Sports

MONONA — Middleton left fielder Josh Hinson is known for his home run power, annually ranking among the leaders in the Home Talent League.

But Hinson recorded a defensive gem in the eighth inning on Sunday when he snared Vince Schmitz ‘s bid for home run and helped preserve Middleton’s 4-1 victory over Monona in an opening round game of the Home Talent League amateur baseball playoffs at Ahuska Park on Sunday.

“Initially I thought it would just be a popup. But it hit the jet stream and just kept on carrying and Josh made a heck of a play,” Middleton pitcher Drew Farrell said of his first pitch to Schmitz with Robert Parman on first base and a 4-1 lead. “It was a curve ball low and inside and (Schmitz) got it up in the air, which he needed to do.”

Middleton manager Brandon Hellenbrand was also surprised that what at first appeared to be just a routine pop fly would prove to be a key moment in the game.

Sometimes even great teams can have an off night.

Middleton is hoping that was the case with its football team last Friday night.

Facing Big Eight Conference rival Madison Memorial, the Cardinals were simply off from the start. Middleton needed three attempts just to get the opening kickoff in play and things only went downhill from there. 

The Spartans took advantage of Middleton’s sloppy play by scoring on its first drive and pulling away late for a 31-14 victory over the Cardinals in a Big Eight Conference opener at Breitenbach Stadium.

Middleton lost for the fifth time in six games dating back to last season. That hasn’t happened at MHS since 1981.

“We weren’t ready to play tonight,” Middleton coach Tim Simon said. “Madison Memorial beat us on the offensive side and the defensive side and a lot of credit has to go to them, but from our perspective, our play was sloppy right out of the gate.”

Win the day.

Middleton senior linebacker Matt Hong was the first to speak the words. The slogan then took off faster than Usain Bolt in the homestretch.

“Win the day” has become the mantra inside Middleton’s football program since last year’s disappointing 5-4 season concluded. And the premise is quite simple.

Take care of your business each and every day, and everything else will take care of itself.

“Every practice, every rep we want to outwork everyone else,” senior left tackle Hayden Acker said. “If we ‘win the day’ we’ll also win our share of football games.”

Middleton opens its 2013 season Friday when it hosts Madison Memorial at 7 p.m. And the Cardinals are looking for a bounceback season following a year in which they lost four of their final five games.

Yes, it was just a glorified practice.

And it’s true, no one will remember much about it come November.

But the fact remains Middleton’s football team was awfully impressive during a four-team scrimmage at MHS last Friday.

Middleton played host to Watertown, Madison Edgewood and Mount Horeb-Barneveld — three programs that all reached the postseason a year ago. And the Cardinals were clearly the top dog among the four schools.

“I was pretty happy,” Middleton 10th-year coach Tim Simon said afterwards. “I thought we did a lot of good things.”

Middleton was extremely sharp on offense.

Senior quarterbacks Luke Schafer and Kasey Miller rotated with the No. 1 offense and both had terrific success.

Middleton opened against Watertown, which is coming off a year it went 9-2. And the Cardinals’ offense was extremely impressive.

PRAIRIE DU SAC – Eric Simon has played every position for the Middleton Home Talent League amateur baseball team this season.

So when starting catcher Kevin Dubler flew to California to attend a wedding and had to miss the team’s most important game of the year on Sunday, manager Brandon Hellenbrand didn’t hesitate to call on Simon to provide some emergency relief.

Middleton didn’t miss a beat.

Right-hander Drew Farrell tossed a complete-game six-hitter and Simon was flawless behind the plate as Middleton rallied from an early deficit to defeat Sauk Prairie, 5-4, in an HTL Northern Section championship game.

“From day one he has done anything he could for us,” Hellenbrand said of Simon, who has caught in the Thursday Night League for Middleton. “To play every position this year and come into the playoffs and start catching when we need one win to go to the Final Four, you can’t put into words how big of a player Eric was today,”

Many will expect a dropoff from a year ago.

Some will anticipate slippage inside one of the state’s most dynamic programs.

First-year Middleton boys soccer coach Ben Kollasch hears this and simply chuckles.

Kollasch, who takes over the program for longtime Cardinals’ boss Ken Burghy, recently held tryouts to determine this year’s team. And what Kollasch saw was a record number of athletes trying to play soccer at Middleton.

So despite losing 15 seniors from one of the better Cardinals teams in recent years, Kollasch insists Middleton won’t be rebuilding. Instead, the Cardinals will simply reload.

Becky Halverson knew the possibility existed.

Just not this season. And certainly not with the girls golf season just days away.

Jeff Kenas, Middleton’s girls varsity golf coach since 2007, accepted a job as Dean of Students at Middleton High School last week. And one of the stipulations was Kenas give up his coaching position.

Enter Halverson — one of the top players in the history of Middleton’s program and a Cardinals’ assistant coach the last 14 seasons.

Halverson was hired almost immediately after Kenas turned in his resignation. And while the change provided some initial chaos with the season just days away, the transition should be a smooth one, as most of the golfers have played for Halverson before.

Deke Bradley won’t try tempering the excitement.

He won’t take the Lou Holtz approach — and dumb down expectations.

No, Middleton’s girls tennis coach will fully embrace the fact that his Cardinals will be one of the favorites to bring home a WIAA Division 1 state championship this fall.

Middleton opens its season Saturday at the Hartland Arrowhead Invite. And most expect it to be the beginning of a big year for the Cardinals.

“We love it,” Bradley said of the great expectations. “I'm going to try and embrace it with open arms. Try to use it to get my girls to play with confidence every match.

“We're the team to beat. We’ll have a bulls-eye on our back every match, so we have to be prepared for that. I'm hoping it will fuel the fire that gets them to work hard to improve and play their best.”

Middleton’s 2013 training camp was just four days old.

The Cardinals had held only a handful of practices and were just getting rolling with their new season.

But before Middleton could move ahead, it opted to look back.

During the Cardinals’ training camp at Glacier Creek Middle School in Cross Plains last week, Middleton took a trip down memory lane. And it wasn’t a pleasant one.

Middleton’s coaching staff popped in a tape of its 44-9 playoff loss to Sussex Hamilton. The reason?

“That game is still a thorn in our side,” Middleton defensive coordinator Tom Cabalka said. “And we want to use that game as a tool to get better.

“That game still bugs you because it was Game 9 and we made mistakes you’d hope to get out of your system in Game 1 or Game 2. Things just snowballed that night, and instead of playing as a team, our kids played as individuals.”

Nothing about the Cardinals’ playoff loss was pretty that night.

She’s baaaack.

And that’s terrific news for Middleton’s girls tennis program.

Bridget Bellissimo, a senior-to-be at MHS, is returning to the program after playing on the USTA circuit as a junior. Bellissimo’s return figures to make Middleton one of the favorites to win the state title this fall.

“I decided to return to high school tennis because since I've become closer to my college decision, I can relax and enjoy my senior year with the best team anyone could ask for,” Bellissimo said last week. “I've missed playing with my team a lot, and I can't wait to get out on the Middleton courts again, cheering my teammates on. You could say I've missed the whole team aspect, because I'm used to traveling to tournaments with no team to cheer me on.”

Bellissimo was one of the state’s brightest stars her freshman and sophomore years.