add the 71year history of WIAA spring baseball tournaments only two other programs have matched that feat.
With Peter Dooley serving as head coach for the first two years of that run and current coach Scott Holler taking over in Year 3, Oak Creek went 84-29 during that stretch.
That was the Tony Butler era. Hailed as one of the state’s all-time great pitchers, Butler won games at state each year. As a sophomore, he pitched five innings of no-hit ball in the final before giving way to relievers Tony Harper and Joe Zielinski. As a junior Butler tossed a three-hit shutout of Wauwatosa East in the semifinals in which he struck out 12. Senior year he tossed five innings of shutout ball against Waukesha West in the quarterfinals then a day later went two innings to notch the save against Ashland in the final.
Repeat champions in summer ball are a relatively new trend. It has happened only three times. Oak Creek was the first. The Sabers were the second.
Their titles in 2010 and ’11 highlight this stretch, but the program also qualified in 2007 and ’09. The ’07 squad was thumped by 10 runs in the quarterfinals by eventual champion West Bend West. The ’09 team reached the semifinals. Over the next two seasons, Franklin went 5921.
To get that last title the Sabers needed to win in extra innings twice. Joel Kornhoff’s grand slam in the eighth helped Franklin
beat Waukesha West, 14-7, in the quarterfinals; and Jay Dirienzo’s triple set the table for the deciding run of a 6-5, eight-inning win over Marquette in the semifinals.
Menomonee Falls (2015-’18)
Falls is the only program on our list that can add to its legacy this year. The team finished fourth in the Greater Metro but has picked up steam in the second half of the season and won 17 of its last 19 games.
This isn’t Falls’ only great run at state.
The program made three trips in four years from 2001-’04, posting runner-up finishes in ’ 01 and ’04. The program made one trip to state over the next 11 seasons before starting this current run.
Falls took advantage of four errors in the first two innings to jump out to a six-run lead in an 11-0, six-inning win over Franklin in the 2015 final.
The following year the team’s dominant pitching did a number on the competition. Logan Roble allowed four hits in a complete-game shutout of New Holstein in the semifinals. Later that day, Illinois recruit Ty Weber struck out nine in a complete-game 2-0 win over Marquette in the final.
Greendale (1980-’87)
Under longtime coach Robin Schrank, the Panthers staked their claim as the team of the decade. They won titles in 1980 and ’87, were the state runner-up in ’85 and a semifinalist in ’82. The program won nine state tournament games during that stretch.
The 1980 trip was the first for the school and the Panthers made the most of it with an 8-4 victory over Onalaska that included a complete-game pitching effort from Steve Papez, who spread five hits over seven innings.
Seven years later the Panthers ended the run with a 7-4 victory over Park Falls in the final in which they took advantage of 13 walks and got a solid outing from Jeff Seavert.
Brown Deer (1975-’82)
Formerly known as Granville High School, Brown Deer was the one of the state’s first powerhouses. The Falcons qualified for the first two
state tournaments, placing second in 1965 and winning the title in 1966.
By the mid-1970s the program was clicking, winning championships in 1975 and ’77 and placing second in 1982.