One big swing of the bat provided the spark.

After that, Middleton’s Home Talent League team continued putting logs on the fire.

Shortstop Hayden Hellenbrand led off Sunday afternoon’s game at rival Cross Plains with a solo homer, the first of three runs in the top of first inning for the 29ers. Middleton then scored at least a run in all but three frames, resulting in a sizzling 9-1 victory over the Businessmen at Baer Park.

The 29ers improved to 10-2 and will play at Ashton (11-1) on July 26 for the East Division championship in the HTL’s Northern Section. Middleton defeated the A’s, 7-4, in their first meeting on June 28.

For the rematch to have championship ramifications, though, the 29ers knew they couldn’t look past Cross Plains (4-8). And the key was taking it one at bat at a time.

Middleton’s state champion boys golf team landed four players on the Golf Coaches Association of Wisconsin's all-state team.

Senior Sammy Forslund was named first-team all-state, while seniors Luke Weiss and Reis Von Ruden were named second-team all-state. Senior Berrin Reiter was named honorable-mention all-state.

Milton’s Kade Weiland was named the state’s Player of the Year. The rest of the first-team all-state selections included Peyton Albers of Waunakee, Arrowhead’s Jonathan Amtmann, DePere’s Grant Lawson, Owen Purdin of Oregon, Seymour’s Vince Sigl, Ryan Swanson of River Falls and Edgerton’s Owen Wegie.

Forslund, who will play at UW-Eau Claire next season, led the Cardinals with a 73.22 average. Forslund broke par in four rounds and was Middleton’s top finisher — or tied for low score — in nine events.

Forslund saved his best for last, shooting 3-under-par, 141 at the two-day state tournament and finishing seventh individually.

Middleton’s girls sports programs have ranked among Wisconsin’s best for several years now.

And that certainly didn’t change during the 2025-26 school year.

Middleton’s girls swimming team won a state title. The Cardinals’ girls golfers were fourth at state.

And several teams and individuals enjoyed memorable seasons.

That made picking Middleton’s ‘Best of the Best’ as hard as ever.

Last week, we picked the top performances on the boys side. This week, we’ll award the top girls.

Team of the Year

Girls swimming

The shirts said it all.

Middleton’s girls swimming and diving team — winners of two straight WIAA Division 1 state championships — arrived at the 2025 state meet inside Waukesha South High School with shirts that read: “Let the Storm Rage On.”

Boy, did it ever.

Four Middleton football players will compete in the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association All-Star Game.

Former MHS standouts Joey Passaglia, Tyler Vogt, Chase Rogers and Oliver Wenning will all play for South Large All-Star team. That game is Saturday at 4 p.m. at Titan Stadium in Oshkosh.

Passaglia, Vogt, Rogers and Wenning helped Middleton go 9-2 overall and win the Big Eight Conference with a perfect 7-0 mark in 2025.

Passaglia was the Big Eight’s Offensive Player of the Year and the conference’s Quarterback of the Year last season. He was also named all-Region and honorable-mention all-state.

Passaglia threw 25 touchdown passes and just three interceptions. He threw for 2,318 yards, completed 69.2% of his passes and averaged 12.0 yards per completion.

Passaglia also ran for 456 yards, had five rushing touchdowns and averaged 5.5 yards per rushing attempt.

It was a long wait for Alan Roden.

When the former Middleton High School star got his chance to shine, though, he took full advantage.

The Minnesota Twins called up Roden from Triple-A St. Paul on July 7. One day later, Roden delivered a two-out, bases-loaded, walk-off single in the ninth inning to lift Minnesota to a 6-5 win over Cleveland at Target Field.

“It’s really exciting,” Roden told reporters after the win. “I’m so happy to contribute to the team and this organization, to win us a game. It means a lot.”

The 26-year-old Roden was sent to St. Paul coming out of spring training, in part because he still had Minor League options remaining. He then suffered a shoulder injury and missed six weeks.

When Roden returned, though, he did what he’s always done — hit.

Back on track.

That’s how Middleton’s Home Talent League team felt Sunday afternoon after defeating Cazenovia, 2-0.

The 29ers ended a two-game losing streak and improved to 9-2 in the Northern Section’s East Division. Ashton, which rolled to a 22-0 win over Reedsburg on Sunday, leads the division at 10-1.

Brady Schmitt threw a three-hit, complete game shutout to propel Middleton past Cazenovia. Schmitt struck out nine, didn't walk a batter and threw strikes on 71 of 94 pitches (75.5%).

Schmitt didn't allow a hit until the fifth inning, overcame two Middleton errors and had just one inning where Cazenovia put two base runners on.

Cazenovia’s Garrett Jennings and Micah Salisbury combined to hold Middleton to seven hits. But the 29ers got all the runs they needed when they struck for two in the second against Jennings, the eventual losing pitcher.

State championships in volleyball, swimming and golf.

A state runner-up finish in tennis.

And conference titles in football, volleyball, swimming, basketball, wrestling and golf.

Yowza!

What a year it was for Middleton’s boys sports programs in the 2025-26 school year.

In addition to remarkable team success, the Cardinals had countless individual athletes shine. Middleton also had perhaps its finest group of senior athletes in the nearly 30 years we’ve been running this column.

That made picking Middleton’s ‘Best of the Best’ harder than ever, but we gave it our best shot.

This week, we’ll honor the boys, and next week we’ll award the girls.

Co-Teams of the Year

Boys volleyball, boys swimming and boys golf

Middleton’s baseball team had a highly successful season, going 19-8 overall and reaching the WIAA Division 1 sectional semifinals before losing to eventual state runner-up Madison Memorial.

The Cardinals were justly rewarded, landing six players on the all-Big Eight Conference team.

Senior Tyler Vogt was named first-team all-conference as an At-Large player. Senior shortstop Jackson Guerrero, junior pitcher Brody Kalscheuer and senior outfielder Eytan D’Onofrio were named second-team all-conference, while senior pitcher Carter Gebhardt and senior center fielder Chase Rogers were both named honorable-mention all-conference.

Verona senior pitcher Landon Lassahn was named the conference’s Player of the Year and Verona manager Brad D’Orazio was named the conference’s Manager of the Year.

The future’s so bright.

Middleton’s girls soccer team enjoyed another highly successful season, going 14-5-4 and reaching the WIAA Division 1 sectional semifinals.

The Cardinals had seven players from that team earn all-Big Eight Conference honors, and five are expected back in 2027.

Freshman midfielder Annu Mundas and freshman forward Leighton Weber were both named first-team all-conference. Junior defender Bea Norman was named second-team all-league, while sophomore forward Sydney Hewuse, junior midfielder Brooke Lister, senior midfielder Zoe Sharaf and senior keeper Kylie Carbon were named honorable-mention all-conference.

Mundas had a huge first season, recording nine goals and three assists (21 points) in Big Eight Conference games. Mundas ended the season with 17 goals and six assists for 40 total points and had game-winning goals against Badger, Sun Prairie West, Sun Prairie East and Janesville Craig.

Sisyphus finally got the boulder up the hill.

Now, we’ll see if he can keep it there.

After years and years of trying, Wisconsin took a major step last week towards permanently implementing a shot clock in high school basketball.

The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association’s Board of Control approved the use of a 35-shot clock for boys and girls varsity basketball for non-conference games in the 2026-27 season if there is mutual agreement between the teams.

The Board also approved a measure to discuss fully implementing a 35-second shot clock for the 2028-29 season to the WIAA membership for approval at the next WIAA annual meeting, which is scheduled for the end of April, 2027.

The two approved measures were identical to proposals put forth by the WIAA basketball coaches advisory council in 2025, which were voted down by the WIAA advisory council prior to reaching the board of control.