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!

 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.