Baseball is scheduled to return to Firehall Field on Sunday, July 11th. A week and a half ago the Prescott Pirates opened the season in Elmwood, splitting games against Menomonie and Plum City. Pitchers Eric Monson and Connor Cress shared the pitching duties as the Pirates won 8-2. Peter Brookshaw homered and tripled for Prescott and Bill Brookshaw was 2-3 with a double. Durand alumni Hunter Black cooled the Pirate bats as Plum City beat Prescott by a score of 3-2. Evan Bauer and Dylan Gausman did the pitching for the Pirates.

Affable Prescott High School Activities Director and Assistant Principal Matt Smith will be extra busy this week as the 1998 Cardinal alumnus sifts through applications for both head coaching positions for both football and softball. Previous football coach Kevin Haglund has accepted a position in the Pepin School District and former softball coach Abbie Morris will teach and coach in the Kasson-Mantorville School District in Minnesota.

The recently released WIAA participation guidelines for sports should be read by all those hoping to participate in activities this summer. Long, detailed descriptions of what activities should be allowed from Baseball to Gymnastics are available on the WIAA website for your perusal. The recommendations are eye opening to say the least and most likely will frustrate both athletes and fans alike. However, living in today’s litigious society the WIAA and its members schools believe being openly cautious is the prudent thing to do.

Work continued at Firehall Field last weekend.

Volunteer mainstays Dallas Eggers and Dennis Gagnier were joined by Cardinal Assistant Coach Duane Miller, Jon Anfinson, and Pirate players Bill Brookshaw and Mike Lytle. Local businessman Charlie Block also made a cameo appearance at the field.

Add Wayne State College of Nebraska to the list of schools offering Cardinal All-State guard Isabella Lenz an athletic scholarship. Located in Wayne, Nebraska the Wildcats play in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference that includes such schools at nearby Concordia-St. Paul and Winona State.

From the WIAA…A muchdiscussed coaches’ recommendation to add a girls division to the State Tournament Series in wrestling was amended to conduct a girls-only individual tournament in 2021-22. Girls and boys will be permitted to wrestle each other during the regular season, but the Tournament Series will be gender exclusive.

Also from the WIAA…For boys and girls basketball, the Board approved implementing a computerized seeding system for the State Tournament Series. The system will be developed by the WIAA with the goal to have it available in 2020-21, and no later than 2021-22. This action will require members designated as the home team to enter the scores of all their regular-season games into the WIAA Score Center database purposes starting in the 2020-21 season. This will replace the current system where regional coaches meet in person and through voting determine team seeds.

Sadly, stories abound of coaches voting in ways to benefit their own particular seeding position made such changes necessary. The same system needs to be implemented in baseball where some coaches, lacking in integrity, have made a mockery out of the tournament seeding process.

Local trout fishing guru, retired teacher, and long-time WIAA official Dan Hoffman calls this year’s trout season “among the best in years.” The Durand native and UWLaCrosse graduate has reported consistent success at area trout streams throughout the months of May and June. The former River Falls Biology teacher also calls this year’s Deer and Horse Fly “crop” among the worst in years. “They have been so bad this year, there have been a couple times where they have driven me from the water.”

From the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources…The application period for the 2021 bear hunting season will open July 1 after the successful completion of legislative review. The application deadline remains Dec. 10, 2020.

Applicants are reminded to be aware of the new bear management zone boundaries as their usual hunting grounds may change to a new unit beginning in 2021.

Wisconsin bear hunting is prevalent, and more people apply each year than the number of licenses available. For 2020, more than 119,000 hunters applied for a permit or a preference point for 11,535 available permits.

Where are they now? Cardinal basketball and baseball fans long remember 2015 Prescott graduate Clay Seifert. The All-Conference basketball and baseball player is currently attending flight school in Fort Myers, Florida. The UWRivers Falls alumnus hopes to become a commercial pilot someday and should be finished with school later this year.