Sports

With most starters returning and experienced underclassmen, the Shawano softball team is confident heading into the season.

The team lost three starters to graduation, including first baseman Tatum DePerry, and all-Bay Conference first team honorees Sarah Petry at third base and Saige Henning at left field. The Hawks will also be without starting pitcher Erin Cerveny, which will be the main challenge this season according to head coach Brian Johnson.

Junior Emilee Bastar, who served as a relief pitcher last year, will take over on the mound and freshman Taylor Johnson will serve as a reliever.

“Our pitching’s young, so that’ll be a focus for us,” Johnson said, “and specifically just working on consistency. We had a little problem last year where we had a few too many walks, so we just really need to avoid those.

TRACK

SCHS gets 5 1st places in Wausau

Shawano Community High School had five first place finishers at the Wausau West Invite on Saturday.

Payden Buck took first in the boys pole vault with a height of 13 feet. Atty Wagner won the boys high jump (6-0), Lydia Beyer placed first in the girls 1,600-meter with a time of 6 minutes, 8.44 seconds, and Elizabeth Dillenburg won the girls shot put (29-0). The boys 4x180 relay (Buck, Wagner, Parker Pues and Crede Timm) finished first in 1:14.6.

Hannah Wendorff finished second in the pole vault and Parker Pues took second in both the long jump and triple jump.

Buck also placed third in the 55-meter dash and Tori DePerry finished third in the high jump.

The girls team placed third overall, with Wausau West winning the invite. Wausau West also won the boys overall and Shawano placed fourth.

Gresham/Bowler girls also competed at the invite and finished fourth as a team. The boys finished sixth.

BONDUEL HIGH SCHOOL

Boys golf

Head coach: Dave LaBerge

Last season: Fourth out of 10 in Central Wisconsin Conference

Key athletes lost: None

Key returning athletes: Austin Acker, senior; Kody Jashinsky, senior; Aaron Schaal, junior; Jack Jiskra, senior; Carter Siolka, sophomore.

Coach’s comment: “We expect to have a very strong year this year with all five regular varsity golfers returning from last season. We need to improve on our consistency overall. We have a few guys that have the ability to be mid-80s all year with several others potential low-90s. With those results, we would be able to compete at a high level in any of our team matches. It appears we will have pretty good numbers again with anywhere from 14-16 kids coming out which is great to see. Hopefully the weather cooperates, and we can get started early.”

While change is one of the few constants in the National Football League, some players’ new addresses are easier to fathom than others.

Reggie White looked more out of place in a Carolina uniform than Julius Peppers does.

In the same vein, the sight of Jordy Nelson wearing an Oakland jersey will have a more jarring effect than seeing Jared Cook in the Raiders’ black and silver.

With realities like free agency and the salary cap, that’s life in the NFL. Fan favorites become cap casualties just like that, and before you know it your Hall of Fame quarterback is without his favorite receiver.

Questions were raised about the Packers’ having released Nelson – who got a two-year contract with the Raiders worth $15 million – and signing free agent tight end Jimmy Graham to a three-year deal worth $30 million. It appeared that the Packers thought more of Graham than they did Nelson.

Bonduel High School concluded its winter sports seasons with its annual banquet honoring the boys basketball, girls basketball and wrestling teams.

While each team will be returning key players next season, the Bears had a talented senior class across the sports and each coach emphasized the need to fill those crucial roles that will be lost.

Here’s a look at highlights of the night:

Boys basketball

The Bears ended their season 9-15 overall and 4-8 in the Central Wisconsin Conference-East. The team broke a 100-point game for the first time in head coach Duke Copp’s career in a 106-92 win over Menominee Indian during the first round of the regional tournament.

In that same game, senior guard Bryce Weier broke the school’s single-game scoring record with a 46-point performance. Weier, who was the Bears’ leading scorer at 16.8 points per game, was voted co-MVP by his teammates. Weier also earned a spot on the all-conference second team.

Athlete: Warren Wilber III

Sport: Basketball

Position: Guard

School: Menominee Indian High School

Year: Senior

Warren Wilber III led the Central Wisconsin Conference-East in scoring this season with an average 18.2 points per game, landing him a spot on the all-conference first team. The senior also led the Eagles in rebounding at 5.7 per game (130 total) and assists (82 total). Wilber played varsity for the Eagles all four years and hopes to continue at a junior college next year.

Q Where did your interest in playing basketball begin?

A It started when I was a little kid. I wasn’t the type to stay inside. I was always outside playing some kind of sport, basketball was one of them.

Q What do you think contributed to you being the top scorer on the team and conference, and a leader on the team?

A All the hours in the weight room and in the gym. I stopped doing track and baseball so I could focus on basketball.

A total of 10 licenses will be issued this fall for the state’s first elk season in the Clam Lake region in north-central Wisconsin.

The historic hunt represents the culmination of 22 years worth of herd reintroduction and management efforts.

“Our volunteers and members have been looking forward to this moment for a long time, and a hunt will show the success of the reintroduction effort to a lot of people,” said Kurt Flack, regional director for the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, which has invested over $1.6 million on elk reintroduction and other conservation efforts in Wisconsin. “We are excited to play a role in the hunt and continue to raise money for Wisconsin elk management.”

Here’s a look at the winter sports all-conference selections announced so far.

WRESTLING

Bay Conference

Alex Sumnicht was the sole Shawano wrestler selected to the Bay Conference’s first team. The junior posted a 22-12 record on the season and placed fifth at WIAA Division 1 regionals at 152 pounds.

Sophomore Keith Tourtillott represented the Hawks on the second-team. Tourtillott ended the season with a 20-12 overall record.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Central Wisconsin Conference-East

Bonduel High School

Bryce Weier was selected to the all-conference second team. The senior guard tied for the third-leading scorer in the conference (16.8 point per game) and was the Bears’ leading scorer. Weier also broke Bonduel’s single-game scoring record this season after a 46-point game in the first round of WIAA Division 4 playoffs.

Parker Bohm earned honorable mention. The junior forward was the team’s second-leading scorer (14.8 ppg).

As baseball’s spring training was winding down to the final weeks, the serious business of competing for lucrative roster spots gave way to moments of managerial fancy.

In one instance, Los Angeles Angels skipper Mike Scioscia arranged to change the song playing over the PA system during one of his players’ walk-ups to the plate. The target of this mischief was the Angels’ prime catch over the off-season, pitcher Shohei Ohtani of Japan, who on top of being a top-flight pitcher is also an accomplished hitter.

Such cruelty. Hitting in the majors is hard enough, but walk into that batter’s box when the wrong song is playing, as any hitting coach or maestro can tell you, and you’re looking at a three-pitch whiff.

Over in the District of Columbia, members of the Washington Nationals finished a practice session by taking an imaginary swing at an imaginary pitch and completing an imaginary game-winning walk-off trip around the bases.

Shawano Community High School winter sports coaches had the opportunity to reflect on their team’s seasons and present awards to the varsity athletes at this year’s winter sports banquet. Here’s a look at the awards, as voted on by the coaches and players.

Girls basketball

The Most Valuable Player Award went to Tori DePerry. DePerry also represented the Hawks on the Bay Conference’s first team.

Hannah Wendorff received the Hustle Award and Brandi Gueths won the Hawk Leadership Award. Gueths also earned an all-conference honorable mention.

Wrestling

Sam Tourtillott won the Most Valuable Player Award after representing the Hawks as a WIAA Division 1 state qualifier. The Heart of the Hawk Award went to Keith Tourtillott, who also earned a spot on the all-conference second team. Andrew Christian was named most improved and Colten Herm took the award for most pins.

Boys basketball