A week before the De Pere baseball team opened its WIAA Division 1 state title defense with a season-opening win at Sheboygan North, longtime Redbirds coach Bob Van Rens offered an opinion on a Fox River Classic that lost all but one pitcher on the all-conference team to graduation.
“I think we had five guys in our conference last year throwing 90-plus,” Van Rens said. “It was absolutely amazing. I really believe it had to be the best conference in the state of Wisconsin’s history. It was very strong.
“But what happens with high school kids, and we’ve seen it in our program, guys around the conference are all getting better. There is going to be some guys that maybe come out of nowhere and we didn’t expect to be good, and all of a sudden, they will be throwing 90 as well. We have a lot of good programs in our conference. It’s going to be a battle, for sure.”
More than a month later, Van Rens appears to be correct in what has shaped up to be an entertaining race for the league championship.
The most recent twist came May 10 with Bay Port’s doubleheader sweep over Manitowoc.
The Ships entered the day at the top of the 10-team standings with a 15-1 overall record and a 10-1 mark in league play.
But the Pirates kept their conference hopes alive with the sweep and helped tighten the race between the top six squads entering the stretch run.
De Pere entered the week as the new leader in the standings at 11-2.
Manitowoc was second at 10-3, followed by Green Bay Notre Dame (9-4), Pulaski (8-5), Bay Port (7-5) and Green Bay Preble (7-5).
This could have the makings of another finish like 2023, when Bay Port, De Pere, Manitowoc and Ashwaubenon all finished in a tie for first at 14-4.
The Pirates still need a lot of help to be in position to even share a championship, but they showed how competitive the conference is with the wins over the Ships.
“Where we are at, and what we have done this year, it hasn’t been on the list to win conference but to just play better,” Bay Port coach Harvey Knutson said. “Any team in this conference, to sweep a doubleheader, is huge. Not that you shoot for a split by any means, but especially with a team like Manitowoc and how well they are playing, you probably would be happy with one win.
“It’s just big when you can sweep anybody, and it’s even bigger with how well Manitowoc has been playing and us not playing up to where we want to be.”
Bay Port hopes to finish season strong
The Pirates entered their games against the Ships at an underwhelming 6-7 overall in part because of an offense that has struggled.
But the program has proven slow starts don’t always mean much by the end of the year.
Bay Port started 1-5 last season and had the same 6-7 record after 13 games like this year, but it went 11-1 to close out the regular season and had a 12-game winning streak halted in a loss to De Pere in a D1 sectional championship.
The Pirates’ pitching helped turn the season around until permitting nine runs to the Redbirds, allowing two or fewer runs in 14 of the final 16 games. It included eight shutouts.
While they don’t have Ethan Plog and Craig Kabat at the top of the rotation this time, senior right-hander Keagan Wheeler and junior right-hander Parker Lawson are doing their best impressions of the former stars.
It was never more evident than against Manitowoc, when the Pirates scored only three combined runs in the two games but still won both with shutouts.
Wheeler threw a complete game in a 1-0 win in Game 1, allowing two hits, one walk and striking out 10.
Lawson followed by throwing another gem in Game 2, allowing two hits, walking none and striking out 10 in seven innings for a 2-0 victory.
It’s only the second time in the last 10 seasons that Manitowoc was blanked in two consecutive games.
Lawson entered the week with a 1.75 earned-run average and Wheeler a 1.85. Opponents are hitting just .175 against Wheeler and .230 against Lawson.
Both were so dominant, and with low enough pitch counts, that there was no reason to go to the bullpen despite several relievers prepared to enter in the late innings if either ran into problems.
“This is both their third year pitching with us on varsity,” Knutson said of Lawson and Wheeler. “They have been absolute lights out this year on the mound, and they were really good the last couple years, too, when we used them.
“This year, we haven’t given them a lot of run support. We haven’t made all the plays behind them. We made the plays behind them (against Manitowoc), and we hit a little better than we have been this year.”
Bay Port’s offense must find another gear
As good as the pitching has been for Bay Port, the offense has struggled to find consistency. It entered the week scoring two or fewer runs in 61.5% of the Pirates’ games.
Even with the wins against Manitowoc, it enters a home showdown against Notre Dame on May 13 scoring two or fewer runs in five of the last six contests.
The offense sputtered at times early last season, but it did come alive in the final weeks. Bay Port averaged 6.7 runs in its last nine games in 2024 after averaging 4.6 in the first 20.
Can it do it again this year?
“This last week, we have just been a lot better in that department,” Knutson said. “Just better approaches at the plate. Putting balls in play. Hitting balls hard. They don’t always result in a hit or a big RBI hit, but I just see some guys getting a little bit more comfortable at the plate and finding ways. Whether it’s small ball or moving the runner or barreling the ball up, it’s looked a lot better.
“Even in some of those losses, sometimes the hits don’t fall. But other times, we’ve just not had strong enough at-bats to even give us a chance. I have really seen that turn and change a little bit.”
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Bay Port remains in hunt in tight FRCC baseball race after doubleheader sweep over Manitowoc
Reporting by Scott Venci, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Green Bay Press-Gazette
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
