Sports

Megan Button knows better than anyone what a menace Sun Prairie East has been to Middleton’s girls softball program in recent years.

Macey Blazek is just learning what a thorn East has been in Middleton’s side.

But as the two MHS standouts stood outside their dugout at Firefighter’s Park on April 17, they both knew this much — perhaps the worm has turned.

Button threw a four-hit gem, while Blazek had two RBIs and made a spectacular diving catch in center field to power Middleton past East, 3-1, in a critical Big Eight Conference game.

Middleton, which has won six straight games, is now 6-0 in the conference and 8-1 overall. MHS, which is gunning for its first conference title since 2015, holds a one-game lead in the loss column over both Verona (5-1, 8-1) and Sun Prairie East (4-1, 4-4).

It wasn’t the week they hoped for.

The good news is Middleton’s baseball team has a lot of season left to recover.

The Cardinals dropped three of four games last week and are now 5-4 overall and 4-2 in the Big Eight Conference.

Madison Memorial, Sun Prairie East and Verona are all 5-0 in the Big Eight and tied for the conference lead. Middleton is in fourth place in the league.

The Cardinals opened the week with a pair of home losses — first a 7-2 setback to Monona Grove on April 14, then a 6-5 decision to Verona on April 15. Middleton rebounded with a 14-0 rout of host Janesville Parker on April 16, but lost at Verona, 3-2, on April 17.

Middleton’s track and field teams competed at the Madison West Triangular on April 15.

Team results were not available.

Here are the Cardinals that posted top-three individual finishes.

GIRLS

• Sofiia Dergacheva won the high jump (5-0) and Noel Neuser was third (4-10).

• Andrea Wipperfurth won the triple jump (32-2) and Sophia Hein was second (31-8).

• Middleton’s quartet of Nora Pitt, Eire Riley, Alaina Kliefoth and Abby Arnold won the 400-meter relay (53.38).

• Sofiia Dergacheva was second in the 100-meter hurdles (16:47) and third in the 300-meter hurdles (52.53).

• Andrea Wipperfurth was second in the 400-meter dash (1:06.22) and Avery Tiller was third (1:09.01).

• Haley Jadlowski was second in the long jump (15-1) and Sophia Hein was third (15-0).

• Abby Arnold was third in the 200-meter dash (27.74).

• Sarah Blust was third in the 1,600-meter run (5:43.59).

Middleton’s boys golfers had an extremely busy week, playing three evenths over four consecutive days.

Here’s a recap of the Cardinals’ week.

BADGER/BIG EIGHT CHALLENGE

Middleton won this four-team event held at Bishop’s Bay on April 14 with a 324-team score. Waunakee (329), Milton (340) and Madison Edgewood (343) rounded out the four-team field.

Juniors Sammy Forslund and Reis von Ruden led Middleton with 77s, which tied for second individually.

Forslund made birdies on both sides and carded a 1-under-par, 35, on the back nine. Von Ruden had three birdies in his round and shot a 1-over-par, 37, on the back nine

Junior Luke Weiss carded an 80 that included two birdies and nine pars and finished in a tie for fourth place individually. The Cardinals also counted a 90 from junior Berrin Reiter.

JANESVILLE CRAIG TRIANGULAR

Middleton’s boys lacrosse team — the defending WIAA state champs — notched a pair of impressive wins last week.

The Cardinals defeated Neenah, 8-3, on April 15 and rolled past Oregon, 13-4, last Saturday.

Middleton improved to 4-1 overall, with its only loss coming to out-of-state New Trier (Ill.).

Here’s a recap of the Cardinals’ week.

• Middleton 8, Neenah 3 — In a rematch of last year’s state championship game, the Cardinals once again came out on top, defeating the host Rockets.

Arjay Johnson and Patrick Passini each had two goals and one assist to lead Middleton’s offense. Troy Teff and Espen Achenbach both had one goal and two assists, as well, while Evan Mazur and Roan Johnson also added goals.

TOWN OF MERTON — Middleton’s girls soccer team was just moments away from kicking off their new season last Friday.

And Cardinals’ coach Mary Duffy had a final message for her team.

“I said, we’re going to jump right into the fire everybody,” Duffy said. “And we’ll see what we’re made of.”

Less than 24 hours later, Duffy had discovered these Cardinals might be made of steel.

Middleton went to the Hartland Arrowhead Quadrangular and left with the championship. Although no trophy was technically awarded, the Cardinals captured the title thanks to shootout wins over both Arrowhead in Friday’s semifinals and Whitnall in Saturday’s title match.

Middleton and Arrowhead played to a 1-1 tie before the Cardinals won the shootout, 4-2. Middleton and Whitnall played to a scoreless draw on Saturday afternoon, and once again, the Cardinals won the shootout, 3-0.

Defending a state championship is never easy. It isn’t supposed to be.

Middleton’s boys lacrosse team is off to a terrific start this season, though, in its pursuit of another championship trophy.

The brothers Johnson — senior attacker Arjay and junior attacker Roan — combined for seven goals as Middleton rallied from an early deficit to hold off visiting Kimberly, 11-8, in a non-conference match at the Borden Athletic Complex last Saturday

“That’s one of the best things in practice every day is watching those two have their brotherly battle,” Middleton head coach Nate Lutterman said. “Not just physical, but verbal sparring back and forth as well. Those two complement each other really, well.”

The Cardinals, who capped a successful week that included a 14-2 rout of Big Eight Conference foe Janesville on April 10, are off to a 3-1 start.

The boys golf season has just started.

But Middleton made an early-season statement on April 9-10.

The Cardinals won the two-day, eight-team Quad Cities Classic in Peoria, Ill., against some of the top teams in Wisconsin.

Middleton shot a blistering 601 to outdistance runner-up Green Bay Notre Dame (615). Sheboygan North (626), Germantown (628) and Brookfield Central (629) rounded out the top five.

“It's always great to win an event, especially a two-day against some quality teams,” Middleton coach Tom Cabalka said. “Definitely a confidence booster.”

The teams opened at demanding Fyre Lake National Golf Club and the Cardinals had a tremendous day, shooting a sizzling 293.

Junior Sammy Forslund had a magnificent round, firing a 2-under, 68, his lowest as a Cardinal. Forslund made five birdies, hit 15 greens in regulation, was 3-for-3 in par saves around the green, and was 14 of 16 on putts inside of 5-feet. 

They were in trouble.

Trailing in a game that many felt would be a walk in the park.

Then Middleton’s bats came to life at the perfect time to avoid disaster.

The softball Cardinals erupted for five runs in the sixth inning and they rallied past Madison West, 7-4, on April 10.

Middleton improved to 3-1 overall and is 3-0 in the Big Eight Conference.

“We did not have our best night (against West) and we all acknowledge that,” Middleton manager Brittany Carl said. “Sometimes you just have those days where something feels off as a team, things aren't clicking, and you have to take that deep breath, get gritty and find a way to win. That's what we did. Good teams figure it out.”

BROOKFIELD — Middleton’s boys tennis team opened its season with a fifth place finish at the 32-team Brookfield Central Classic on April 11-12.

The Cardinals went 4-1 overall and defeated Marquette, 4-3, in the fifth place match.

Here’s a recap of the Cardinals’ matches throughout the weekend.

• Middleton 7, Wauwatosa East 0 — The Cardinals were the No. 4 seed in the tournament and rolled past the 29^th-seeded Red Raiders on April 11.

Alexander Bo, Preetham Peddireddy, Henry Arp and Cam Hosfield all posted singles wins for the Cardinals.

In doubles action, the duos of Bodi Russo/Blake Gibson, Zander Endres/Andy Jin and Eric Sun/Lucas Kurtz all notched straight set wins.

• Middleton 5, Menomonee Falls 2 — The Cardinals won three of four singles matches and two of three doubles matches and toppled the Phoenix.