Seasons end

Three strong seasons came to an end last week in hard fought, highly competitive, one-and-done WIAA tournament play. On May 29, the Ashland Oredockers baseball team took top-seeded host Medford into eight innings before losing 4-3 in a Division 2 regional finals game (watch for a feature on the team in the Friday, June 7 issue of the Ashland Daily Press). Meanwhile, the Ashland boys tennis doubles team of seniors Austin Vyskocil and Bodee Mikkonen were ousted 7-5, 6-3 on May 30 in the opening round of Division 2 state championships held in Madison. The Dockers’ duo dropped their match to Wisconsin’s No. 6 ranked Vibhu Guda and Peyton Zeller of Brookfield Academy. It was the second consecutive trip to state for Vyskocil and Mikkonen. Finally, the Washburn girls soccer team fell 1-0 to Somerset in a heartbreaking WIAA D4 regional final defeat at Ponzio Stadium on June 1. The disappointing end means the ‘Guards have been denied their goal of making sectionals, but does not detract from a season in which Washburn further established itself as a force within D4. A bevy of talented juniors return to this unit next season, when the Castle Guards prospects for gaining a berth at state may peak.