Wisconsin High School Sports | Wisconsin Sports Network | WisSports.net

Hello Again Everyone,



I ve cleaned off the 2006 team and conference preview page and have already added the East Central Conference preview that was submitted by Tim Whitford from Winneconne. The coaches in that conference are reminded that you can add stuff to that preview or send in your own. I have also added a brief look at the Southeast Conference that Nathan Vance submitted but there is more information from other coaches that should be added so send it to me.



You should also know that Tim Husted, the General Manager of the Danes, a summer program, has submitted an article that appears on the features page of the website. Just click on the features line when you get to the Wisconsin High School girls page of my website. I ve left last year s features on there for a while just in case someone wants to read them again or take a look at the kind of stuff the website offers.



On March 24th there is a scrimmage scheduled to take place in McFarland. Right now there are three schools involved and we are looking for a fourth one to jump in. The three are McFarland, Middleton and Poynette. The cost of the scrimmage is $75 to cover the umpires that McFarland brings in. It will start at 9 am and you will scrimmage all three teams for about 75 minutes or so. You can contact me to secure the fourth spot as I told my longtime friend Steve Schmikla that I d take over. Speaking of Steve, I m happy and proud to announce that his daughter Stephanie has given Concordia in St. Paul, a NCAA Division 2 institution, a verbal commitment to play fastpitch softball there. Steph is a great kid and I wish her the best this year and beyond. Steve, of course, is just one of just five coaches in the history of high school girls softball in the state of Wisconsin to reach the 400 win level.



Here s another announcement that might interest someone. My good friend Brian Phelps of Gilman is looking at bringing his club down to Poynette and using our facility to get some early practice in because he doubts if his field will be ready to use that early. He s looking for a game against someone in Poynette on Tuesday, April 3rd. If you are interested in playing Gilman, a very strong Division 4 program that has been at the state tournament multiple times in the past few years, just let me know or let Brian know. We d take care of both teams with a food and beverages after the game. Our schedule is full so we can t play that game against them.



Marilyn Rogers of Adams-Friendship forwarded an intriguing question to me but before she gave me time to think about it and offer an answer she gave the answer to me. Here it is. Explain how a batter could see 11 pitches, never swing the bat and get called out on strikes for that turn at the plate. By the way, I could have pondered this one for a long time and never gotten the answer. Have at it. I might even offer a prize to the people who submit the correct answer – so Marilyn, don t help them out.



I have those triple play certificates here now. I sent a few out last year. If you still want one for last year I ll send them to you. I have to know the names of the players involved, the school they played for, the date of the game and the opponent. If you have a triple play this year just submit all that information to me and I ll send out the certificates immediately (at least within two days). They look pretty spiffy and make a great framed piece for someone s wall.



The season officially begins tomorrow (It s Sunday night). I hauled a bunch of equipment around at school today to get ready for that first indoor practice. This will be my 28th first day of fastpitch practice. I know there are few coaches in the state that are a couple years ahead of me – like Darrell Laschen up in Loyal, Steve Schmikla in McFarland and Bob LeCaptain at Green Bay West but I am one of the fossils in the state. We ve seen it all from the get go – like 12-game schedules and pitching restrictions where the number of innings a kid could pitch was limited much the same as baseball; Division 1 championship game scores that were like slowpitch scores because those teams seldom had enough pitching to stretch into a three-day event down there in Waukesha.



I m looking forward to working with a group of very young, eager kids that simply want to pull on our black and orange uniforms. What more could a coach ask for?



Have a great first day!

Keep it Rising!

Bob