Milestone week pushes Kettle Moraine Lutheran up in our final baseball rankings of the season

AREA RANKINGS

Team (W-L), last week

1. Hartford (21-2), 3
2. Lake Country Lutheran (22-2), 5
3. Kettle Moraine Lutheran (21-3), 6
4. Oak Creek (19-3), 1
5. Muskego (20-3), 2
6. Menomonee Falls (20-4), 8
7. Wisconsin Lutheran (17-5), 9
8. Westosha Central (18-4), -
9. Kenosha Tremper (19-4), -
10. Union Grove (19-4), -

Others considered: Arrowhead (17-5); Badger (18-5); Kenosha St. Joseph Catholic (17-4); Nicolet (18-6); Pewaukee (18-6); St. Thomas More (18-6); University School of Milwaukee (14-5-1); Waukesha West (15-8); Westosha Central (18-4); Whitnall (15-7).

TEAM OF THE WEEK

Kettle Moraine Lutheran

It was a week of extraordinary achievement for the Chargers, who won a fourth-straight conference title, kept a historic winning streak alive and helped their coach reach a career milestone as well.

A 5-0 week was highlighted by a 4-3 walk-off win in eight innings over Waupun, with junior Adam Zylka driving in the winning run. Fellow junior Jackson Kobylarczyk drove in the tying run earlier in the eighth as well to set up Zylka for the winning tally. The win also secured the fourth-straight East Central Conference title for the Chargers.

KML also defeated Ripon 5-0 at home on Tuesday and 14-3 on the road on Thursday, which was followed by a 1-0 win Saturday over Fox Valley Lutheran and a 7-5 victory over Wisconsin Lutheran on Saturday as well. Senior pitcher Reed Ratay pitched two complete game shutouts, in the first win over Ripon and the Saturday victory over Fox Valley Lutheran, to lead the efforts of the pitching staff. He allowed four total hits, two walks and struck out 11 over the course of the week.

The wins improved KML's winning streak to 21 games entering the final week of the regular season, an undefeated stretch that extends from an 0-3 start to the season. Head coach Darrell Washburn also earned his 300th career win in his 19th season of coaching, with his career record now standing at 303-171.

COMING UP

Kenosha Tremper vs. Oak Creek, 4:30 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday at KT, 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at Oak Creek: The Southeast Conference title share is one win away for Oak Creek (16-2 in SEC) with a three-game slate against second-place Tremper (14-4) on deck this week. A sweep for Tremper gives them the outright title, while two wins for Oak Creek gives them the outright title.

Arrowhead vs. Muskego, 5 p.m. Tuesday at Muskego, 4:30 p.m. Thursday at Arrowhead: Two conference losses for Muskego (11-2 in Classic 8) last week opened the door for Arrowhead (10-3) to make a late play for a conference title share. Each has three conference games remaining entering the week, including these two matchups against one another.