Sports

Mary Duffy knew this would be a work in progress.

That the finished product would look far better than the initial sketch.

And that’s exactly the direction things are heading for Middleton’s girls soccer team.

The Cardinals dropped a 3-2 decision to Verona last Tuesday, pushing their losing streak to two games. But Middleton rebounded with three straight wins to close out the week.

First, the Cardinals defeated Madison East, 10-0, last Thursday. Middleton then bested DePere, 3-0, last Friday and rolled past Oshkosh West, 5-3, last Saturday.

The Cardinals, who suffered several graduation losses from a year ago, improved to 4-2-1 on the young season.

“It was encouraging to see our fairly new to varsity squad stepping up at whatever positions we assigned and be successful,” Duffy said.

The Cardinals didn't have the type of success they wanted against Verona.

The Watertown Invite has always been a special place for Middleton’s boys track and field team.

And this year was no different.

For the fifth consecutive year, the Cardinals won the highly-competitive, nine-team invite. Middleton finished with 142 points to easily outdistance runner-up Baraboo (120) and the other seven teams.

“Watertown was a great night because of the competition and the way our guys performed,” Middleton coach Joe Line said.

Middleton’s girls finished in second place among 10 teams. Lakeside Lutheran won the girls’ meet with 119 points, while the Cardinals (103.5) and Hartford (97.5) rounded out the top three.

On the boys’ side, Middleton junior Gus Newcomb won the 1,600-meter run in 4:21.39 seconds and the 3,200 (9:45.81). Senior Jack Jesse also won the long jump with a mark of 20 feet, 10 inches.

Conference championships can’t be won in the first half of a season.

They can be lost, though, and Middleton’s girls softball team was in danger of experiencing that fate last Saturday.

The Cardinals traveled to Big Eight Conference leading Janesville Craig and dropped the first game of a doubleheader, 7-3. But Middleton responded with an impressive 9-8 win in the nightcap and stayed within striking distance of the conference-leading Cougars.

Craig is 8-1 in the league, while Middleton sits in second place at 7-2. The Cardinals, who are also 7-3 overall, travel to third-place Verona (6-2, 8-2) Thursday at 5 p.m. in a critical conference game.

“We wanted to win both games, but we needed to win at least one,” Middleton coach Perry Hibner said. “We didn't play our best and I'm sure Janesville Craig had something to do with that. But I was happy with how we battled, overcame some adversity and found a way to win the second game.”

The first Golf Coaches Association of Wisconsin poll of the season is out.

And Middleton’s boys golfers are ranked No. 2 in the state.

The way the Cardinals have started the season, they just might be ranked too low.

Middleton shot a blistering 7-over-par, 295 team score and rolled to an easy win at the Madison West Triangular held at Odana Hills last Tuesday.

The Cardinals followed that by winning the 21-team Wisconsin PGA High School Invitational held at Maple Bluff Country Club Monday.

“Everyone contributed, whether it was that birdie putt or the bogey putt that avoided the double,” Middleton coach Tom Cabalka said of his team’s two wins. “It goes to show that every stroke is important to us as a team.”

The Cardinals played sizzling golf and rolled at the Madison West Triangular. Middleton’s 295 gave it a comfortable victory over Madison West (326) and Janesville Craig (384).

Middleton’s girls softball team didn’t like how its season began.

So the Cardinals did something about it over the past week.

Middleton won four of its five games, including all four Big Eight Conference games it played. The Cardinals, who were routed in their season-opener at Madison East, improved to 4-1 in the league and 4-2 overall.

Here’s a recap of Middleton’s week:

• Middleton 7, Sun Prairie 6 — Host Middleton scored once in the bottom of the seventh to edge a terrific Sun Prairie team last Tuesday

With two outs in the seventh, Hanna Fisher singled to center off Alaya Lane. Pinch-hitter Amber Maas drew a walk and Ashley Bindl was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

Lane threw a wild pitch on an 0-1 count to Lauren Banke and Fisher scored the winning run.

Middleton overcame an early 3-0 deficit to post the impressive win.

It was the kind of start they hoped for.

And really, after a rough 2015, it was the kind of start they needed.

Middleton’s baseball team raced to a 4-0 start behind three wins last week. The Cardinals fell to Sun Prairie last Saturday, but overall, were thrilled with their fast start.

“We played well and we’ve got to keep growing,” Middleton manager Tom Schmitt said. “We need to keep our confidence high.”

Here’s a recap of Middleton’s three wins last week.

• Middleton 7, Madison La Follette 2 — Adam Nutting allowed just two hits and struck out nine in four stellar innings to earn the win last Thursday. Brennan Schmitt pitched two scoreless innings, then Justin Gurtner worked the seventh.

Alec Morrison had two RBI to lead the offense, while Drew Finley-Haag, Ivan Monreal and Schmitt also had RBI.

There’s an old baseball saying that it’s not how hard you hit it, but where you hit it.

That saying proved true and was the difference when Middleton’s baseball team met rival Sun Prairie in a Big Eight Conference battle in Middleton last Saturday afternoon.

With the bases loaded and two outs in a tie game in the sixth inning, Middleton’s Drew Finley Haag drilled a ball to centerfield that was caught. An inning later, Sun Prairie’s Justus Benson reached on an infield blooper, which helped Sun Prairie pull off a hard-fought 4-3 victory.

“Drew hit that one on the screws,” Middleton coach Tom Schmitt said. “We talk about it all the time. That’s baseball when it doesn’t fall when you hit it the best.

“It doesn’t make a lot of sense, but that’s why you have the defense out there. You know if you get that one to fall it’s absolutely a different game, but it didn’t happen for us today in that respect.”

Mary Duffy might not have cared much for the micro.

The macro? That’s something Duffy was loving.

Duffy, Middleton’s girls soccer coach, brought her team to the star-studded Girls High School Invitational just outside of Wisconsin Dells last weekend. The Cardinals tied Germantown, 3-3, last Friday and lost to D.C. Everest, 3-2, last Saturday.

But the results were almost secondary.

Twenty-three elite programs from Wisconsin and one from Illinois took part in the two-day tournament. And afterwards, Duffy & Co. were thrilled to have faced top competition that can help them in the weeks ahead.

“While everyone loves to win, we learned lots this weekend,” Duffy said. “It was a wonderfully productive weekend: challenging, exciting, tough. Every game this weekend led us to more answers to work on solving this year’s puzzle.”

It’s a year of great expectations.

A season of tremendous hope.
And Middleton’s boys golf team showed last Saturday it’s ready to live up to the hype.

The Cardinals opened their season with an impressive performance at the 17-team Wisconsin Dells Invitational last Saturday.

Middleton finished in second place at 308, two shots behind White Bear Lake (Minn.). Madison Memorial (311), Forest Lake, Mn. (312) and Waunakee (315) rounded out the top five. The first day of the tournament was cancelled due to inclement weather.

Middleton — like every other team during this brutal spring — had struggled to get in practice rounds. But the Cardinals gave a solid performance on a sunny, 40-degree day that felt almost balmy.

“That was the first time we played 18 (holes) all year,” Middleton coach Tom Cabalka said. “The kids haven’t walked 18 and they haven’t had to concentrate for four-plus hours.