The defending WIAA Division 3 softball team has exploded offensively out of the gate this season. Head Coach Nick Johnson’s club has scored 61 runs in five games and is hitting over .400 collectively as a team. Seniors Leah French and Rory Zuehlsdorf are leading the offensive charge for the Cardinals. French, a Concordia-St. Paul recruit, has hit four homeruns in five games and Zuehlsdorf hit career round tripper number two in Prescott’s dominant 11-0 win over Elk Mound. Despite last Saturday’s 10-9 loss to Northwestern, Cardinal hitters collected 11 hits off North Dakota State signee Ellie Peterson. There is little doubt the Cardinals will score more than their share of runs this spring. 

The University of Wyoming and Central Michigan University are the two newest colleges to offer junior Kobe Russell a football scholarship. More offers are expected for the highly touted defensive back. And speaking of football scholarships, David Regnier, an all conference and all state football selection last fall, has been working out extensively at Prescott High School as he prepares for his first season playing for the University of St. Thomas this fall. 

Juniors hurlers Brody Temmers and Zac Matzek picked up their first varsity victories over the weekend as the Prescott Cardinals eked out a pair of one-run victories on Saturday in the Lake City Invitational Tournament. In game one, Temmers tossed 4 ⅓ innings of scoreless relief as the Cardinals defeated Dover-Eyota by a score of 8-7. In game two, starter Zac Matzek struck out six in his debut and Evan Kochendorfer slammed the door and picked up the save with three innings of scoreless relief as the Cardinals defeated Winona Cotter by a score of 4-3.  

Western Wisconsin outdoor aficionado, retired biology teacher, and grizzled WIAA veteran referee and umpire Dan Hoffman recently harvested a 68-pound North American Beaver. The continent's largest rodent, an adult beaver typically weighs between 30-50 pounds. An animal that approaches the 70-pound range is quite rare. Congratulations Mr. Hoffman. 

Congratulations to Prescott resident Jason Brazzale on being recognized as the Fisheries Conservationist of the Year by the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation this past weekend in Marshfield. A former Prescott High School science teacher, Brazzale received this award for his extensive work with the Wisconsin Conservation Congress Youth Committee. Brazzale has worked with many young anglers in the arts of lure making and fishing methods, and was one of the founding members of the Prescott High School fishing team. The former award-winning educator also serves as the Secretary and Scholarship Co-Chair of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Fishing Association. In 2018 Brazzale was named a Wisconsin Society of Science Teachers Educator of the Year and in 2013 the Stevens Point native received a Herb Kohl Teacher Fellowship for exemplary performance in the classroom. 

From the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources: Good luck to Wisconsin turkey hunters as the 2025 spring season opens on Wednesday, April 16. The regular season is open through May 27, and all seven turkey management zones will be open for hunting during the spring season. To provide a high-quality hunting experience, enhance access opportunities and maintain a healthy turkey population, the 2025 spring turkey season is comprised of six seven-day periods running Wednesday through the following Tuesday.

Heading into this past weekend the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and Whitewater baseball teams were tied for first in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with 10-2 records. The two top 10-ranked teams in Division 3 squared off in a four-game conference series in Whitewater. The Warhawks took three of the four games from the Eagles and took over sole possession of first place in the conference standings. In WIAC women’s softball the Titans of UW-Oshkosh head into the week atop the WIAC Softball Standings and have an overall record of 24-2. The Titans are ranked #11 in the most recent NCAA Division III National Poll. 

Headshaker of the week. In kindergarten, among the first skills you learn is how to stand in line in an orderly fashion. Students are expected to show proficiency for a skill we will use our entire lives. For Prescott, Winona Cotter, Lake City, and Dover-Eyota baseball players, coaches, and fans, and Lake City, Chatfield, and Cannon Falls softball players, coaches, and fans, all were required to demonstrate this proficiency while waiting to use the only two bathrooms available to all those in attendance at last Saturday’s tournaments. That’s it. Two bathrooms. No satellites. No nothing. The lines to use the two available restrooms seemingly stretched all the way to the shores of Lake Pepin. It was like standing in a wedding reception greeting line, waiting with plate in hand at an Easter Sunday church buffet, or patiently waiting for the roller coaster at the Minnesota State Fair. If you are planning to host seven high school teams for an all-day sporting event, it’s best to have more than two comfort stations. Fans who went to use the facilities on Saturday with the score 4-1 in favor of the home team, returned three innings later with the score now 5-4 in favor of the visitors and the pitcher now in a save situation. Ridiculous. It was a headshaker.