Congratulations to Arianna Temmers on being named 1st Team All State (Divisions 3,4,5) by the Wisconsin Fastpitch Coaches Association._Receiving Honorable Mention All-State were senior shortstop Isabella Lenz and sophomore pitcher Taylor Graf._The same three were named 1st Team All-District and Honorable Mention. All-District honors also went to senior Sydney Matzek and junior Grace Franco._The Cardinals finished their state runner-up season with an overall record of 24-4 and return all but three players next spring._ Prescott, along with Baldwin-Woodville, will be expected to battle it out for the conference crown next spring._ And speaking of WIAA state tournaments, members of last year’s Division 2 State Champion girls’ golf team have been hitting the links this summer in a lot of different zip codes around Wisconsin and neighboring states. All-State player Ava Salay has played in national qualifiers tournaments including the USGA Women’s Amateur, and the USGA JR Girls Championship._ Additionally, the talented junior has played in the Wisconsin_ State Open and the Wisconsin_State Amateur this summer.

Salay enters her junior year as Wisconsin’s top-ranked golfer in Division 2._ Fellow junior Rhianna_ Stutz has donned the clubs for several big events around the state including the Wisconsin College Showcase at Whistling Straits, one of the top rated and most difficult courses in the Midwest. Stutz is also ranked among the top 15 Division 2 golfers in the state.

Also identified as among the top golfers in Division 2 is Jessica Heinsch. The soon-tobe senior won the Western Wisconsin Jr. tour event at Kilkarney Hills in River Falls and won a Minnesota Jr. PGA tournament in Red Wing. Teammates Lindsay Olson and Finley Magee have been playing many events in the Minnesota Jr PGA. The Prescott Hall of Fame Committee is expected to announce the 2021 inductees within the next two weeks.__ The Annual CAB Company helicopter drop will take place at 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept 11. The local fundraising group will be selling baseballs for a chance to win a cash prize. For information about purchasing a baseball for the drop you can email [email protected] or call 651-560-6954 for information. _ It has become the bane of the Firehall Field groundskeeping crew._Despite several signs in both dugouts, players and coaches continue to leave sunflower seed shells in both the dugouts and on the turfed area in front of the dugouts._Sadly, it is not just visiting teams leaving this mouth refuse in the aforementioned areas. Come on coaches and adults._Read the signs, follow the rules, and don’t leave such a mess … especially in your OWN BALLPARK.

From the WIAA: The National Federation of High School Sports Baseball Rules Committee_spent part of its recent rules meeting compiling its Points of Emphasis (POEs) for next season. The five POEs, which prioritized healthy, safety and sportsmanship during the 2022 season, are as follows:

•Monitoring excessive celebration •Wearing equipment as intended by manufacturers

•Safety of coaches sitting on buckets outside bench/dugout area

•Umpiring procedure for lodged ball

•Sportsmanship “Points of Emphasis are used in an educational settings and fashion,” National Director of Sports Elliot Hopkins said. “The rules committee is telling the baseball community that these topics – elaborately choreographed celebrations, wearing of equipment inappropriately, sitting on buckets, understanding the lodged ball and a call for increased positive sportsmanship – are paramount in education-based athletics.”_ _ It seems #1 and #5 are yearly points of emphasis with seemingly no change in the behavior of the same teams and coaches year after year._Will things change next year?_I am not holding my breath._ From the Department of Natural Resources: The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced an increase in the waterfowl population across most of the state, despite dry winter and spring weather. The DNR’s 2021 spring waterfowl population surveys show stable to increased numbers of breeding waterfowl, despite below-average wetland conditions. Surveys showed an increase in the number of total birds compared to 2019 estimates with increases in wood duck, bluewinged teal and Canada goose numbers. However, there has been a slight dip in mallard numbers Also, the DNR announced that three lucky Wisconsin residents won a once-in-a-lifetime elk harvest tag for the 2021 Wisconsin elk hunting season which opens Saturday, Oct. 16. The DNR randomly selected the three hunters from a drawing pool of more than 25,000 applicants. The winning hunters are from the greater Madison, Marshfield and Manitowoc areas.

Headshaker of the week. Unbelievable. Instead of wearing the uniform of the team they represent, Major League Baseball decided to have American and National All Stars wear trappings resembling those of a Wednesday night men’s slow pitch softball team._Dumb. Idiotic. Pathetic. It was nothing but a headshaker. _