BY CRIPE OLSON

Tracey Budworth and the Prescott Cardinal volleyball team will play their first Middle Border Conference match at home this Thursday against Baldwin-Woodville. Prescott hopes to avenge last weekend’s quadrangular tournament loss to Baldwin-Woodville on Saturday. Thursday will be the first time fans get to see University of Kansas recruit Reese Ptacek play in the friendly confines of the Prescott High School gymnasium. The wet field conditions at Laney Field certainly dampened the Cardinal aerial at- tack. Hilariously some fans in attendance before the game remarked that playing on a “rain-soaked field is what football is all about.” How foolish can you be to believe playing on a slick field with wet footballs represents optimum high school football conditions. Undefeated Middle Border Conference leader Rice Lake enters the week as the #2 ranked team in Division 3. The Ellsworth Panthers, with a record of 3-1, are ranked #5 in Division 4. Sophomore quarterback Teddy Bernick’s 910 yards passing yards ranks 10th in the state of Wisconsin. Fellow sophomore Will Packard’s 28 receptions ranks fifth in the Badger State. Fridays bring the end of the school week to youngsters all over the country. With no school the following day, middle school and high school kids view Saturday morning as an opportunity to sleep in, play video games, or watch Saturday morning cartoons. That was not the case for one young man last week – end. At 6:45 a.m. this past Saturday, a local middle schooler was taking cuts in the cages at Firehall Field. The young right-handed hitter was about to head ou across the river to play a couple weekend tournament games. Clad in an impressive throwback Los Ange –

les Dodger uniform, the young man author iteratively slashed each pitch thrown by his father in the batting cage net. Hats off to this young man for having the desire to get better, and do so in the early hours of the morning. Speaking of Firehall Field, as Sunday morning’s fog settled and then lifted across the playing surface many fans likened the aesthetics to one of the many memorable field scenes in the iconic baseball movie “Field of Dreams.” The final baseball games of the season were played at Firehall Field this past weekend. According to outgoing CAB Company President Dallas Eggers the field hosted 78 baseball games this spring and summer. The CAB Company will be seeking volunteers to put Firehall Field “to bed” on Saturday, Oct. 1. The Osceola boys are the 12th ranked team in Division 2 in the most recent Wisconsin Cross Country Coaches Association poll. The Amery Warriors are the top ranked team from the Middle Border Conference and hold the #5 spot in the most recent rankings. From the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources: The DNR is seeking volunteers with a passion for teaching hunting or shooting and a desire to pass on safe hunting skills, including the safe handling of fire – arms, to become certified hunter education instructors in Wisconsin. There are two ways to become a volunteer instructor. Interested volunteers can either serve as an apprentice under a sponsoring instructor and assist with at least two complete courses or attend a one- or two-day certification training session host – ed by a DNR Outdoor Skills Trainer.

The DNR provides the materials and equipment required to teach a hunter education class. Anyone who is interested should have a desire to help others and a passion for fostering safe hunting.

Wisconsin employers endured larger than expected Monday work absences after Sun – day’s loss to the hated Minnesota Vikings. Headshaker of the week: While the Prescott CAB Company hosted another tournament this weekend at Firehall Field, a number of volunteers readied the diamond for each game and offered a wide array of con – cessions throughout the weekend. Hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, pop, Gatorade, water, and candy were available for purchase both days. Get this. Saturday afternoon one of the teams purchased pop, Gatorade, and pizza and brought it to Firehall Field to eat with – in an arm’s length of the concession stand. You have got to be kidding me. One would think adults would be smart enough to give back and say thank you to the CAB Company by purchasing food fare at the concession stand. Sadly, this group of parents did not believe it was important. What a headshaker.