Sports

Cautiously optimistic.

That’s how Middleton girls soccer coach Mary Duffy feels as her Cardinals are ready to tackle the postseason.

Middleton received the No. 4 seed in its sectional and will host 13^th-seeded Madison East in a WIAA Division 1 regional semifinal Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Firefighter’s Park.

If the Cardinals win there and the seeds hold, they’d host fifth-seeded Verona on June 1.

The sectional semifinals are June 6 and the sectionals finals are June 8.

Kettle Moraine is the No. 1 seed in the sectional, while Madison West, Waunakee, Middleton and Verona round out the top five.

The Cardinals are coming off an impressive week in which they lost a 1-0 decision to No. 7 DSHA, routed Sun Prairie West, 6-0, and rolled past Madison Memorial, 4-1.

Middleton improved to 9-3-3 overall.

Here’s a recap of the Cardinals’ week.

Middleton’s boys tennis team finished in second place at the Big Eight Conference meet on May 15 and 16.

Madison West won the conference title with 50 points, while the Cardinals were second with 39 points. Madison Memorial (33), Verona (32) and Sun Prairie (28) rounded out the top five.

Here’s how the Cardinals fared at each flight.

SINGLES

• No. 1 — Middleton’s Ethan Bo, who finished third at the WIAA Division 1 individual state meet last year, defeated a Madison La Follette player, 6-0, 6-0, in his opening match. Bo then withdrew and didn't participate on the second day due to a family event.

• No. 2 — Alexander Bo also won his match, 6-0, 6-2, over a Janesville Craig player. Like his brother Ethan, though, Alexander withdrew before Day 2 for a family function.

The 10^th annual ‘Strikeout Cancer’ baseball game between Middleton and Sun Prairie on May 16 raised $23,100 for pediatric cancer research. The event — which was started in 2015 by former Middleton manager Tom Schmitt and former Sun Prairie skipper Rob Hamilton — has now raised more than $200,000 for American Family Children's Hospital Kids Cancer Research.

Schmitt and Hamilton are no longer managing, but current skippers Brent Jorgensen (Middleton) and Jack Marchese (Sun Prairie) have done yeoman’s work keeping this game going.

This year, Middleton honored Lauren Droste, a Family and Consumer Science Teacher at Middleton High School.

Droste discovered she had metastatic breast cancer on Dec. 23, 2021 at just 28-years-old.

SUN PRAIRIE — Bennett O’Connor was a little worried.

As Middleton’s standout junior pitcher readied for the biggest start of his young life — a battle with No. 1 and unbeaten Sun Prairie East on May 14 — O’Connor couldn't find a groove.

“During my warmups, I did not feel the greatest,” O’Connor said. “I thought it was going to be not-so-good of a game.”

Apparently, warm-ups can be deceiving.

O’Connor hurled a gem, holding the visiting Cardinals to just one run in 6 2/3 innings, and Middleton notched its biggest win of the year with a 2-1 victory over East.

O’Connor struck out six, didn't walk anyone, allowed six hits and threw strikes on 62.5% of his pitches. Kevin Sheehan came on to record the final out as Middleton (14-9 overall, 10-6 in the Big Eight) handed East (21-1, 15-1) its first loss of the year.

Timing is everything.

And with the postseason almost here, Middleton manager Brent Jorgensen is thrilled with the progress his young team has made.

Middleton won three of four games last week, including a pair of Big Eight Conference games. The Cardinals are now 13-8 overall and 9-5 in the Big Eight Conference, good for fourth place.

Middleton began the week with a tough, 4-3 loss to Monona Grove on May 8. The Cardinals then swept a doubleheader from Madison East last Friday by scores of 10-0 and 15-1 and downed Columbus, 9-2, last Saturday.

“Overall we are seeing quite a bit of improvement from where we were at two and three weeks ago,” Middleton manager Brent Jorgensen said. “That can be attributed to having more practice time to fix some minor things, but it's really the players who have stepped up and taken more ownership of how the rest of this season plays out.

The boys of summer are back.

With the weather heating up, the Home Talent League is ready for another season of fun-filled amateur baseball in Southern Wisconsin.

“We have a solid league with 42 teams this season,” HTL president Pat Reilly said. “We had our sectional meetings, and everyone was ready to go and play baseball. Everyone is excited to play. Some have already started. The excitement is there.”

Perennial power Middleton opens the new Sunday League season at rival Sauk Prairie at Chuck Hall Memorial Field on Sunday at 1 p.m.

“We’ve been practicing indoors since late January/February and have been able to get outside the past three weeks or so,” Middleton co-manager Cory Hach said. “We’re looking forward to another great season, supported by all our loyal fans, families, and volunteers.”

Fans of the 29ers, though, will notice one big change this season.

On May 4, Middleton boys golf coach Tom Cabalka stood on the 18^th green at The Club at Lac La Belle Golf and uttered words that seem prophetic now.

“We’re pretty close to putting it all together,” Cabalka said. “When we do that, we can be a really good team.”

That time came last week.

First, Middleton shot a season-low 297 and won the 20-team Spartan Invite held at Blackhawk Country Club on May 6. One day later, the Cardinals fired a 289-team score at Glen Erin in Janesville. And even though host Craig shot a 287 that day and won its own quadrangular, Cabalka and his team were thrilled with their two-day body of work.

“It was a great week for us,” Cabalka said. “All five are playing their best golf of the season. It's a great time to be reaching their potential.”

Middleton opened its week in style with a dominant performance at the Spartan Invite.

Middleton’s girls softball team dropped two of three games last week.

The Cardinals picked the right game to win, though.

Middleton defeated Verona, 1-0, on May 6 in a critical Big Eight Conference contest. The Cardinals then lost a pair of games at the Chippewa Falls Invite last Saturday — first a 6-2 setback to Kenosha Bradford, then a 15-2 defeat at the hands of host Chippewa Falls.

With the postseason right around the corner, Middleton is now 12-8 overall and 10-2 in the Big Eight, which is good for second place.

Here’s a recap of the Cardinals’ week:

• Middleton 1, Verona 0 — Megan Button threw a complete game shutout to power the Cardinals past the host Wildcats on May 6.

Button was tremendous, allowing just four hits, striking out five and not allowing a walk. Button also threw strikes on 72 of her 96 pitches (75.0%).

Middleton’s girls soccer team had a light — but productive — week.

Middleton rolled past visiting Sun Prairie East, 2-0, on May 10.

The Cardinals improved to 7-2-3 overall and are 3-0-2 in the Big Eight Conference heading into the homestretch.

“We easily dominated to the point of having 80% of the possession, or more,” Middleton coach Mary Duffy said of the win over East. “Sun Prairie East didn't even get close to our final defending third and only had one shot on goal all game long.”

Middleton freshman Trinnity Wyttenbach opened the scoring in the first half on an assist from fellow freshman Brooke Lister.

Izzy Frantz then received a ball from her sister, Addy, wove through three East defenders and buried the second goal. 

And while Middleton controlled play throughout, it couldn't find the back of the net again.

“Even though it was shot after shot, it stayed at two goals,” Duffy said. 

Middleton’s track teams both finished in sixth place at the Big Eight Conference meet in Verona Friday night.

Sun Prairie East won the boys title with 125 points, while Verona (102), Janesville Parker (93), Sun Prairie West (76) and Madison Memorial (66) rounded out the top five.

Middleton finished with 60 points.

Verona won the girls title with 147.5 points, while Sun Prairie East (145.75), Madison Memorial (88.75), Sun Prairie West (81.50) and Madison West (58.0) rounded out the top five. Middleton finished with 56.75 points.

Here’s the Cardinals that earned top-five finishes:

BOYS

• Dante Pasello was second in both the 400-meter dash and the 800-meter run.

• Middleton’s 1,600-meter relay team was second.

• Maxwell Hunter was third in the 300-meter hurdles.

• Middleton’s 3,200-meter relay team was fourth.

• Will Whiteis was fourth in the 1,600-meter run.