State Baseball Tourney Preview: Bay Ready for Prime Time

For the first time since 2002, the Whitefish Bay baseball team will be making a trip to the hallowed grounds of Bukolt Park in Stevens Point for the WIAA State Summer Baseball Tournament.

means the Dukes (20-13) will square off against Sheboygan Falls (18-11) in a quarterfinal matchup that gets underway at 3:35 p.m. Wednesday. The Falcons finished second in the Eastern Wisconsin Conference this season behind champion Kewaskum.

Though the two clubs haven’t met in 2011, they both have faced Nicolet, Cedarburg, Kiel and Homestead. Bay is 5-3 against those opponents, while Falls finished with a 3-4 mark.

Both squads have enjoyed an element of familiarity with their postseason opponents. The Dukes were a combined 4-0 against their sectional foes Cedarburg and Port Washington. The Falcons were a combined 5-2 against the three teams they have faced in postseason play (Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah, New Holstein and Kiel).

The winner will move on to face the winner of the quarterfinal between West Salem (24-5) and last year’s runnerup West Bend West (26-5). Both teams have been fixtures at the state tournament in the last decade.

West Salem will be making their fourth consecutive appearance and West Bend West has made the trek to Stevens Point seven of the last eight seasons, winning a championship in 2007.

Whitefish Bay Patch will be covering the tournament in Stevens Point starting Wednesday. Check the site for updates or follow us on Twitter @WhitefishBPatch

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Whitefish Bay Blue Dukes
Record: 20-13 (9-9 North Shore Conference)
State appearances: Two (2002, 2011)
Opponent: Sheboygan Falls 18-11 (9-6 Eastern Wisconsin Conference)