Sports

Middleton’s softball team took care of business in the Big Eight Conference last week.

The Cardinals found the sledding much tougher, though, when they stepped outside of conference.

Middleton posted conference wins over Madison West, Madison Memorial and Madison la Follette. The Cardinals then lost twice at the Cedarburg Triangular last Saturday.

Middleton is now 8-5 overall and 6-1 in the Big Eight.

Here’s a recap of the Cardinals’ week.

• Middleton 5, Madison West 2 — Cece Smith struck out 11 and allowed just three hits and one earned run to lift the Cardinals past the Regents on April 21.

Annika Jafferis led Middleton’s offense going 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs, while Ellie Jafferis went 2-for-3 with a triple, an RBI and a run scored.

Middleton struck for two runs in the fourth and fifth innings to build a 5-0 lead. West rallied with two runs in the top of the seventh before Smith worked out of the jam.

Middleton’s boys tennis team won a pair of matches last week.

The Cardinals swept Janesville Craig, 7-0, on April 22, then rolled past Janesville Parker, 7-0, on April 23.

Here’s a recap of those matches.

• Middleton 7, Janesville Craig 0 — The Cardinals had straight set wins at all four singles and all three doubles flights on April 22.

Alexander Bo, Preetham Peddireddy, Tianmu Pei and Joseph Weisman all posted singles wins. In doubles play, the teams of Caden Cheng-Zander Endres, Lucas Bush-Ethan Yang and Sullivan Watson-Benjamin Myers all rolled to wins, as well.

• Middleton 7, Janesville Parker 0 — The Cardinals rolled to straight set wins at all seven flights on April 23.

Preetham Peddireddy rolled to a 6-0, 6-0, win at No. 1 singles. Tianmu Pei and Joseph Weisman posted 6-0, 6-0 wins at No. 2 and 3 singles.

It doesn’t matter the sport.

It doesn't matter the position.

There seems to be no limit to what Middleton’s Joey Passaglia can achieve once a ball is put in play.

Passaglia was an all-state quarterback on Middleton’s Big Eight Conference championship football team last fall. He was also a key member of the Cardinals’ basketball team that shared a conference title this winter.

Today, Passaglia is one of the area’s top pitchers in baseball season, but displayed a powerful bat and wicked glove when Madison Memorial came to Middleton on April 16.

Passaglia went 2-for-3 with a double and drove in three runs. He also had six assists and started the biggest double play of the night to power Middleton to an impressive 4-1 win over the Spartans.

Middleton improved to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the Big Eight, while the Spartans fell to 1-2 overall and in the league.

The course was soaking wet.

Balls plugged, distance was lost, holes played much longer than usual.

Middleton’s boys golf team simply shrugged their collective shoulders and said, ‘Oh well.’

The Cardinals went to the Madison La Follette Triangular at Yahara Hills on April 13 and had a record-setting day, shooting what’s believed to be a school-record 1-under-par, 287. The Cardinals comfortably won the triangular, easily outdistancing runner-up Janesville Craig (323), while host La Follette was third with a 336.

“The guys were certainly happy with their play, but all seemed a bit disappointed that they could have gone lower,” Middleton coach Tom Cabalka said. “The course was very wet, many plugged balls or lost in the middle of the fairways. The wetness made the course longer, and the guys had to make some adjustments with their swing to avoid chunking shots, by shallowing out their swing.”

Middleton’s boys lacrosse team has raced to a sensational start 4-0 start.

The Cardinals stayed unbeaten last week, rolling past Sun Prairie, 16-5, on April 15 and edging host Hudson in overtime, 11-10, on April 18.

Here’s a recap of the Cardinals’ week.

• Middleton 16, Sun Prairie 5 — Ten different Cardinals scored and Middleton’s defense was stellar in a win over Sun Prairie.

Sam Everson had three goals and two assists, while Roan Johnson had three goals. Evan Mazur added two goals and two assists, while Patrick Passini had two goals.

Espen Achenbach and Vincent Jiru both had one goal and one assist, while Aksel Chelesvig, Aidan Dowd, Griffin See and Collin Walser each added one goal. 

Chelesvig also won 12 of 18 faceoffs, while Oliver Wenning forced two turnovers and Johnathan Schwartz forced one. Goalie Jake Brooks also had nine saves.

Middleton’s girls softball team spent most of last week waiting, and waiting, and waiting  to play.

That’s what torrential rains will do to a team.

When the Cardinals finally got to play on April 16, they made extremely quick work of host Janesville Parker.

Middleton pounded out 16 hits and pitcher Cece Smith hurled a one-hit gem as the Cardinals routed the Vikings, 16-0, in a game stopped after four innings due to the mercy rule. Middleton improved to 5-3 overall and is now 3-1 in the Big Eight Conference.

Smith gave up a single to the first batter she faced, Parker catcher Delaney King. That was the only hit that the Cardinals’ hard-throwing sophomore allowed, though.

Smith struck out seven, walked just one and allowed only two base runners after the first. Smith threw strikes on 40 of her 56 pitches (71.4%) and faced just 14 batters in the Cardinals’ quick win.

Middleton’s girls soccer team is ranked No. 7 in the latest Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association poll.

And the Cardinals showed why on April 18.

Middleton and perennial power Hudson played to a 0-0 draw during an all-day tournament at Breitenbach Stadium. The Cardinals then rolled past Lake Geneva Badger, 8-0, at the same tournament.

Middleton is now 2-0-2 on the young season with a big week ahead.

Here’s a recap of the Cardinals’ games with Hudson and Badger.

• Middleton 0, Hudson 0 — Senior keeper Kylie Carbon posted her second shutout of the season that included her denying Hudson on three breakaway chances.

Middleton’s boys tennis team dropped two of three matches at the Neenah Invitational last weekend.

The Cardinals defeated Neenah, 4-3, fell to Brookfield East 6-1 and dropped a 4-2 decision to Homestead.

Here’s a recap of Middleton’s matches.

• Middleton 4, Neenah 3 — The Cardinals won three of four singles matches and edged the Rockets.

Middleton’s Alexander Bo posted a 6-2, 6-4 win at No. 1 singles. Tianmu Pei cruised past Charlie Perry, 6-0, 6-2, at No. 3 singles and Joseph Weisman had a thrilling 6-2, 4-6, 10-8 win at No. 4 singles.

Middleton’s No. 3 doubles team of Sullivan Watson and Benjamin Myers also led 6-3, 4-3 when the Rockets’ duo retired.

• Brookfield East 6, Middleton 1 — The Cardinals fell to the perennially powerful Spartans.

Middleton No. 1 singles player Alexander Bo notched the Cardinals’ lone win rolling to a 6-2, 6-4 win over East’s Luca Bonfilio.

The 12th annual Cardinals ‘Strike Out Cancer’ baseball game will be played May 7 at 5 p.m. at Sun Prairie East High School's Summit Field.

Big Eight Conference rivals Middleton and Sun Prairie dedicate an annual matchup to raising awareness and funds for pediatric cancer research.  

The game was started in 2014 by former Middleton manager Tom Schmitt and Sun Prairie skipper Rob Hamilton. The tradition has carried on under current MHS manager Brent Jorgensen and Sun Prairie East coach Jack Marchese.

Over the past 11 years, these programs have raised more than $239,000 for American Family Children's Hospital Kids Cancer Research.

“It really wraps around families in both communities who are being treated for cancer who are at our hospitals a lot and it’s just showing that support and love,” UW Health American Family Children’s Hospital Development Outreach Specialist Lori Schultz said. “I think that’s why it’s such a great time‚”

Expectations are great.

Hopes are extremely high.

And Middleton’s No. 1 ranked boys golf team showed exactly why, winning its first two meets of the new season last week.

Middleton opened its season by winning the Big Eight-Badger Conference Challenge on April 6 at Bishop’s Bay Country Club. The Cardinals fired a 306, while Milton was second with a 316. Madison Edgewood (323) and Waunakee (326) rounded out the field.

Middleton then won a Big Eight Conference triangular held at Pleasant View Golf Course on April 8. The Cardinals shot a 302, while Madison West carded a 315 and Sun Prairie East shot a 362.

During the Cardinals’ win at the Big Eight-Badger Challenge, Middleton senior Berrin Reiter tied for medalist honors with Milton’s Kade Wieland — a University of Wisconsin recruit. Both players carded s1-over-par, 73.