Sports Thoughts

The first game against rival West Allis Central provided the first indication that the West Allis Hale softball team was headed for a particularly interesting and thrilling season.

In that contest, played in the wind and cold of April 6, the Huskies took leads of 4-1 and 7-4, only to see the Bulldogs rally to tie the game twice. Undaunted, they tallied the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning on a hit by Morgan Abel to prevail, 8-7.

In the weeks since then, Hale has continued its highwire act, beating Pewaukee, 9-7; Sussex Hamilton, 1-0; and Brookfield Central, 4-3, while falling to Divine Savior Holy Angels, 7-6, in nine innings after coming back from a 6-2 deficit after five.

The Huskies have proven they can be competitive with anybody this season behind the pitching of Nicole Grubor, who has hit double figures in strikeouts several times this year, and a strong lineup keyed by Abel, Jenny Rechlicz, Cheyenne Smith and others.

At this point, Hale is 3-2 in the Greater Metro Conference and 5-3 overall, pending a game later today against GMC leader Menomonee Falls, weather permitting.

The Huskies should be a team to watch in the coming weeks, starting with their May 5 contest against Central at Dorow Field. They also have two games with Brookfield East, including one at home on May 4, and a home contest against DSHA on May 14.

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Speaking of Hale, one of the school's most notable, even iconic, teachers and coaches is Mary Blandino, who coached Huskies' volleyball for 34 years while winning four WIAA Division 1 state championships, as well as gymnastics for 17 seasons and track for 14 years.

Blandino has received numerous awards in the past few months, capped by the Women's Sports Advocates of Wisconsin's Lifetime Achievement Award, which is considered the state's highest honor in women's sports.

Considering her coaching success, plus all her other work on behalf of Special Olympics, state coaches' advisory boards and Senior Olympics, Blandino is richly deserving of all these honors. Her complete story can be found on WestAllisNOW.com or in the West Allis NOW newspaper of today, April 30.

West Allis Central boys track coach Dale Lindenberg was expecting somewhat of a rebuilding season this spring with the loss of a number of talented seniors from last year's squad.

The Bulldogs, however, have topped those expectations, especially in winning the Jim Reinhard Dog Relays and in placing a strong fourth in the Rebel-North Star meet last week.

One of the main reasons is senior Bobby Gnatzig, who came up with a trio of top-three finishes in the Greater Metro Conference Indoor Meet, winning the long jump, taking second in the high jump and placing third in the triple jump.

At the Rebel-North Star, he claimed second places in those three events to again give Central a huge boost.

In the previous seasons, Gnatzig learned from two of Central's top athletes, graduated seniors Marcus Smith and Jeff Meleski.

Smith, you'll recall, captured the WIAA Division 1 championship in the 110-meter high hurdles and finished second in the triple jump in the 2007 meet. He then returned to finish fifth in the triple jump in last spring's state meet. Meleski also competed at state last year in the high jump and 110 hurdles, so he and Smith have plenty of big-meet experience.

"(Gnatzig) was able to work behind Marcus and Jeff in the jumps, and that helped him," Lindenberg said. "Also, he is a tremendous athlete."

Time will tell whether Gnatzig will follow his mentors to La Crosse once June rolls around.

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Speaking of time, the spring season is now beginning its annual sprint to the finish line. Just over one month from now, on May 26, the tournament season will begin for everyone. From now until then, all teams face a really hectic schedule, especially with all the makeup games and meets that were forced by April's inclement weather. Six or seven softball games, anyone?

Once again, as happens every year, April showers brought May mayhem.  

The best-laid plans....

Last August, Duane Mlachnik gave up his Muskego girls basketball head coaching spot to take the same position with the Warrior boys program. At the time, he said it was the most difficult decision he had ever made but also that he was looking forward to the new challenge.

Last week, he resigned from the boys coaching position.

In between came a disappointing 3-18 season as well as what he described as issues with a few -- and he emphasized just a few -- parents. "It was just too much of a hassle," he said. "I didn't feel like dealing with it anymore. The season was not a lot of fun."

It is unfortunate when a coach (or a player, for that matter) comes away from a season feeling like it was not any fun, because isn't high school sports supposed to be all about learning and having fun doing it?

I worked with Duane for several seasons, covering both the Muskego girls and boys teams, and I always found him to be a gentleman, extremely cooperative and friendly.

I particularly remember the aftermath of a particularly agonizing loss in a WIAA girls sectional championship game in March 2008. The Warriors held a nine-point lead in the fourth period against Brookfield Central and appeared to be on their way to Madison, only to see the Lancers storm back to win.

He easily could have hid in the lockerroom and refused to speak to me because of the intense emotions he must have been feeling at that point. Instead, after an appropriate period of time to console his players, he came out and answered my questions in a forthright and honest manner. I respected him for doing that.

I would just like take this opportunity to thank Duane for all his help and wish him good luck in the future.

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The first week of softball season produced a couple of interesting occurrences.

One was the near-perfection reached by New Berlin Eisenhower. In four games, pitchers Lauren Beres and Kayla Schlegel worked a combined 22 innings, allowing just four hits (all by Beres) with 51 strikeouts and no walks. Oh yes, and the Lions did not commit a single error despite playing in cold, windy conditions and on what had to be a hard surface.

Looks like Eisenhower is in good shape to make a run at defending its WIAA Division 2 championship.

The other was a game between West Allis Central and West Allis Hale. For half of the game, pitchers Corinne Burgermeister of Central and Nicky Grubor of Hale were locked in a 1-0 duel.

All of a sudden, the bats came alive on both sides. The Huskies tallied four for a 4-1 lead, then Central came back with three to tie it. Hale went ahead 7-4 in the bottom of the sixth, only to see the Bulldogs tie it again with three in the seventh. Finally, Hale pushed across the winner in the bottom of the seventh on a hit from Morgan Abel.

What a wild, unpredictable game! It again shows what how entertaining softball can be.

By the way, the teams are scheduled to meet again on Tuesday, May 5, at Dorow Field, Central's home.

One sure sign of spring: local athletic directors busily crossing out dates and filling in new ones on their schedules.

For the second straight year, winter's reluctance to fade away is playing havoc with high school sports slates. Indoor track meets are safe, and some soccer has been played, but softball teams have been largely unable to get the season going due to the leftover snow, cold and wind.

Of the six softball teams I cover, only West Allis Hale has been able to get in so much as one game. Everyone else is madly scrambling to fill in the rest of their April and May schedules.

This will inevitably mean some weeks of four, five or even six games, plus some doubleheaders. Teams are either going to need two pitchers or one with a rubber arm.

Defending WIAA Division 2 champion New Berlin Eisenhower is well-armed (pun intended) with ace pitchers Lauren Beres and Kayla Schlegel, and New Berlin West also has two hurlers in sisters Liz and Martha Radtke. It will be interesting to see how much of an advantage this gives the New Berlin schools over foes with just one reliable pitcher.

Assuming spring actually does arrive sometime, here is a quick look at the teams I cover:

GREENFIELD: The Hustlin' Hawks have to replace ace pitcher Ashley Kowalewski but return the potent bats of sisters Stacey and Shannon Butts, both members of the 2008 NOW Newspapers All-Suburban team, and should contend for another Woodland Conference South Division title.

MUSKEGO: The Warriors lost their top pitcher, Christy Hudziak, to a broken thumb but welcome back several quality veterans plus some promising newcomers.

N.B. EISENHOWER: The Lions are loaded, with Beres, Schlegel, outfielder Liz Wiese and shortstop Kelly Brubakken, so they should be the heavy favorite for another Woodland crown as well as another strong run in the WIAA Tournament.

N.B. WEST: The Vikings have the aforementioned Radtke sisters and a few other veterans but have underclassmen at some other key positions, including the entire infield.

WEST ALLIS CENTRAL: The Bulldogs center around pitcher Corinne Burgermeister, another All-Suburban choice last season, and will have three freshman starters as well. They could battle Menomonee Falls and Divine Savior Holy Angels for the Greater Metro crown.

WEST ALLIS HALE: The Huskies boast a solid pitcher in Nicky Grubor and key returnees in second baseman Jenny Rechlicz and third baseman Morgan Abel.

Here is my guess as to the top five area teams this spring:

1. New Berlin Eisenhower, 2. Menomonee Falls, 3. Germantown, 4. Homestead, 5. Greenfield.

OTHERS TO WATCH: Oak Creek, Franklin, West Allis Central.