By Rich Palzewic
Sports Edito
What a 2019 spring sports season the Green Bay area had.
Coming into the season, most figured the Bay Port and Notre Dame Academy girls’ soccer and Green Bay Preble baseball and West De Pere baseball teams had a legitimate shot to reach the state tournament.
The Pirates didn’t disappoint in heading to Milwaukee for the third straight year.
Bay Port was upset in the state semifinals in a 1-0 loss to Divine Savior Holy Angels in gale-force winds where the team had to deal with injuries.
I will predict the Pirates get back to state again in 2020.
Notre Dame, the defending state champs in Division 3, wanted to send head coach Bob Rickards out with another title, but it wasn’t meant to be.
The Tritons lost 3-1 to Madison Edgewood in the state semifinals.
Rickards is off to coach the St. Norbert College women’s program.
Preble reached Fox Cities Stadium in Appleton for the fourth straight year but lost its first-round game.
The Hornets had three errors in a 3-0 defeat to Burlington.
With two of the best players in the state in Max Wagner and Ryan Stefiuk on its roster, it’s a good bet Preble makes it five consecutive state trips next spring.
Top-ranked West De Pere also made it to Appleton but got shut out for the first time since May 2018 in a 3-0 loss to Antigo, which eventually won the Division 2 championship the next day.
The Phantoms also had problems in the field by committing three errors.
Despite the loss of 11 seniors, West De Pere has a lot of young talent that could lead them back to state for another season.
The four above-mentioned teams will tell you they didn’t play their best games when it mattered most, but if you look at the whole, they all had successful years.
The biggest surprise probably came from the Pulaski softball team.
The Red Raiders figured they’d be good, but the team struggled early in the season and didn’t look like a championship-caliber squad.
Like switching on and off a light switch, Pulaski picked it up mid-season and began playing like it knew it could.
The Red Raiders beat West De Pere in the sectional finals and headed to state in Madison for the first time since 2016.
Pulaski bettered Wilmot Union in the quarterfinals 1-0 before falling to Sun Prairie in the semifinals, 5-2.
With the powerful left arm of pitcher Lauren Dixon returning for her senior season, the Red Raiders have a good shot to contend again next year.
Green Bay Southwest’s Johnny Zakowski was the Green Bay area’s first public school boys’ tennis champ since Don Rondeau from Green Bay West won the individual title in 1950.
In a historic final, Zakowski bettered De Pere’s Nathan Balthazor to win the championship.
The Notre Dame boys’ tennis team, which was ranked No. 1 in Division 2, brought home the team title, doing so in convincing fashion by losing only one match of the 14 contested in the tournament.
It was the Tritons’ first team tennis state title since 2012.
De Pere’s Olivia Fabry defended her state pole vault title and will be heading to the University of Notre Dame to continue her career.
I had a chance to speak with Fabry about her title for a senior spotlight, and she was very humble and gracious about repeating.
That brings up another good point – if you look at the success of the above-mentioned teams/athletes, I count at least 10 Division I college commits/recruits, but you wouldn’t know it by talking to them – they are very humble and don’t like to talk about themselves.
The Green Bay Glory women’s soccer team also recently finished up its home schedule, completing its inaugural season in style with a 4-0 victory over Indy June 27.
I have a feeling the Glory will be around for years to come.
It was a very busy spring season, more so because of the unpredictable weather, but it was also a great spring.
Sports bring out the best in the community – hopefully a few teams can make a state run this upcoming fall.