April 2018

Janesville Craig’s baseball team has won three consecutive Big Eight Conference titles — going a combined 49-5 in the league in that time.

Craig has gone to the state tournament two of the last three years, and won the WIAA Division 1 state title in 2015.

But Middleton took a big step Monday afternoon towards knocking the Cougars from their lofty perch.

Luke Ballweg drove home Alan Roden with the game-winning run in the top of the seventh inning and the Cardinals notched an impressive 4-3 win at Craig. Derek Reisdorf worked two innings of hitless relief as Middleton improved to 2-1 in the Big Eight and 5-2 overall.

“Big win for our kids,” said Middleton manager Tom Schmitt, whose team also has a huge road win against Sun Prairie to its credit. “Two big wins on the road to two teams that were picked ahead of us.”

Middleton’s girls’ soccer team has great expectations this spring.

Last weekend, the Cardinals showed exactly why by shutting out a pair of opponents.

Middleton blanked Oshkosh West, 2-0, last Friday. The Cardinals then rolled past Wauwatosa West, 4-0, last Saturday.

The two games were the first of Middleton’s season after it had five games postponed due to weather. The Cardinals improved to 2-0 and jumped to No. 5 in this week’s Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association Division 1 poll.

“We were very excited to finally get the chance to play someone other than ourselves in a scrimmage,” Middleton coach Mary Duffy said. “It was a long overdue game after five cancellations. 

“I think that the only nerves we had going into the game were because we had not played a game yet. But nerves quickly dissipated when that whistle blew to start the game. 

For the fifth consecutive year, Big Eight Conference rivals Middleton and Sun Prairie faced off for their “Cardinals Strike Out Cancer” baseball game in an effort to raise money for pediatric cancer research. Each year the teams have raised more than $10,000 to benefit the American Family Children’s Hospital.

The chilly temperatures did not stop fans from coming out in droves last Thursday to Middleton to support the cause again this year, as the teams, sponsors, and fans raised in excess of $10,000 once again.

Cancer survivor Matt Esser, who is currently a junior in the MIddleton baseball program, threw out the first pitch for Middleton. Eighteen-month old Rylee Payne, who is currently battling neuroblastoma, threw out the first pitch along with her parents Kate and Tyler Payne. Each team also had a bat-kid representative, with kindergartener Ilya Levchenko representing Middleton and second-grader Olivia Diaz representing Sun Prairie.

During a memorable title fight against Sugar Ray Leonard held at the Louisiana Superdome, Leonard put on a show with his remarkable speed and movement and dominated Duran. In the closing moments of the eighth round, Duran turned to referee Octavio Meyran and said, “No más.”

In Spanish that means, “no more.”

Today, coaches throughout the state are looking outside or staring up at the sky and yelling, “No más” themselves.

Spring sports in Wisconsin are always tricky with cold temperatures, nasty winds and lousy field conditions. But a winter that simply will not end — and dumped more snow on the area last week — has made things far tougher than usual.

And coaches everywhere are throwing their hands up in frustration and begging Mother Nature to back off.