MARSHFIELD – Years before the community-wide celebration began, Columbus Catholic baseball players were taking extra swings, lifting in the offseason and buying into a culture built on selflessness over statistics.
They learned to do the little things right, even when no one was watching, in hopes of excellence on and off the diamond – and this June, those habits helped them reach program history.
On top of, for the second time in the past five seasons, awarding teammate co-Marawood Conference player of the year nods – this time to Dons’ seniors Mac Konieczny and Devlin Timmler. It also culminated in the Dons first ever Division 4 state championship, producing a full circle moment and images seven-year coach Jared Krasselt will never forget.
“The elation on their face with that final out was just, I mean, something I’ll cherish forever,” Krasselt said. “Then just the thank you’s and the hugs from the parents, seeing the kids with their parents was, oh man, I mean, that’s something these guys will never forget, and rightfully so.
“Just so happy for the program, just to have our name out there positively. We got so many compliments. How respectful these guys were. How clean their dugouts were. There’s so much to be proud of.”
Before the season began, Krasselt and his staff held a strong belief in the group of talent they had returning. He just knew they needed a spark plug within their younger players.
He thought they had a pretty solid opportunity to make a long run, ‘the goal is always to make a deep playoff run.’
Though he knows it takes more than luck and hard work to reach and climb the mountain top of the WIAA state baseball tournament.
“I didn’t necessarily say state,” Krasselt said. “I’m way more of a, kind of, don’t let anything get me too high or too low. I wanted to just kind of maintain that, where we’re just going to keep doing our thing and working our butts off. Baseball and softball are goofy sports to where you know you can’t put all your eggs in the basket. A bad bounce here, a bad bounce there. So it kind of made it easier as the season went along. We took some losses to some very good teams, and we saw that the bounce back was better than last year.”
An assistant foresaw the Dons destiny before the year began, placing his visionary confidence in the Dons ability to make history.
“One of our assistants said it from day one,” Krasselt said. “He goes, ‘these guys, they’re going to make it.”
Teammates of the year
For the second time in the past five seasons, Columbus Catholic had two of their own share the rights to the Marawood Conference player of the year nod.
Ironically, the last time, in 2022, it was their brothers Cole Timmler and Emmitt Konieczny that shared the POY nod. But what makes this duo so unique is their kindred spirit and drive to be great.
“Everything kind of just came to fruition,” Krasselt said. “Those guys have put a ton of time in and have been best buddies for a long, long time. They’re kind of just seeing the fruits of their labor after working their tails off as both are three-sport athletes, which is absolutely awesome.
I love that, watching them give their all for their school and their sports. It’s just special to see, and then when you get rewarded with something like this, it’s even more special.”
Pressure makes diamonds, says the old adage, and the Dons saw that through throughout their 2026 state championship run.
Before the Dons second postseason game, the group was forced to venture through the remainder of the postseason without one half of their conference POY duo, Timmler.
Timmler departed from the team to join boot camp in hopes of becoming a member of the National Guard.
It was a bittersweet feeling sending Timmler off to follow his dreams and serve the country, while also cautioning for a potential detrimental blow which could have hampered the Dons season-long goals.
“Devlin was our, I mean, he was our ace” Krasselt said.“ He was the guy that we were throwing out there against the toughest teams. Our best lineup was with Mac catching and him pitching, so it was a big concern for me. He was our four or five hitter all year. That’s a huge concern as a coach, especially at a small school, you’re losing a monumental leader, but also one of your best players.
“I didn’t show that to the guys and we made sure that they were thankful for what he did. But also reinforced that we needed some guys to step up, and we had some guys do that.”
That’s when the second-half of the standout duo, Konieczny’s, value as a quiet leader sprouted.
While not being much of a loud personality, throughout the season, Konieczny lets his game do the talking, smoothly intersecting with Timmler’s ability to enthrall his teammates.
Early in the year, Timmler stepped up as a vocal leader when needed to redirect the groups overall perspective and team desires – and led by example through his actions and demeanor throughout wins regardless of his statline.
“I think he was very adamant about that. He could care less if he went 0-4 and we won or if he went 2-3 and we lost,” Krasselt said.” That kid’s the first guy on the bus slapping guys on the back and just one of those fun leaders that a squad needs. And to end his high school career of sports to do what he’s doing. I think that shows how selfless and how genuine of a person he is.”
While Krasselt feels not much truly changed with Timmler’s absence, in terms of the group’s overall confidence and play-style – the team did not flinch – there was a key piece missing to their 2026 championship puzzle.
Though Krasselt feels Konieczny welcomed the opportunity and seized it.
“He just knew, like, hey, I’m the number one pitcher now,” Krasselt said.
Contact or send game stats/info to Sports Reporter Alfred Smith III at alfred.smith@usatodayco.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @AlfredS_III.
This article originally appeared on Marshfield News-Herald: Inside the brotherhood that championed Columbus Catholic baseball
Reporting by Alfred Smith III, Marshfield News-Herald / Marshfield News-Herald
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Alfred Smith III, Marshfield News-Herald | USA TODAY Network
