SHOTS from the Hip

Nick Johnson and the Prescott softball team wrapped up their first week of practice. With a strong contingent of returnees from last year’s Division III State Runner Up team, the Cardinals are expected to be among the favorites to qualify for the state tournament this June at Goodman Field in Madison, Wis. The Cardinals are scheduled to open the 2022 season on April 29 in Superior and are expected once again to challenge for the Middle Border Conference championship this season.

This Saturday, the Prescott boys and girls track teams will be one of 32 teams that will be competing in a Northern Badger Invitational indoor track meet at the University of Wisconsin-Stout Field House in Menomonie. Approximately 40 Cardinals thin clads are expected to participate in the all-day event.

Junior shortstop Peter Brookshaw and the North Dakota State Bison ended their slate of spring break games with a doubleheader sweep of Fairfield University last weekend, improving to 12-8 on the season. The Bison will open Summit League play this weekend with a threegame series against Northern Colorado. Brookshaw is the team leader in hits, runs batted in, and batting average.

Prescott Assistant Baseball Coach Brad Matzek worked with over two dozen prospective hurlers last week during the WIAA allowed five-day pitching practice last week. A former Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association Assistant Coach of the Year, Matzek is recognized as one of the best pitching coaches in Wisconsin. The 1990 Prescott graduate is in his 26th year with the Cardinals. Fellow Assistant Coach Duane Miller is in his 18th year with Prescott and is also a former WBCAAssistant Coach of the Year Winner.

Speaking of high school baseball, Cardinal players will once again complete some volunteer work for the city of Prescott next month and give a free youth clinic for youngsters ages 6-14 on Saturday, April 23.

Tickets are available for the annual CAB Company Banquet that will be held at the Old Ptacek’s Event Center on Friday, April 1. Tickets are $25. This year’s featured speaker will be former Minnesota Twin and World Series Champion Al Newman.

The West Salem Tiger boys basketball team fell to Division III private school Lake Country Lutheran in Saturday’s championship game by a score of 67-56. Next season West Salem will return five of their six top scorers and will be picked as one of the favorites in next year’s Division 3 field. A sectional tournament collision course with the Prescott Cardinals will be a distinct possibility next March.

From the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources: The DNR began selling turkey harvest authorizations on Monday, March 21, with a designated sale date for each zone. Previously known as leftover permits, bonus harvest authorizations are available for purchase through the DNR's online license portal at GoWild.Wi.Gov or at all licensed agents. Hunters who want additional harvest authorizations or who missed the spring turkey drawing deadline last December can purchase bonus authorizations beginning this week. Hunters are encouraged to check the turkey zone map and the spring turkey bonus harvest authorization availability to see if harvest authorizations are available for the period and turkey zone they wish to hunt.

The Prescott baseball team and CAB Company hope to have a large contingent of volunteers this Saturday as they make Firehall Field game ready. Installation of home plate, baseline reconstruction, the raising of the batting cages, and several other projects are on the docket this Saturday. For those interested in helping out the work begins at 8 a.m.

The Cardinals are scheduled to open the 2022 baseball season next Tuesday when they host defending Big Rivers Conference Champion Hudson. Two days later, the Cardinals are scheduled to take on former Middle Border Conference member New Richmond. First pitch for both games is scheduled for 4:30 pm.

Headshaker of the week. Last week the WIAA issued a statement related to the events connected to a fight involving players during a WIAA Tournament game. Game officials and the WIAA ruled the winning team Milwaukee Thomas Moore would forfeit the game for their involvement in the fracas. Thomas Moore coaches and parents went to court to ask for the ruling of the WIAA to be reversed. It was. The same week after another loss by a different Wisconsin team, a state lawmaker filed a formal complaint arguing poor officiating is what caused the elimination of “his team” from the tournament requesting a “formal public apology” be made by the officiating crew. Unbelievable. All of us who played prep sports years ago still at times wax poetic about that “missed three-second call,” “holding penalty,” or “blown call at first base” during our high school days. But we, like most kids today (not all) were and are able to move on.

We like to talk about kids today and how they have changed. How today’s youngsters lack respect, decorum, and discipline. It has been argued that high school athletics teaches kids not only how to win but also how to lose and to do so gracefully. In sports and life, things don’t always go your way. Today when it comes to losing, the temper tantrums are no longer reserved for 5- and 6-year-olds losing playground games at recess. It’s the 40- or 50-yearold adult stomping their feet and yelling from the bleachers and the sidelines when things go awry for their team. It’s a headshaker. Time to look in the mirror. Time to be the adult in the room.

By Cripe Olson