2024 WIAA State Baseball Tournament (2024)

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Pretty close overall.

Not surprised Northwood/Solon Springs' schedule didn't get a lot of respect. Still should be a tough out given how many Solon Springs basketball guys are major contributors on the diamond. Eleva-Strum really played an elevated schedule for a D4 (even beating Pewaukee) and that clearly weighed heavily for the coaches.

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Reply0000

Pretty close overall.

Not surprised Northwood/Solon Springs' schedule didn't get a lot of respect. Still should be a tough out given how many Solon Springs basketball guys are major contributors on the diamond. Eleva-Strum really played an elevated schedule for a D4 (even beating Pewaukee) and that clearly weighed heavily for the coaches.

I haven't seen any of those teams play, so I'm gonna be a little nerdy and look at the numbers and W-L results here...

Solon Springs/Northwood easily has the weakest schedule in the field, but won every game they played this year against Wisconsin competition...and in the analysis that carries some weight. Eleva-Strum did play a tougher schedule, but they went 4-7 in their non-conference, with two "good wins" over D3 Viroqua (20-7) and D2 Pewaukee (21-8), and a "bad loss" to D2 Rice Lake (6-16)--so they are in the "positive" there. But, as I've been told by other coaches at seeding meetings, you can schedule a tough non-conference slate, but if you don't win those games it doesn't really matter. My curiosity comes from how E-S was seeded #5 by the coaches in their half-sectional (my computer had them #4), but gets the #1 seed at state. I can't tell you if either the computer or the coaches are right, but this is an example of the potential difference between objective (computer) seeding and subjective (coaches) seeding--and I don't know which one is potentially better. For the record, the Johnson Creek and Eleva-Strum numbers were very close, so I could see if they were flipped.

If you look at the the brackets for the seeded team sports, notice that baseball easily has the most "upsets," and I think that results from the additional variability from the pitching component of the game--there is much more consistency (fewer upsets) in the results compared to the seeding in the other sports because there are fewer variables in their games. So when I look at the seeding for baseball, whether done by the coaches or by a computer, I look at it more with a grain of salt because of the pitching aspect. I don't know the pitching depth of Eleva-Strum compared to Solon Springs/Northwood (or the other teams), but that might have been a factor in the coaches' seeding--something the computer that only looks at W-L results doesn't take into consideration.

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I love how baseball is the last sport standing when it comes to having the appropriate amount of divisions, (why does Softball/Volleyball have 5?) and a strict All-State team that has added only TWO spots after the Summer teams were absorbed.

Baseball was the final sport to get rid of the classic regional format. (why is #1 playing #2 not the regional final? anyway) The biggest flaw in baseball's old school approach is the scheduling of the early rounds. The reason teams with byes lose several games every year is because the "weaker" team's ace is allowed to pitch the first two games. Instead of a Thursday-Tuesday-Wednesday setup, they need to change it to something like Thursday-Friday-Wednesday. You would see much fewer upsets, and the top teams would deservedly reap the benefits.

Also, why aren't the sectionals re-seeded? All four teams are right there... (would have to be a computer seeding)

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satinwoodAll-Conference1717978962

Monday's Division 1 Quarterfinal Results:

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Tuesday's Results:

Division 4 Semifinals

#3 Solon Springs/Northwood (20-1) 7, #2 Johnson Creek (24-5) 0 - Stats
#1 Eleva-Strum (22-8) 3,#4 Pacelli (18-12) 2 - Stats

Division 3 Semifinals

#2 Kenosha St. Joseph (24-5) 2,#3 Bonduel (23-4) 1 - Stats
#1 Aquinas (24-4) 10, #4 Cumberland (21-9) 0- Stats

Wednesday's Games:

Division 2 Semifinals - 9:00 a.m.

Game 1 - #2 Kettle Moraine Lutheran vs. #3 Edgewood
Game 2 - #1 Mosinee vs. #4 La Crosse Logan

Division 1 Semifinals - 2:30 p.m.

Game 5 - #5 Westosha Central (25-5) vs. #1 De Pere (25-3)
Game 6 - #3 Sun Prairie East (26-4) vs. #2 Oak Creek (27-3)

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Wednesday's Results:

Division 2 Semifinals

#3 Edgewood (21-6) 4, #2 Kettle Moraine Lutheran (25-6) 3- Stats
#1 Mosinee (25-5) 8,#4 La Crosse Logan (17-11) 1 -Stats

Division 1 Semifinals

#1 De Pere (26-3) 8, #5 Westosha Central (25-6)1-Stats
#3 Sun Prairie East (27-4) 11, #2 Oak Creek (27-4) 4 - Stats

Thursday's Championship Games:

9:00 a.m. - Division 4: Solon Springs/Northwood (20-1) vs. Eleva-Strum (22-8)

Noon - Division 3: Kenosha St. Joseph (24-5) vs. Aquinas (24-4)

3:00 p.m. - Division 2: Edgewood (21-6) vs. Mosinee (25-5)

6:00 p.m. - Division 1: De Pere (26-3) vs. Sun Prairie East (27-4)

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Thursday's Championship Game Results:

Division 4: Eleva-Strum (23-8) 11, Solon Springs/Northwood (20-2) 1 (5)- Stats

Division 3: Aquinas (25-4) 6, Kenosha St. Joseph (24-6) 4- Stats

Division 2: Edgewood (22-6) 12, Mosinee (25-6) 6-Stats

Division 1: De Pere (27-3)5,. Sun Prairie (27-5) 1 - Stats

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Northwood/Solon Springs didn't get the pitching performance it needed from their #2 after their ace was lights out against Johnson Creek. That game was over early, unfortunately.

Not sure if any of these KSJ seniors were on the 2021 title team but that's three state title game losses over the last 15 months for a decent chunk of these guys when you include basketball.

It always felt like De Pere's to lose in D1.

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