The WIAA state baseball playoffs begins on Thursday, with the state tournament from June 10-13 at Fox Cities Stadium.
There is no telling which, if any, area teams will make the trek to Grand Chute but here are four teams with the most realist opportunity.
Manitowoc Lincoln riding best team of last 30 years
I’ll preface this by saying the WIAA has yet to release the Division 1 brackets so we don’t know who Manitowoc Lincoln will be facing or what seed the Ships will get.
It quite frankly shouldn’t matter because Manitowoc Lincoln has had the best statistical season of coach Bruce Steinbecker’s 27 seasons through Friday’s games.
Of the Ships three losses, two have against a De Pere team which is ranked in the top 5 in the state according to the Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association.
Senior Noah Wech, who is committed to play for NCAA Division I Oklahoma State and is expected to be drafted at the end of July by a Major League Baseball team, is the unquestioned standout for Manitowoc Lincoln.
Wech leads the Ships with a .465 average while also having eight extra-base hits and 22 RBIs.
On the mound, Wech has a 1.03 earned run average which is third on the team.
Cade Grapentine (0.54 ERA) and Brayden Steinbecker (0.98), son of Bruce Steinbecker, give Lincoln three solid pitchers.
If there was ever a team which could send Lincoln back to the state tournament for the first time since 2006, this would be it.
Kiel looking reach state for a second-straight season
The Kiel Raiders made the spring state tournament for the first time in 2023, having reached the summer tournament twice before in 1969 and 2017.
The Raiders begin the postseason on Tuesday in the Division 2 regional semifinals, with last year’s appearance coming in D3.
Until Friday, top-seeded Kiel had won 18-straight games and hadn’t lost to a team in Wisconsin before a 6-1 loss to Winnebago Lutheran.
Eyan Dessellier has the highest batting average on the team at .411 while Jackson Neese’s 21 RBIs leads the Raiders.
Dessellier also leads Kiel with 50 innings pitched and has a very low 0.70 ERA. He’s struck out 83 batters compared to 23 walks.
Mishicot seeks first-ever state appearance
Mishicot earned the No. 1 seed in its Division 3 half sectional and won’t play until Tuesday in the regional semifinals.
The team has been ranked throughout the season, including in the top 5 for a large chunk, and will try to reach the state tournament for the first time in school history.
Logan Marquart leads Mishicot in both average (.491) and RBIs (17) to lead the offense.
Nolan Sand is the ace of the pitching staff with a 1.57 ERA in 35 2/3 innings pitching. He’s struck out a team-high 53 batters compared to 16 walks.
More Mishicot athletics:Kiran Sanford and her 6 no-hitters a 'highlight' for top-ranked Mishicot softball
Cedar Grove-Belgium last made state 40 years ago
It was way back in 1984, during the summer tournament, when the Cedar Grove-Belgium Rockets last reached a state tournament. The program also made state in 1977.
Cedar Grove-Belgium drew a bye to the regional semifinals in D3, earning a No. 2 seed.
Potentially standing in the way would be top-seeded Laconia, which was recently ranked as high as No. 2 in the division.
Leading the offense is Griffin Knight, who has a team-high 22 hits and 27 runs scored. Brayden Oelhafen leads the Rockets with 23 RBIs.
Jude Ackeret has thrown a team-high 41 innings on the mound for Cedar Grove-Belgium and has a team-best 2.220 ERA although Oelhafen is right behind at 2.230.
Manitowoc/Sheboygan baseball playoff schedule
Thursday, May 23
Division 2
No. 9 Two Rivers at No. 8 Berlin
No. 12 Winneconne at No. 5 Plymouth
No. 13 Sheboygan Falls at No. 4 Chilton
Division 3
No. 9 Southern Door at No. 8 Manitowoc Lutheran
No. 11 Valders at No. 6 St. Mary Catholic
No. 10 Roncalli at No. 7 Amherst
No. 13 Howards Grove at No. 4 Kohler/Christian
No. 14 Sheboygan Lutheran at No. 3 Green Lake Princeton
No. 11 Oostburg at No. 6 New Holstein
No. 10 Horicon at No. 7 Random Lake
Division 4
No. 13 Green Bay NEW Lutheran/Providence Academy at No. 4 Reedsville
No. 9 Ozaukee at No. 8 Heritage Christian
No. 10 Cambria-Friesland at No. 7 Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah
Tuesday, May 28
Division 2
TBD at No. 1 Kiel
Division 3
TBD at No. 1 Mishicot
TBD at No. 2 Cedar Grove-Belgium
Editor's note: The Division 1 bracket was not released as of press time.
Contact Tom Dombeck at 920-686-2965 ortdombeck@htrnews.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at@Tom_Dombeck.
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