Sports

They waited, waited and waited some more.

And Middleton girls soccer coach Mary Duffy admits she was worried that her team didn’t start its season until April 14 — two weeks later than many other teams.

“Most teams have already had a few games by the time (last) Friday rolled around,” Duffy said. “So I wondered how other teams would match up against us.”

Turns out Duffy and the Cardinals had nothing to worry about.

Middleton opened its season with a 5-1 win over Hudson last Friday. The Cardinals followed that with a 2-0 win over Oshkosh West last Saturday.

If it’s true that first impressions are most telling, it could be a memorable spring for these Cardinals.

Middleton raced to a 2-0 halftime lead over Hudson. After the Raiders closed within 2-1, the Cardinals ripped off three straight goals to pull away.

“The girls put on a show,” Duffy said.

Middleton’s boys track team finished in third place at the 18-team Franklin Invite last Friday. The Cardinals’ girls were eighth out of 18 teams.

Bay Port won the boys’ title with 102 points, while Sussex Hamilton (88.5), Middleton (78), Kettle Moraine (71.5) and Wauwatosa East (68) rounded out the top five.

Bay Port also won the girls’ title with 133.5 points. Middleton finished with 42 points.

Here were the Cardinals’ top-10 finishes:

BOYS

• William Whiteis won the 1,600-meter run (4:35.23) and teammate Harper Fahey was second (4:39.58).

• Finn Patenaude won the 300-meter hurdles (39.90) and was third in the 110-meter hurdles (15:08).

• KJ Peterson was second in the shot put (47 6 ½”).

• Dean Montour was third in the 3,200-meter run (10:05.57).

• Sirrye Retelle-Branch was third in the triple jump (40-6 ½).

Tom Cabalka might have one of the toughest jobs in the state right now.

But no one is crying for Middleton’s boys golf coach.

You see, Cabalka has eight, nine, even 10 players that are worthy of being on the Cardinals’ five-man varsity roster.

So picking a top-five for each event is a tough gig.

“It's a good problem to have,” Cabalka said.

Cabalka did an awfully good job last week as the Cardinals had a pair of stellar performances.

Middleton won its own triangular held at Pleasant View Golf Course on April 12. The Cardinals shot a 312 to easily outdistance runner-up Sun Prairie West (352) and Madison West (361).

Amazingly, Middleton’s JV team shot 320 on the same day and would have rolled to a win at the triangular.

Option one said no thanks.

Option two chose not to interview.

So after Middleton athletic director Jamie Sims had two external candidates turn down the Cardinals’ head football coaching job, he looked internally.

On Tuesday, Middleton named Joe Poehls and Tim Simon as interim co-head coaches for the 2023 season. Both men were assistant coaches in the program the last several years.

The duo will replace Jason Pertzborn, who resigned on Jan. 26 in the midst of a bullying scandal.

In the time since, McFarland defensive coordinator Brian Hellenbrand was offered the position, then declined it on March 28.

Middleton then re-opened the interview process and targeted Eau Claire Regis coach Bryant Brenner. Brenner opted not to interview, though, and Sims then turned to Poehls and Simon.

The third time proved to be a charm for Sam Pilof.

Pilof, a junior linebacker at Middleton High School, took an unofficial recruiting visit to the Rutgers University campus in Piscataway, N.J. this past weekend.

On Saturday, Pilof took a big weight off of his shoulders when he verbally committed to head coach Greg Schiano to play football for the Scarlet Knights as a member of the 2024 recruiting class.

“It feels great. It’s hard to explain,” Pilof, said during a phone call on Sunday before he returned home. “Now I can just focus on my senior season and try and improve myself.”

After trimming his list of suitors to three, including the University of Wisconsin and Penn State University, Pilof said that he was prepared to make a decision during his third trip to the Rutgers’ campus.

He didn’t hesitate when asked ‘Why Rutgers?’

Five all-conference players return.

A gifted senior class will lead them.

And there are newcomers ready to step into key roles.

So despite playing in one of the state’s toughest conferences and sectionals, hopes will be extremely high for Middleton’s girls soccer team this spring.

“To say going to state isn’t always on my mind, I would be lying,” said Middleton coach Mary Duffy, whose team begins its new season Friday against Hudson at Otto Breitenbach Stadium at 7 p.m. “It is there. However, as I have gotten older, I realize how important these 2 ½ months are in other aspects of life.

“I hope for a season that they are proud of, a season where they came together with a group of players, fought for each other, to know that their teammate has their back, left everything on the field for themselves and for their teammates.”

Middleton has been awfully good in those areas throughout Duffy’s tenure. And she expects this spring to be similar.

Following a successful season-opening, sun-splashed spring trip to Florida, Middleton’s baseball team came up empty in their home opener on a cool and cloudy Saturday afternoon.

Junior right-hander Cashton Jones and senior left-hander Avery White combined to toss seven shutout innings to help Madison Memorial blank host Middleton 3-0 in a Big Eight Conference season-opening matchup for both teams.

Jones threw 82 pitches, 51 for strikes, in six innings, allowing just two singles and a walk with four strikeouts.

Middleton, which scored 17 runs in a pair of victories on its spring trip, could only manage an infield single from senior catcher Wyatt Baird to open the second inning and a two-out single from senior designated hitter Hayden Hellenbrand in the third inning.

Middleton senior Gavyn Hurley was named to the first-team of the The Associated Press’ All-State boys basketball team.

Hurley was previously named first-team all-state in Division 1 by the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association. The AP All-State team encompasses all five divisions.

Hurley was named the Big Eight Conference’s Player of the Year for a second straight season, as was also named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year.

Hurley became the first player since Sun Prairie’s Nick Fuller (2012-2013) to win back-to-back Player of the Year honors.

“Not only was he first team, but he was the Player of the Year again,” Middleton coach Kevin Bavery said of Hurley. “And that’s not anything you take lightly.

“He’s better in all phases of the game than he was last year. He’s arguably the best player I’ve ever coached — right up there with three or four other people. The league saw Gavyn that way. He clearly earned it.”

Decisions, decisions.

That’s what Middleton boys golf coach Tom Cabalka will face early and often this season.

The Cardinals bring back four golfers from a group that finished sixth at the WIAA Division 1 state tournament. Fifteen of Middleton’s top-17 golfers from last spring are back.

And the Cardinals welcome what could eventually become the finest freshman class in school history.

Now, the challenge for Cabalka is to pick five to go to battle with each time out.

“The competition to break into the top-five should be very good,” Cabalka said. “Much depends on how much they worked on their game since last season. I would think that a number of them will have chances during the season in varsity matches to crack the top-five.”

Juniors Dain Johnson and Charlie Jambor will be staples in the lineup.

Eight of the players that started in Middleton’s WIAA Division 1 sectional semifinal last June have graduated.

Seven of those players earned all-conference honors and helped the Cardinals post an impressive 19-9 season.

But even though Middleton has holes to fill all over the diamond and will be one of the Big Eight Conference’s most inexperienced teams, expectations don’t change.

That’s why Cardinals manager Brent Jorgensen is cautiously optimistic his team can produce another solid season.

“I believe very strongly that the expectation of our program is to reload,” said Jorgensen, now in his fifth year as the Cardinals’ skipper. “Our preparation and standards remain the same from year to year and we have a large senior class that can help us meet these expectations. However, many of the players on this year's team are unproven in consistent varsity competition, so there will be a bit of a learning curve for everyone.”