Sports

The wait was abysmal.

The reunion has been a blast.

Middleton’s girls soccer team jammed six games into its first week back. And even though the Cardinals would have loved to fare better than a 2-2-2 record, they’re excited to be back on the field.

“From what I have seen for the past week, I have a strong, united front of players,” Middleton coach Mary Duffy said. “They're ready for the ups and downs of this season together. 

“We are better together — which is our program T-shirt for the boys and girls. The girls are hungry. They want to play, to compete and also just be together as a team.”

The Cardinals certainly did that that during a wild and wacky opening week.

Middleton will build around an 11-person senior class that includes seven returning letterwinners. Junior Meghan Frantz also lettered in 2019 and will be counted on for big things.

The Wisconsin Fastpitch Softball Coaches Association has yet to release a poll this season.

When they do, it's a good bet Middleton will like where it’s positioned.

The Cardinals won three of four games last week and continued their torrid start. Middleton is now 8-1 overall and 3-0 in the Big Eight Conference.

“Every single athlete on our roster knows and embraces her role,” Cardinals’ first-year coach Brittany Carl said. “We have incredible team chemistry and this group genuinely enjoys playing with and for each other. It really is a team-first mentality.”

Middleton rolled past Beloit Memorial, 13-3, last Tuesday. The Cardinals then won two of three games during a trip to Chippewa Falls Saturday.

Middleton lost to host Chippewa Falls, 14-4. The Cardinals then rallied back to defeat Onalaska, 10-2, and Rice Lake, 11-1.

Tom Cabalka doesn't believe in cupcakes.

No gimmies, patsies or sure things.

No Cabalka — Middleton’s veteran boys golf coach — has the Cardinals play one of the toughest schedules in the state each spring. And when the postseason arrives, there’s nothing Middleton hasn't seen.

The Cardinals faced many of the top teams in the state last week and more than held their own.

Middleton won the 12-team Morgan Stanley Invite at University Ridge on May 4. The Cardinals won the Badger-Big Eight Challenge last Friday at Bishop’s Bay.

And Middleton tied for fifth at the 35-team MACC Fund Invitational held at Erin Hills Golf Course last Saturday.

At the Morgan Stanley Invite, the Cardinals fired a 303 to easily outdistance runner-up Waunakee (318). Madison Memorial (319), Madison Edgewood (321) and Milton (326) rounded out the top five.

The alternate fall season had just ended.

And Middleton’s boys soccer coach Kevin Pauls was already anxiously awaiting the fall season.

Waunakee and Middleton played to a 2-2 tie in a WIAA Division 1 regional final last Thursday. The Warriors then prevailed in a shootout, edging the Cardinals, 5-4, on penalty kicks.

While the ending was painful for Middleton, the good news is the fall season begins in three short months.

“I'm happy we got a season and I'm excited to see what the non-seniors will do in the fall,” said Pauls, the Cardinals’ first-year coach. “Many of the younger guys saw a good deal of time and that will help us start strong in August — just a few months away.”

The Cardinals certainly gave a strong performance against Waunakee.

Middleton’s baseball team split four games last week.

If the Cardinals were going to win just twice, though, they picked the right games to win.

Middleton defeated Beloit Memorial, 23-0 and 13-0 in a pair of Big Eight Conference games last Tuesday and Thursday. The Cardinals then fell twice to Union Grove last Saturday, 7-3 and 6-2.

Middleton is now 5-3 overall, but a perfect 4-0 in the Big Eight.

“Playing great competition is also a great way for us to continue to get better throughout the season and be pushed as individuals and as a team,” Middleton manager Brent Jorgensen said. “I'm confident we can come up in those big moments this week and be successful against several good teams coming up on our schedule.”

Here’s a recap of the Cardinals’ week:

A No. 3 doubles match doesn't usually draw a large crowd at a tennis match.

At the WIAA’s alternate season girls state team tennis tournament held last Saturday in Eau Claire, though, fans flocked for a decent seat.

Middleton and Neenah were tied, 3-3, with the state championship hanging in the balance.

That’s when Middleton senior Charlotte Sax and freshman Caroline Sax came up huge. The Sax sisters toppled Neenah’s Bradyn Gentile and Alise Van Dyke 6-2, 7-6 (7) in a match held at the Menard Tennis Center.

The win gave the Cardinals a 4-3 win over the Rockets and the second state championship in school history. Middleton, which has been to state eight times, also won the title in 2013.

CROSS PLAINS – It was business as usual for Middleton junior Lauren Pansegrau on a windy, sun-splashed Glacier Creek Middle School cross country course on Saturday morning with a special twist.

Competing at the WIAA Middleton Sectional meet, Pansegrau broke the 17-minute mark with a personal-best time of 16 minutes, 57.976 seconds in winning the second race and the overall sectional title.

Pansegrau’s big day also helped Middleton roll to the sectional title with just 42 points. Madison West was second with 56 points and also qualified for state.

According to research by Middleton girls coach Alexa Richardson and boys coach Brian Finnel, Pansegrau is the first girl in state history to break the 17-minute barrier in a 5,000-meter cross country race.

The WIAA website lists Onalaska junior Kora Malecek’s time of 17:44.6 in 2019 as the fastest girls’ 5,000-meter state time since the switch to the longer distance in 2014.

Middleton’s girls softball team has extremely high hopes this season.

After one week, it’s easy to see why.

The Cardinals won all five of their games last week and raced to a 5-0 start.

“Each and every win has been a true team win,” Middleton first-year coach Brittany Carl said. “All student-athletes on this team understand and embrace their roles, making us that much stronger in terms of chemistry and specialized skill sets.

“We have challenged our student-athletes to approach the game more cerebrally early on and the buy-in has been incredible. As a coaching staff, we’ve made some fundamental, philosophical changes to the program culture and style and our athletes have taken it all in stride. They ask great questions at the few practices we have (had), hold each other accountable to work hard, and then are fearless to execute come game time.”

CROSS PLAINS – Griffin Ward hoped Middleton would be able to extend its boys cross country season one more week when the Cardinals competed in a WIAA sectional meet at Glacier Creek Middle School last Saturday.

That dream didn’t appear to be possible last fall, when any thoughts of the Cardinals making what has become an annual trip to the WIAA state tournament seemed to be nothing more than a pipe dream.

“Honestly, I didn’t think we’d have an alternate season,” Griffin said after Middleton opted out of competition last fall due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “But it obviously has worked.”

Griffin and senior Ryan Schollmeyer recorded a one-two finish in the second of two sub-sectional races to help Middleton finish second overall and secure a state meet berth for the eighth consecutive season.

“We feel pretty fortunate and very lucky that we get that opportunity given that it’s a crazy year,” Middleton coach Brian Finnel said.   

SUN PRAIRIE – With all due respect to Merriam-Webster, there are certain entries in the dictionary that are better defined by pictures. 

“Frustrating” is one of them.  

And no image would have been more appropriate for such an adjective than watching the Middleton prep football team’s offense trot from field to bench late in the third quarter at Bank of Sun Prairie Stadium at Ashley Field on Friday night. 

One by one, the Cardinals trudged forward, their heads hung and spirits crushed, doing their best to muster up the energy to overcome those “feelings of anger and annoyance.” 

For the second game in less than a month against rival Sun Prairie, Middleton couldn’t consistently sustain any momentum on offense. And unlike last time, its defense couldn’t hold up, either. 

Middleton totaled just 97 yards, giving up 38 unanswered points in a 38-14 defeat that put a cap on a frustrating, COVID-19 shortened spring season.