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Triple Play Triple Threat -- Rece Dietrich, Barron

04/22/2016, 9:45am CDT
By Mark Miller

Name: Rece Dietrich

School: Barron High School

Grade: Senior

Football Honors: Three-year varsity starter for coach Trenton Nelson and the Golden Bears ... Earned all-Heart O'North Conference second team honors at defensive back as a sophomore and second-team quarterback laurels as a junior ... Opted to play soccer as a senior.

Soccer Honors: Set a school record by allowing just eight goals the entire 2015 season as the starting goalie for a Barron squad that qualified for the WIAA State Tournament ... Earned honorable mention all-conference honors for coach Jeff Rousselow in his first year of playing competitive soccer. 


Basketball Honors: Four-year varsity starter for coach Ky Baumgard ... Averaged 21.9 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game as a senior ... A 6-foot-6 left-handed wing player with good shooting range ... Earned first-team all-league honors in the Heart O'North Conference in each of the past three seasons ... All-time leading scorer in school history with 1,778 points ... Averaged 18.5 ppg and 8.1 rpg over his four-year career.  

Baseball Honors: Four-year starter for coach Jonathan Lantz and the Golden Bears ... Left-handed pitcher who finished with 56 innings pitched, an 0.625 earned-run average and 91 strikeouts as a junior en route to earning first-team all-conference honors ... Missed most of his sophomore season with an army injury, but earned second-team all-league recognition as a pitcher as a freshman ... A Team Wisconsin selection from the Wisconsin Baseball Showcase in 2015. 

Favorite Sport: "Baseball is my favorite sport because I love the social interaction you get to have that's incorporated into the game. I like all the talking that goes on in the dugouts and while you are on the field. It's also the sport where I feel the most encouragement while I play. While pitching, everyone in the field is giving me position encouragement and while I'm batting, everyone is constantly cheering me on.

"My favorite sport if I were to play it the rest of my life would be golf. It's such a mental game and that's what makes it fun. One day you could shoot the worst round of your life and the next, you could shoot the best round of your life. It takes more work than any other sport to be good at it, in my opinion. I love the fact there is more than one playing field for golf. You're not stuck on the same basketball court or football field or baseball field. The courses change and it makes for new challenges. The other part of golf is the social side and if you have friends you can play with or family members like I do that are really fun to play with, it makes it so much more enjoyable."


Best Part of High School Sports: "The best part of high school sports is the relationships you make with teammates and coaches that last a lifetime. It's a cool thing when people from all different backgrounds come together for a sport and put everything they have into one season. Also, the playoff atmosphere is something that is unmatched by an regular-season or AAU tournament game. Everyone in the community is there supporting you and you have dozens of students adding to the energy of the game."

Best Advice from a High School Coach: "It's not what you know, it's how your find, from coach Greg Mikunda, who is a former teacher and baseball coach of mine. It is so true because life is about finding. You have to learn before you can know, and in life you can get a lot further by the connections you have and the people you develop relationships with, compared to what you know individually."


Most Memorable Moment in High School Sports: "It's hard to pick a specific moment, but a couple come to mind right away. Playing Bronson Koenig of Aquinas in the sectional finals in basketball my freshman year was cool, but what made it even more memorable was that he guarded me the entire game and I also stole one of his passes and went in and scored a layup. Another moment that I dreamed of since I was a little kid was making it to state. I never would have imagined I would have gone to state as a goalkeeper in soccer since I never played soccer until my senior year. Pitching against Rice Lake in the sectional semifinal game in Viroqua in rain that went 12 innings was another moment that came instantly to mind. I started the game and pitched seven innings and then the final play was a walk-off hit by a teammate of mine and I have the picture of us celebrating framed in my basement."

Best Part of Playing Three Sports: "The best part of playing three sports is the different experiences you create with friends and teammates within each sport. I might never have talked to someone outside of that sport or have been close friends, but during that season, you become better friends and do things together. Also, the seasons aren't long enough to where it feels dragged out. You are always excited to play and want to put the most you can into that three-month time span."

Toughest Part of Playing Three Sports: "The toughest part is probably switching between all the sports because you just got done with one and all of a sudden in a week the next one starts and you don't have time to recover or work much on your skills for that next sport. You just sort of jump into the next season and start all over again with building team chemistry."

Favorite Opponent: "My favorite opponents would have to be Cameron in basketball and Hayward in baseball. During my four years, there was a good rivalry with Cameron and especially the last two years. I played basketball with Peyton Dibble and Max Verdegan of Cameron in AAU and they were so fun to compete against. Great sportsmanship and it was fun to talk with them during and after games. Hayward has also been my most favorite opponent in baseball because it has been a top two team in our conference since I pitched against them my freshman year. They always force me to compete my hardest and to be mentally tough as a pitcher because they have had some really good hitters in the past. I love giving my best against the best competition in the area and it's always been a battle with Hayward. They have great sportsmanship and compete fairly, which makes it even more enjoyable."

Favorite Professional Team: Green Bay Packers

Favorite Professional Athletes: Tiger Woods

Favorite College Teams: Wisconsin Badgers, Duke Blue Devils

Cumulative GPA: 3.968

Toughest Individual You've Competed Against: "Fortunately for me, my toughest opponent was on my team for two years, Jason Balts. He pushed me to be a better athlete and person. In basketball, we were both captains and in practice we would go head-to-head in one-on-one drills or in scrimmages with each of us leading a team. When I worked out with him, he was always pushing me and wanted to beat me in everything he could. That made me become a better competitor and learn more about mental toughness. Seeing him compete so hard and in such a sportsmanlike manner challenged me to improve my game in whatever sport I was playing because I wanted to be better than he was."

Most Admired High School Teammate: "My most admired teammate would have to be Jason Balts, who was a past WIAA Scholar Athlete Award Winner. We teamed for my freshman and sophomore years and he was the best athlete that played three sports I've seen in high school. It isn't his athleticism that makes me admire him, but his mental toughness, competitive drive and overwhelming high character."

College Plans: "I will be attending the University of Minnesota-Duluth to major in communications, minor in mass media and pitch for the baseball team."

Activities Outside of Sports: Student Senate President, Senior trainer for Peer Helper Program, youth coach volunteer in both basketball and baseball 


I Find it Relaxing to: "Play video games with my friends or go golfing with my friends. I live 100 yards from the 18th tee of the Rolling Oaks Golf Course and currently work there so I put in many rounds during the summer."

Favorite TV shows: Pawn Stars, Keeping up with the Kardashians, WWE Raw, Smackdown

Favorite Movies: 300, Law Abiding Citizen, The Guardian, Dumb and Dumber, Coach Carter

Favorite Musical Artists: "I love Adele's voice and her music has deep meaning to it. Eminem is my favorite artist for pregame music. Coldplay and Imagine Dragons are my favorite for rock/pop music."


Favorite Subject: History

Favorite Restaurants: Puglia Ristorante in New York city

Favorite Website: YouTube.com/RDstarGaming


Other Family Members: Mike, father; Deb, mother; Sosa, dog.

(If you'd like to nominate a senior three-sport athlete from Wisconsin for the Triple Play Triple Threat feature, please contact Mark Miller at wbnews@yahoo.com)

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