Sky's the Limit

How is this for coincidence? Brookfield Central, which is probably the best of the four teams I cover in Brookfield and Wauwatosa, has three quarterbacks fighting for playing time - Juniors Collin O'Gorman and Tom Showers and sophomore Jason Meichtry.

Brookfield East, Wauwatosa East and Wauwatosa West on the other hand, have three solid to excellent quarterbacks in Skyler Holden, Ethan Harris and Kevin Gorman, respectively. Yet all three of these teams might struggle to play .500 ball this year. All three of these players are the keys to their offense.

At Central, the Lancer quarterbacks have two D1 running backs Xavier Whitaker (The X-Man) and Jeff Lewis in that backfield and an outstanding line. Bryce Gilbert, Central's version of the Incredible Hulk, will play offense as well as defense this season. Gilbert is 6-2, 300 pounds and has muscles in places I don't even have places.

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Their cup runneth over for Cross Country teams in Brookfield this year. Tim Peterson, Will Casey (MUHS transfer) and Jordan Lindstrom (Brook Central), Mark Lindquist and Karl Brandstaetter (Brook East) and Taylor Conway and Natalie Dillon (Brook East) are runners to watch.

But look out for defending Greater Metro Champion Brook Central. Lorie Lewis has talent galore led by Hannah Trasser, the GMC runner of the year. Caitlin Wolters, Alyson Ambrookian and Kate Manske also bring all-conference credentials with them.

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A Sterling Catch - In the Tosa West win over Milwaukee North, Ray Sterling, Jr. made a big league catch for a touchdown. QB Kevin Gorman threw about a 20 yard pass on a line down the right sideline and hit Sterling in stride. But what was impressive was the way Sterling caught the ball with his hands outstretched, made a move inside and then outran the defenders. An outstanding play.

If the Trojans are going to be successful, their O-line and D-line will have to step up big time this year, because there are some good skill position players.

Be a hit and have a ball.

The best story last week was Bethany/Calvary upsetting Schmidt and Bartelt 'A', 8-1, to win the rec softball title. There were tons of fun angles on this game.

• SBA had won sixth straight titles and BC barely made the tournament, but qualified when someone had to drop out. 
• BC Manager Ted Blackschein had a big night at the plate and earned the title on his 41st birthday.
• BC's Jimmy Haas stopped SBA on 1 run - not bad for a 62-year old hurler who was playing in his 40th season.
• The game was played in a steady rain, which made the outstanding defense played by BC even more amazing.

Congrats BC, you had a heck of a run.

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It might be a long year for the Wauwatosa East, Wauwatosa West and Brookfield East football teams, but a lack of a good quarterback won't be the problem. The Red Raiders' Ethan Harris was first-team all-GMC last year, while the speedy Kevin Gorman of Tosa West and Skyler Holden of Brookfield East can make things happen.

Speaking of Tosa West, the Trojans are playing Milwaukee North Friday at West. Like Tosa West, North did not win a game last year, so this might be coach Matt Good's first real shot at his first win as head coach.

At Brookfield Central, D1 signees Xavier Whitaker and Jeff Lewis in the backfield will be something to behold, but the Lancers need to settle on a quarterback. In you like to watch the line, look for 300-pounder Bryce Gilbert, who should be a two-way terror for other Greater Metro teams this year.

The other futbol teams - soccer - should have interesting seasons. Brook East and Central will battle Marquette for the GMC title and Tosa East, under new coach Eric Dale, should be improved. Tosa West will also be solid, although the Trojans might have some ups and downs because of their youth.

The Brook East girls cross country team and the Brook Central boys CC squad should be very good. Mike Vann will try and bring his successful coaching talents to the Tosa West boys CC team after doing an excellent job with the track team.

Look for the TW girls volleyball team to contend in the Woodland Conference again this year with Jenny Ciriacks and Sam Himmelspach leading the way.

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Congrats to the Wauwatosa Spartans for winning their first Ironman Football League playoff game last Saturday, a 28-27 thriller over Rock County. They will now host the Burlington Blue Devils in a 6 p.m. game at Hart Park on Saturday night.

Fall prep sports have officially begun this week. My goodness, what happened to summer? (My wife said it was two days last week).

On Monday of this week, the high school linksters and kickers could officially work as a team.

That means Jon Mroz (Brookfield Central), Herbie Dundun (Brookfield East), Mike Parulski (Wauwatosa West) and new head coach Eric Dale (Wauwatosa East) will be getting ready for the soccer season. Dale replaced long-time Tosa East coach Bob Prange, who wanted to spend more time with his young family.

On the golf course, Chris Minchk (Brook East), Brian Scrobel (Brook Central) and Sarah Sallman (Tosa East/West) all will have their teams swinging away on the links.

Football, swimming/diving and tennis got underway Tuesday, so veteran coaches Doug Lange (Central) and Tom Swittel (T.East) will be getting their teams ready, while second-year coaches Sal Logue (B.East) and Matt Good (T. West) will be looking for a better season the second time around.

Glen Slonac (T.East), Zervas Kosta (T.West), Dave Steinbach (Central) and Linda Lied (East) are back on the tennis courts, while Mike Rose (B.East), Bill Twitchell (Central) and Russ Weigel (T.East) return to the swimming pool while veteran swim coach Dale Schrank takes over at Tosa West.

Boys and girls cross country and girls volleyball is set for next week and boys volleyball is the last to start on Aug. 24.

Starting Tuesday, the WIAA Regionals begin, the first step towards going to the State Tournament at Stevens Point on July 29 and 30. It will take three victories to make the state tournament.

Second-seeded Brookfield Central and third-seeded Brookfield East are in the rugged Germantown sectional. Arrowhead, one of the top teams in the state this summer, is rated No. 1 and Menomonee Falls is seeded No. 4 in the regional. Fifth-seeded Slinger, sixth-seeded Germantown, seventh-seeded Pewaukee and eighth-seeded Sussex Hamilton are also solid teams.

Central hosts Pewaukee and East hosts Germantown in 5:30 p.m. games. If both Brookfield schools win they will face off for the fourth time this year on Friday at 2:30 p.m. at Germantown.

Across town, seventh-seeded Wauwatosa East and eighth-seeded Wauwatosa West will have their hands full taking on second-seeded New Berlin Eisenhower and top-seeded New Berlin West in the first rounds at 5 p.m. The New Berlin schools are the only schools out of the eight in the New Berlin West Sectional with winning records.

Good luck to the Lancers, Spartans, Red Raiders and Trojans on Tuesday.

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Some thoughts on the local baseball teams.

Brook Central - Everyone knows that Ryan Hinz, Mike Mierow, Ricky Leachy, Pete Ostergaard, Matt Upson and Danny Barwick can hit. But now senior Tim Peterson has emerged down the stretch, giving the Lancers seven tough hitters.

Look for someone like veteran Matt Gordon, Billy Maus, Collin O'Gorman, Brad Leachy or Steve Rossman to also step up.

Brook East - The Spartans need to shake off the fact that Central handled them in their big two-game series on July 9-10. They have had a good season and they need to beat a tough Germantown team on Tuesday to hopefully get another shot at the Lancers. The Jakes - Janowski and Schaffhauser - and the Syllas - Brian and Kevin - will lead this group.

But with seniors Janowski, Zach Stewart, Zach Sines, Demetri Tongas and Josh Schober making their last stand, the Spartans want to go out with a bang.

I want to give special mention to Adam Knudsen, who has done a good job in the field and has come up with some big hits from his ninth spot - and sophomore Matt Talbot, who has had some huge hits this summer.

Tosa East - Juniors Danny Sayles on the mound and Tyler O'Brien behind the plate need to come up with a big game plan to hold down Ike. The Red Raiders' chances are slim and none if this gets into a shooting match. The Brians - Schneider and Shank - have been hot recently and that's what East needs to pull an upset - more than two hitters coming through.

Tosa West - Nothing - and I repeat - nothing could be more satisfying to coach Chad Mateske and the Trojans than knocking off top-seeded New Berlin West. Spencer Lulloff needs to come up with a big performance on the mound and Chris Laskey, who has come on since returning to the catching role. 2B Alex Rehl has also been an offensive force this year.

Can the Trojans find a hero from among Josh Kundinger, Adam Orlando, Andy Minkley, Rob Dvorak or Kyle Heideman to make a big play.

If either of the Tosa schools stand a chance for victory, they must - I can't emphasize this enough - play well defensively. If either team gets good pitching, they can not have their defense let them down.

Be a hit and have a ball.

I have some administrative stuff I wanted to get out to the public, so I thought I would use my blog.

SBCGLOBAL.NET EMAIL PROBLEMS 

First of all, if you have a sbcglobal.net email I want to let you know that we here at NOW newspapers and web sites CAN NOT reply to your emails. It is a problem our IT Department is working on. I find it frustrating because I haven't been able to track down phone numbers for some people and so I can't answer their emails and I don't want them to think I don't care.

So if you have a sbcglobal.net email and want me to reply to your email, include a phone number.

TOSA LITTLE LEAGUE SCORES

I want to thank people from the Tosa Little League for following the format I asked for and I want to thank them for their patience. We have been averaging about 300 lines a week of scores. That is a lot of lines. A normal cover story is about 120-140 lines, so you can imagine how much space 300-plus lines takes up.

This past Thursday we had 340 lines and were able to print about 100. Whatever is left out is placed on top of the following week's scorecard so it won't be left out the following week. At the top of each week's scores I've been writing (3 weeks ago), (2 weeks ago) and (Last week's) scores. So once again, thanks for your cooperation, understanding and patience.

HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL TALK

It looks like Brookfield Central and Brookfield East will be right in the battle for first place in the North Division of the Greater Metro Conference. Before running into the Lancer buzzsaw this week, the Wauwatosa East Red Raiders had been playing much better this year. As for Tosa West, coach Chad Mateske will be asking for volunteers to pitch as injuries an inexperience have cut into the Trojans' pitching. Recently, the Trojans were down to about 11 active players.

BREWER TALK

I said at the beginning of the season and I will say it again, the Brewers don't have much starting pitching and their lack of OBA hitters will hurt the consistency of the offense. Yovani Gallardo - because of his inexperience - is at best a No. 2 starter - but he is a very good starting pitcher. After that, Jeff Suppan, Brad Looper and Dave Bush are No. 5 pitchers on good staffs and No. 4 pitchers on average staffs. Manny Parra is still their second-best pitcher based on that magic word "potential" and hopefully that trip to the minors will straighten him out.

Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder can play with anyone, but the Brewers need more hitters who hit for average or have a better OBA. Everyone knows that when the hitters are hot they can play with anyone. But when they are not, they are pretty hard to watch. More contact hitters equal less slumps because anything can happen when you get people on base.

You know what you get from Corey Hart, J.J. Hardy and Mike Cameron - you just don't know when you're getting it. Craig Counsell and Casey McGehee have had wonderful years on the plus side. Based on how the Brewers pitchers are performing, you can drop the let's catch Jason Kendall every day stuff because he handles the staff so well and get Mike Rivera in the lineup more than once a week.

Finally, play Mat Gamel EVERY day no matter who is pitching. He hit lefthanders better than righthanders in the minors and you will NEVER find out what kind of player he is unless he plays all the time. It is not brain surgery.

I agree with Doug Melvin - I would not even consider trading Gamel or Alcides Escobar. I would trade Hardy in a minute because of Escobar and I would trade Hart if it meant I would get a pitcher that would be here longer than three months.

The Brewers are in the Central Division race because the other teams have holes also. So they could stay in the race if everyone continues to struggle. But unlike last season, they won't be winning the wild card this year.

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Be a hit and have a ball.

This is it folks!  The softball, soccer and tennis team state tournaments are this week and the spring sport season is officially over.

Brookfield and Tosa have no softball teams at state once again (I never get to cover state softball). But Brookfield Central will be in the soccer tournament and the team tennis tournament.

The Lady Lancer kickers open at 5 p.m. against De Pere at Uihlein Soccer Park. Record-wise they have the worse record in the field, but don't tell that to Brookfield East and Homestead. The Lancers have been working their magic.

The Lancer boys will square off at 5:30 p.m. on Friday at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium against Homestead. Central has beat the Highlanders twice, but anything can happen because all the matches were close. The winner will face top-ranked Marquette (you can count on it). When asked the key to beating the Hilltoppers, Central's veteran coach Dave Steinbach replied "Beating Homestead first."

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Both Brookfield baseball teams should be fun to watch this year as they both are off to good starts. Central always seems to reload instead of rebuild and coach Tim Granger has the pitching to make the Spartans a contender this year also.

Over in Wauwatosa, the Red Raiders are better and it all starts with the talented Danny Sayles and catcher Tyler O'Brien. Both players are fun to watch. Coach Matt Dahlstrom will have a better team in his second season.

Coach Chad Mateske has plenty of Wauwatosa West arms to call on, but he will be looking for the ones with the most strikes in them. Mateske hopes to use the first part of the season to see what kind of talent he has and then hopefully get his team ready for the playoff run.

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The Lady Lancers finished second at state this year - anyone who complains should have their head examined. Kudos to Katelyn Malcore who came home with four medals. Bradley Tech was very talented team and Central would have had to have been perfect to beat them.

As impressive as it was for Collin Taylor taking home the only state title - winning the high jump at 6-10 - his efforts helped boost the Spartans to sixth place in state along with the second-place finish of the 1,600 relay team which only had one senior (Andrew Amato) on the team. Big Mitch Aprahaniam finished his high school sports career with a third in the shot.

Also congrats to Drew Lied, who finished third for the Spartans at the state individual tennis tournament.

Tosa East's Hannah Weinberg-Kinsey and Tosa West's Ashlee Ballinger finished fourth and sixth, respectively.

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I hope to see you out at a local baseball game this summer.

Brookfield East senior C.J. Caliendo declined to play against his teammates - senior Mike Herrmann and junior Kyle Henning - in a playoff to advance to the state tournament on Monday and Tuesday.

Besides taking the top two teams from each sectional, three individuals from teams not making the next step also qualify. The top spot will filled by another golfer, so that left the three Spartans to play off.

Caliendo, who will be playing golf at Concordila College in Austin, Texas, declined. Herrmann, who will be attending the University of Wisconsin, but not golfing collegiately, and Henning, who has another year at East, will take part instead.

"It was a gentlemanly thing to do, a classy move," East coach Chris Minch called it.

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It was nice to see Brookfield Central first singles Michael Treis move on to state. Treis, a freshman, is the top singles player for the Lancers, but during the season he battles every team's ace. His 17-13 record isn't overwhelming, but this alloweds the Lancers to move everyone down a stop and make their singles play even better.

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It will be fun to see how high East record-holder Collin Taylor will go in the high jump at state. He jumped onll 6-6 at sectional, but he could be shooting for another three inches at La Crosse.

Mitch Aprahaniam, an outstanding tight end and the emotional leader of the basketball team, will be looking to do some damage with the shot put.

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Looking ahead to baseball, look out for East pitcher Jake Janowski, who is off to a great start already. Janowski blanked Marquette, 2-0, to help the Spartans improve to 3-1 in GMC play.

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Freshmen pitchers Amanda Kalupa of East and Britney Held of Central, had good seasons, and should give the GMC batters problems for the next three years.

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Everyone will be watch Chidera Obasih and Katelyn Malcore at state this weekend, but the key to Central's success will be what their teammates will be doing.

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I think Brookfield East will get by Central in the sectional semis to battle top-ranked Homestead for the right to go to state on Saturday at East.

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It was nice to see the Red Raiders send three players to state individual tennis - sophomore Nick Skanavis and the doubles team of Michael Rankin and Peter Conis.

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The Tosa East athletic teams will miss Hannah Weinberg-Kinsey, an excellent basketball player, and a top high jumper. Weinberg-Kinsey and Tosa West's Ashlee Ballinger tied for first at the seconal, jumping 5-3, but Weinberg-Kinsey took first with fewer misses. Look for East's Claire Gordee to make an impression at state. 

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Kelly LeDoux had an amazing season for Tosa West softball, pitching every inning of every game for the Trojans. There is no truth to the rumor her throwing arm is now four inches longer than her glove arm.

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Kevin Gorman of Tosa West and Jacob James of Tosa East qualified as individuals for state along with the Trojans 400 and relay teams.

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Congrats to Tosa West coach Mike Parulski and his girls soccer team for winning the Woodland Conference for the sixth team in seven years.

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Until next time,

Be a hit and have a ball!

When someone says Wauwatosa West senior guard Andy Minkley was the total package, they were not kidding. Not only on the court, but off it as well. Minkley, one of the key players on this season's Trojan team, had one of the prettiest outside shots in the area. He also imporved tremendously on the defensive end.

Minkley was recently nominated to the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Academic All-State Team, one of 15 players selected from a group of 65 all-conference players from across the state in recognition for excellence both on and off the court.

He has a 3.98 grade-point average, ranks seventh in his class, is a member of the National Honors Society, was a Woodland Conference Scholar-Athlete, a Woodland Conference scholar and a Brady Academic All-Star. He was also a member of the conference championship match team.

He will be attending the University of Wisconsin in the fall.

Nice going Andy.

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First Joe Thomas took the NFL by storm, starting at left tackle for the Cleveland Browns. Now Nick Urban, former Winona State tackle, has agreed to a contract with the Minnesota Vikings. A 6-4, 305 pounds, Urban made an impression at the Vikings recent tryout camp. What's in the water at Brookfield Central.

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Wauwatosa West will have tryouts for the summer basketball league for girls entering seventh, eighth and ninth-grades in the fall. Tosa West girls coach Mike Pietrowiak will hold the tryouts from 7-8:30 p.m. at Tosa West High School.

10 Things to share...

• Congrats to Brookfield East's Taylor Conway for breaking the school record in the 3,200 meter run in the Lady Spartan/House of Speed Invite on April 22.
  
• How would you like to be Brookfield East hurdler Dan Osgood, the third-best hurdler in the Greater Metro Conference?  Matt Widule, who had perhaps the state's best time in the highs on Friday, and Justin Hodges, who spent the indoor chasing Widule, are all Danny has to beat.
  
• Phil Bartel of Brookfield Central and Mike Herrmann of Brookfield East shared medalist honors at the second Greater Metro Conference mini-meet on April 27. Each shot a 35.
  
• Weird ending to the Spartan Tennis Invitational last Saturday. The tourney lost three hours as it was moved inside because of poor weather conditions. Brookfield Central, like some other schools, had prom scheduled for Saturday night, so the title match with Marquette was postponed. Marquette was willing to play and Brook East tournament director Linda Lied was also ready to play because the courts were paid for. Top-ranked MUHS nipped Central, 4-3, three days earlier.
  
• Congrats to Brookfield East freshman Amanda Kalupa, who tossed her first prep no-hitter against DSHA last week. Catcher Katie Benz gets as assist for the game she called and SS Lexi Sotiros and RF Kennedy Curtis made two nice plays early in the game.
  
• Sometimes you have to take little steps first. The Tosa East softball team has struggled the past few years. Last week they lost to West Allis Central and played a complete game for the first time in two years. In high school there is a 10-run rule, where the game ends after 5 innings (4 ½ if the home team is winning) when a 10-run advantage is reached.
  
• Too bad the stormy weather rained out the Tosa Tennis Invitational last Saturday. It will not be rescheduled.
  
• Stats are fun and sometimes they tell the truth. The Trojans' girls soccer team allowed 13 goals and were 0-4. In three matches where their defense came through, they didn't allow a goal and went 2-0-1.
  
• Last week's story on Tosa West senior Allison Gonzales touched a lot of people. People who have suffered similar problems have contacted me, including one doctor, looking to share their stories with the Gonzales family and help out. The day it came our on the NOW web sites we had 2,500 hits, by far more than any other story on the NOW sites.
  
• I hate spring in Wisconsin. Mom Nature is a big tease.

 Brookfield East girls track coach Jeff Ferguson mentioned it the other day - "There seems to be a renaissance going on in track in Brookfield."

Ya think?

The Brookfield Central girls are the defending state champ and they won the GMC Indoor Championships by 70.5 points, beating out Brookfield East, who finished second over Menomonee Falls by 45 points.

The boys weren't left out either, as Brookfield East won the boys indoor and Brookfield Central, led by their talented throwers, finished fourth.

The week before in Wauwatosa, The Trojan girls won their 13th straight Woodland Conference title and the boys won their first title in four years. This past week Tosa East's girls finished fourth behind Hannah Weinberg-Kinsey's great performance, scoring 30 of her team's 74 points.

Give Kathy and Dave Weinberg-Kinsey some credit for their daughter Hannah's big day in the Greater Metro Conference Indoor Championships on April 8. After finishing her field events - she set a GMC and school record by winning the high jump (5 feet, 5 inches) and taking third in the long jump (15-9 1/2) - Hannah saw that her shoe was ripped and she had two races to run.

So mom and dad came to the rescue and raced to the local shoe store and returned in time to finish second in the 400-meter dash and third in the 200.

Enjoy spring break.

Be a hit and have a ball!

I hate - yes - hate - spring in Wisconsin. I have lived here my entire life and spring ranks third on my list of fall seasons behind Fall and our two months of summer.

Mother Nature is a big tease. She will 'wow' you with warm temperatures and then dump six inches of snow on you. Just when you relax and think, "Winter might be over," Mother Nature laughs in our face.

I'm sure the spring coaches in the area also feel the same way. Most of my Community Watches have been reporting postponed games/matches/meets.

But some of the early performances are encouraging for some of the team's able to play.

The Brookfield Central soccer team, who played DSHA Tuesday night, got off to a 2-0 start. Sophomore Gina Scaffidi, who was instant offense off the bench last year, scored three goals in the 5-0 win over Tosa West last Saturday.

Brookfield East, which could contend for the state title, has a load of talent coming back, hopes to host Nicolet Wednesday night.

Brookfield Central's state champion girls track team, led by Chidera Obasih, the 100 and 200 meter state champ. Coach Lorie Lewis has an impressive newcomer in Rubie Nordling (triple jump, 60 high hurdles and mile relay team). Brookfield East should also contend, as Jeff Ferguson's team has excellent depth.

Look for the Brookfield East boys to contend for the GMC title, as Justin Hodges and Collin Taylor will be leading the way for coach Mike Steiner's talented squad.

Hannah Weinberg-Kinsey of Tosa East should once again lead the Red Raiders girls track team, whether she is running or jumping.

Kevin Gorman and Mark Wesson have led the Tosa West boys early, but Ira Howard will be back soon as the Woodland Indoor approaches. The Trojans might have had a huge blow when Jimmy Bonkowski blow out his knee on his last jump on Saturday after winning the long jump.

Grace Shelstad, Laura Bavlnka, Christina Compton and Ashley Ballinger had good efforts in the Chris Wilson Invite on Saturday for the Tosa West girls.

Now if Mother Nature can give us all a break, maybe we can get this season started.

Be a hit and have a ball.

The Wauwatosa West girls soccer team will take part in the 'Go Pink' games this season in an effort to raise money and increase breast cancer awareness.

When the Trojans travel to Pewaukee to take on the Pirates on Tuesday, April 21, they will be hoping for a large following and special pink T-shirts that were designed by senior captains Pamela Ditscheit and Annie Tritschler. The Trojans are going to try to sell as many T-shirts as possible and donate the money the Leroy Butler Foundation for the fight against breast cancer instead of having a regular fundraiser this year.

Not only are the Trojans selling the shirts, but fans get more information on cost and size and can order them by calling Candice Miller at the Tosa West Athletic Office at (414) 773-3019 or by emailing millerca@wauwatosa.k12.wi.us.

It's a nice way to show your support for the Trojans, fight breast cancer and look stylish doing it.

While everyone gets excited about 'March Madness' - I include myself in that group - there is a sadness I also go through at this time.

Why March Sadness? The high school basketball season is over.

I openly admit basketball is my favorite high school sport - boys and girls - just two different games. Besides never getting a chance to watch some of the seniors play again, it will be seven months until I get a chance to work with the coaches again.

My season lasted a little longer since the Brookfield Central girls qualified for state after a terrific sectional championship victory over Muskego won by a last second shot by senior Joana Bielefeld. Central has everyone returning but Bielefeld, but Jo will leave a huge hole in that line-up, especially when it comes to closing out a game.

Erin Lueder gave an gutsy performance in the sectional final, playing with a hairline fracture in her left foot, she shut out Kate Ellerson, first-time all state performer for three periods, and then was one of the few Lady Lancers to show up for the only state tournament game and scored a team-high 10 points.

Tosa East had a fun sectional, playing well in getting some fraction of revenge by beating an excellent Marquette team, which took the Red Raiders' GMC title away from them, and then taking Milwaukee Washington into overtime before falling short when a 3-point shot by Eric Neal bounced off the rim.

I will miss working with this group of Raiders, as coach Tim Arndorfer turns out good kids as well as good basketball players.

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Question! MUHS won the Greater Metro and beat the Red Raider twice but then lost in the sectional. I would still sooner be the Hilltoppers because they won a title. If the Red Raiders would have gone on to the state tournament, then I might have reversed by pick.

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As I look outside right now the weather is beautiful, but one of the reasons I like the spring season the least is the weather. So many cancellations because of the inconsistent elements we have to deal with in Wisconsin.

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But the good thing about spring is, of course, March Madness, brackets, and baseball is right around the corner. It doesn't get better than that.

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Until next time, be a hit and have a ball.

There is a good possibility that Wauwatosa East (17-4) might be playing its final basketball games this weekend with Marquette (18-2) and probably Milwaukee Washington (20-1) standing in the way of a second-straight state trip.

The Red Raiders have seven seniors on this year's team - Eric Williams, Keondre Gholston, Fraizier Reiland, Michael Cupertino, Eric Neal, Vinnie Ingrilli and Isaiah Ward. This could be their final time wearing the Red Raiders' garb.

I just want to take a few minutes to share my memories of them.

Williams is one of the most talented players in the Greater Metro Conference. Coming off the bench last year, he made big baskets down the stretch in both sectional wins.  In the title game in Madison, he had the biggest shot of the tournament when he hit a HUGE 3-pointer in the final seconds to eventually led to the win. When I asked him afterwards if he was nervous, he smiled and said "Heck, I like to shoot."

Gholston beat Menomonee Falls last season went he went to the free throw line with the score tied - missed the first shot - and made the second - with no time on the clock. I asked him afterwards what he was thinking going to the line. He said "Game over!"  Then I asked him what he was thinking about after he missed the first one. He smiled and said 'Game over!'  After winning the title I walked up to him and said 'Game over!' and got a big smile out of him.

Fraizier Reiland is a unique player. Not too many teams have a weapon like him. At 6-foot-7-inches he is one of the taller players around, but he is a good 3-point shooter. Cupertino was a good point guard, who came up with the big 3 now and then and Ingrilli gave the team a 3-point threat that wasn't always available when he wasn't in the line-up.

Neal was one of my favorite players. He is one of the quickest players on the team, so watching him steal the ball and take it down the court for an easy basket or pass to a teammate for one was always fun to watch. He started at the beginning of the year, but when the coaches decided to bring him off the bench, he kept his mouth shut and added a spark the Red Raiders needed.

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Congratulations to Zach Sines of Brookfield East and Glen Kendl from Tosa East for being named the Greater Metro Conference and Woodland Conference Wrestlers of the year.

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Kudos to Brookfield Central's Katelyn Malcore for finishing third in the floor and vault at the state gymnastics meet. Freshman Taylor Bucholtz finished 16th in vault, which is not too shabby for a first trip to state.

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Until next time, remember to be a hit and have a ball.

Three Brookfield schools and two Wauwatosa schools are still alive as the post-season heats up  -  the Brookfield Central girls and the boys teams from Brookfield Central, Brookfield East, Wauwatosa East and Wauwatosa West.

Hopefully the Central girls got a wake-up call last Saturday, when they rallied from a seven-point deficit with six minutes left to defeat a fired-up East team, 48-46, to advance to this weekend's sectional. The Lady Lancers will have their hands full, playing in a sectional whose four teams have a combined 76-10 record. Central (20-1) opens with Franklin (17-5) at 6 p.m. at Greenfield Friday and then with a win meets the winner of the Muskego (20-1) and Racine Case (19-3) at 7 p.m. Saturday.

The Central boys (10-11) beat Franklin, 59-48, to advance to Saturday's game at Milwaukee Hamilton (17-3) at 1:30 p.m. Brook East (7-14), working on a four-game winning streak, will play at Racine Park (17-3) at 1 p.m. East coach Andy Farley has his team playing well, as they beat a favored Waterford tea, 53-51, in OT in the first round.

If will be interesting to see how Wauwatosa East responds from it's trashing at the hands of Marquette to lose the GMC title the last time the Red Raiders were on a basketball court on Feb. 26.  The Red Raiders have struggled finding the right combination this year, have been inconsistent from the perimeter and have had trouble sticking with coach Tim Arndorfer's offense this year. If they beat Bay View (10-10) at home on Saturday at 1 p.m., they will face the winner of the Marquette (17-2-1) Tosa West (10-11) game on Friday, March 13, at the Al McGuire Center at 8 p.m.

Yes, Tosa West gets a chance Saturday night at MUHS at 8 p.m. to do something the Red Raiders couldn't do this year. Beat the Hilltoppers.

The Central girls and the Tosa East boys are the only "favorites" among the five teams. But that's what makes this time of the year so much fun.

Keep reading!  Be a a hit and have a ball.

CHECK OUT MY VIDEO PREVIEW OF THE BIG GAMES!

I love this time of the year, although it is a very busy time - especially if you have teams alive in the WIAA post-season ritual. The girls have been underway since Feb. 24, as I saw Tosa West handle Tosa East and Brookfield East beat Racine Park in first round games, advancing to Saturday's regional finals.

The matchups on Saturday weren't real exiting. No. 1 seed Brookfield Central (20-1), who destroyed Brookfield East (9-13) twice by 27 and 22 points, respectively, hosted the Lady Spartans in a 1 p.m. game and Divine Savior Holy Angels (18-3) hosted Tosa West (11-11) that night. I wasn't expecting a lot.

But here is a reason people say everyone starts the post-season with a 0-0 record. Brookfield East came to play and Brookfield Central came to not lose. The Lady Spartans led 39-32 with 7:41 remaining before Central woke up and even then it took a beautiful drive to the basket by sophomore sensation Valerie Rose Agnello to score the winning bucket with 2.4 seconds left to play to give Central the win.

East coach Tara Schmitt had her gang fired up and ready to play, as gritty Kennedy Curtis (14 points), 6-4 Marley Blood (12) and the cat-like Vanessa Brown (12) had the Lady Lancers off balance all game.

But in the end, Agnello, perhaps the top first-year varsity player in the conference, came through once again for the Lady Lancers, as did Joana Bielefeld in her new role as playmaker.

Bielefeld, last year's top player in the conference, has seen all sorts of trick defenses and is not forcing the ball. Instead she is setting up teammates for easy buckets and focuses on winning instead of padding her offensive stats. She is a pleasure to watch as she is an unselfish star player - and usually 'unselfish' and 'star' don't go together now-a-days.

The DSHA game was much uglier than I expected. The Trojans held the talented Dashers to 28 points and shut them out in the final quarter. The problem was Tosa West got blanked in the second and third periods and only scored 3 points in the first period.

Once again the Tosa West offense struggled, getting off only nine shots in the second and third quarters, as the Dasher shut them down for 20:51 seconds.

So DSHA and Brook Central live to face another game. But special kudos to the Lady Spartans, who left it all on the floor in the near-upset of the Lady Lancers.

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I wanted to vent a little about something I saw, not once, but twice last week. Two of the biggest games in the GMC were played on Feb. 19 (BC girls at DSHA) and Feb. 26 (Tosa East boys at Marquette). These two games were for all the marbles. Winner wins the conference title. You would think people would be smart enough to figure there might be a large crowd in attendance - especially at DSHA, whose gym is a little bigger than my rec room (believe me, my rec room is nice, not huge).

But no, both nights people were walking around, looking for seats five minutes BEFORE tip-off, with eyes glazed over like, 'Wow, is this place crowded.' Folks, get with it. Expect a crowd at the game of the year in the conference for both the girls and boys. It's that time of the year. Get a clue.

There, got that off my chest. :)

Be a hit and have a ball until next time.

The fun begins this week as the girls playoffs start. The Wauwatosa East girls travel to Tosa West tonight for a WIAA Regional first-round game. Both teams have struggled offensively, so I figure the first team to 30 wins.

It could be the last time to see Hannah Weinberg-Kinsey and Margaret Panter of the Red Raiders team, two of my favorite players. While West has six seniors, led by Jesse Zeisse and Andrea Kwak. And I always enjoy watching little point guard Jackie Glaser play.

Brookfield East hosts Racine Park in the other girls game in my region. East has six seniors, led by Kennedy Curtis, Vanessa Brown and Kristina Dolney.

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The biggest game of the week on the boys side has Tosa East traveling to crosstown rival Marquette with the winner walking off with the Greater Metro Conference Championship. The Hilltoppers' win in the first meeting has pushed them ahead of the Red Raiders in the rankings and the sectional seeding.

Garrett Maloney destroyed the Red Raiders in the first game and the MUHS zone limited Eric Williams to two points. If the results are going to be different, those numbers have to change.

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The Red Raiders received a third-seed in the WIAA Sectional #8 rankings. The Red Raiders have a bye and then host Bay View or Pius XI at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 7. Tosa West received a Seven seed and hosts Oak Creek on Tuesday, March 3. The winner of that game plays MUHS on March 7.

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Brookfield Central - a seventh seed - hosts No. 10 Franklin on Tuesday, March 3, at 7 p.m. and Brookfield East, which has been playing outstanding defense the past two weeks - takes its No. 11 seed to No. 6 Waterford that first night.

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Zack Sines and Joey Woppert of Brook East, Dryden Holmes of Brookfield Central and big Glen Kendl of Wauwatosa head off to state Thursday to Saturday for the WIAA State Wrestling Championships at the Kohl Center.

Brookfield Central will take on some red-clad followers this week.  The Lancers travel to Marquette to meet the Hilltoppers Tuesday night and then return home to face them on Friday.  The unusual scheduling was because of the Jan. 16 postponed game because of cold weather closing schools was rescheduled to be played Feb. 17.  Thus Central and Marquette play twice within four days.

So why is this important to Tosa East fans? Pretty simple. The Red Raiders, whose only GMC loss came to Marquette, and the Hilltoppers are technically tied for first - Tosa East (11-1) and Marquette (10-1). The Red Raiders are 15-3 overall and MUHS is 14-2-1. The seeding meetings for the boys sectional are set for the weekend. If Marquette wins both games, they will probably have a higher seed than Tosa East because of the Hilltoppers win in their only meeting.  Milwaukee Washington will get the top seed, MUHS the second and the Red Raiders the third in the experts' opinions.

"I guess we will be Brookfield Central fans this week," TE coach Tim Arndorfer said. "We will have to see what coach (Mark) Adams (of BCHS) can come up with."

If Adams helps the Red Raiders by beating Marquette that will only be a by-product for the veteran coach, who is trying to get his team back in the winning column down the stretch - that's what's first on his mind going into these two games.

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Brookfield Central (13-0, 18-1) travels to DSHA (12-1, 17-2) Thursday night for the season finale for both teams. The defending champion Lady Lancers won at the tiny DSHA gym last year, snapping a four-game losing streak there. The Dashers will be fired up to get a share of the title. Central, of course, has no interest in sharing it.  Central won the first game, 36-33, a rugged defensive game, which combined with some nervousness, made both offenses a little shakey.

First team to 40 (if the score goes that high) should win this game. It's always fun to watch Central's Dan Wandrey and DSHA's Scott Witt work the sidelines, their teams and the officials in this game.

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Congrats to all the swimmers from the co-op teams from Brookfield and Tosa for qualifying for state. The news in Tosa was particularly big, because the boys have not been there since 2005.

Special shoutout to the Tosa co-op wrestlers and the Brookfield East and Central wrestlers who advanced to sectionals on Saturday.

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The girls basketball seedings came out last weekend and Tosa fans should be happy, because they are guaranteed to have a team in the second round. Tosa East will travel to Tosa West on Feb. 24 for a 7 p.m. game to open postseason action. The Trojans nipped the Red Raiders, 33-31, in their non-conference meeting back on Dec. 2.

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The most surprising box score from Friday night came from Brookfield East, where the Spartans crushed Hamilton, 55-34. Way to go Andy Farley and the gang. The most impressive stat was the Spartans' defense, led by Demetri Tongas, held Kameron Cerroni and Brett Meinecke to six points each. They normally average 38 points between them.

The Spartans have lost several close games this year and deserve a win like this.

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Be a hit and have a ball until next time.

The Wauwatosa West boys and girls basketball team need to win a few games and do it now.

The boys team is 2-5 in the last seven games, seeing the Trojans' record fall to 7-5 after an excellent 5-0 start. Tosa West lost to New Berlin Eisenhower and Brown Deer in overtime and Greendale, 55-53 - all three couldn have very easily been victories. The losses to Whitnall and Pewaukee were not as competitive.

The girls took a 7-3 record into their last three games before dropping three in a row - a 50-31 loss at Pewaukee sandwiched around two losses to New Berlin West (36-25, 40-27) to fall to 7-6.

The boys problem basically comes down to this - these guys are small. Coach Mike Landisch's starting lineup is 5-11, 6-0, 6-1, 6-1 and 6-2. Andy Minkley, Bendell Lee, Ray Sterling and Sam Krenzien do most of the scoring and Barry Ballinger uses his bulk to do the underneath work. The bench is not deep, as the top two scorers combine for 5.5 points for game. Chris Fortson-Gaines (6-5) and Josh Parulski (6-6) bring some height into the game, but neither player carries a lot of weight.

There is no questioning the effort or the heart of these players - West is usually a fun team to watch with Landisch's new offense. But the lack of height has caught up with the Trojans in some of these games down the stretch.

The girls are a different story. When they fell behind New Berlin West 19-0 Thursday night, not scoring until 2:34 left in the half, they have continued a stretch of struggling from the floor. They shot 9 percent in the first half of the first West game. They shot 15 percent overall in the first game and 17 percent overall in Thursday's loss.

These girls are hesitant to shoot. Several times they passed up open shots, waited for their opponent to cover them, and then passed the ball. West is balanced - no one averages over 7.2 PPG - so there is no pressure on one player to step up. But I have NEVER seen a team that is afraid to shoot the ball like the Trojans have been lately.

Shoot the ball, ladies, it is one of the most fun parts of playing basketball.

Here is the good news. Shorewood is coming to town Friday night. The boys are 3-9, 3-13, but they are respectable. The girls are almost all freshmen and are winless (0-12, 0-16).

Be a hit and have a ball.

It is hard to believe that for some of the local swimmers and wrestlers, their season will come to an end on Saturday at the sectionals and regionals, respectively. Where did the season go to?

The Brookfield schools and the Wauwatosa co-op wrestling teams are taking part in the Waukesha North Regional on Saturday, while the Brookfield Barracudas and Tosa Hurricanes co-op swim teams take part in the Waukesha South Sectional, with diving on Friday and swimming on Saturday.

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On the basketball front, the Brookfield Central girls (12-0, 17-1) travel to Tosa East (2-10, 4-12) this Friday and then travel to the band box at Divine Savior Holy Angels (11-1, 15-2) to determine who will win or share the GMC championship. Tosa West (7-4, 9-6) is battling Ike (8-2) and Pewaukee (8-4) for the Woodland title.

On the boys side, Tosa East (10-1, 14-3) has three tough matches at Brookfield Central (6-4, 9-6), Hamilton (7-4, 9-7) and at Marquette (9-1, 13-2) with the GMC title on the line. You can bet after this Friday, Tosa East fans will be cheering for the Lancers, who play the Hilltoppers on Feb. 17 and Feb. 20. Coach David Cooks has done a great job with his Marquette squad this season.

Tosa West coach Mike Landisch has his team playing exciting (7-4, 7-8) basketball, but the Trojans are going to have to close out more games if they want to catch Ike (9-1), Pewaukee (9-2) and Brown Deer (8-4). Without a doubt, watching Ray Sterling, Bendell Lee, Sam Krenzien, Andy Minkley and Barry Ballinger has given me plenty of thrills this season - more wins would be nice also.

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SPECIAL HEADSUP --- Andy Minkley has come up big for the Trojans the past couple of weeks. The veteran senior guard is not afraid to take the big shot and his defense has been outstanding the last couple of games I have covered. Brookfield Central sophomore Valerie Rose Agnello, a 5-10 sophomore forward, has now started putting the ball in the hoop for the Lady Lancers. Agnello, an excellent defender and rebounder, gives Central another threat - which is like giving an octopus another tentacle. Watch out for seniors Zach Sines of Brookfield East and Glen Kendl as they set their sights on the state wrestling meet.

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Be a hit and have a ball