When Brandon Voelker took over as head coach of Ellsworth’s program before the 2022 season, one of his primary goals was to generate organic excitement for Panthers baseball among kids and fans in the larger Ellsworth community.

The excitement surrounding Panthers baseball was a common sentiment less than a decade ago. After a trip to the state tournament in 2018, Ellsworth won just three games in each of the next two seasons and all of the buzz surrounding the program had vanished.

Voelker led Ellsworth to a 5-12 record in his first year as head coach last spring before vaulting to 11-10 in 2023, which is as many wins as the Panthers tallied in the last three seasons combined.

“Before the season started, I thought .500 was a really good goal for us,” Voelker said. “We finished above that, won double-digit games and got our first playoff win, all for the first time since 2018. Overall, I’m very happy with this season.”

When Voelker took over two seasons ago, he knew that getting back in the win column with regularity would be the quickest way to cultivate positive vibes among players and fans. Ellsworth played a fairly soft non-conference schedule that included Prairie Farm, Cadott and Elmwood/Plum City, all programs that finished well below .500 this season.

That’s not to say it was an easy path to a winning record by any means. Ellsworth still played a tough Middle Border Conference schedule, which included three teams ranked top-20 in the state this season, according to the latest MaxPreps data.

Avoiding a supremely challenging non-conference schedule wasn’t Voelker’s attempt to fabricate a winning record. Instead, it gave his young, rebuilding roster a chance to prepare against relatively mild competition before facing some of the toughest Division 2 teams in the state.

“The big thing is kids starting to believe that they can do it,” Voelker said. “When you win three games a couple of years in a row, kids start to lose interest. We had a little bit of a softer schedule this year, but sometimes you have to do that when you know where you’re at as a program.”

Three or four years ago when Ellsworth was trapped near the bottom of the Middle Border Conference, confidence among players had waned significantly. The athletes had been demoralized by back-to-back three-win seasons and the future of the program appeared bleak.

With the 2023 season officially in the books, which ended in a Division 2 regional championship defeat on the road against Altoona, the players have already changed their tune collectively. Finishing above .500 has sparked new excitement around the program and young athletes are already looking forward to the season next spring.

“I think the big thing as our culture changes is that we needed to start getting people excited about baseball,” Voelker said. “I don’t think it was something people were excited about two years ago. Even after we lost in Altoona, we had guys asking when we could start getting ready for next year.”

The culture change within Ellsworth’s baseball program has already begun and the 2023 win column is a reflection of that fundamental transformation. Voelker spoke about how his dedicated coaching staff is ready to help players take another step forward this offseason.

“I can’t say enough about my assistant coaches and how much knowledge they have,” Voelker said. “James Georgakas, who pitched at UW-Whitewater, is doing our pitching stuff and we’ve got a Division 3 All-American who coaches a lot of our hitting. We have some of the best staff around who are always willing to help our kids.”

As important as baseball fundamentals on the diamond are, Ellsworth’s coaching staff is just as dedicated to making sure that student-athletes are taking the student aspect of high school sports just as seriously.

While Voelker is proud of producing Ellsworth’s first double-digit win season in half a decade, he is a lot happier knowing that his players didn’t have a single failing grade week over week the entirety of the season.

In Voelker’s experience, part of positively changing a culture is holding student-athletes to a higher standard – both on and off the field.

“We checked grades every week and guys knew that if they were failing on a Friday, they’d be ineligible the next week,” Voelker said. “We held them to a higher standard outside of baseball. I’m more proud of our guys for not having a single “F” week over week than I am of us finishing 11-10. I’d much rather have people hear about that than our record.”

Ellsworth has completely revamped its baseball culture and through more wins and holding student-athletes to a higher standard on and off the field, the Panthers have slowly begun generating a new buzz around the program.