The Milwaukee Brewers just completed an 8-1 home stand after a sweep of the Houston Astros. The day after catcher Johnny Estrada hit his first career grand slam, the other Brewers catcher Damian Miller hit a walk-off 3 run homerun in the bottom of the 11th inning to propel the Brewers to a 6-3 victory. The La Crosse native hit his 3 run jack on La Crosse day at Miller Park. The Brewers as of this writing own the best record in the National League at 46-32. The Brewers now embark on a 10 game roadtrip which includes stops in Chicago, Pittsburgh and Washington before returning to Miller Park on July 13th.

 

The Brewers also signed their first overall draft pick in the 2007 amateur draft in Matt LaPorta. Matt was the 7th player taken in the draft, played his college ball at the University of Florida and was the SEC player of the year in 2005 and 2007. He took batting practice on Monday at Miller Park before the Brewers game vs the Astros and sat next to Brewers owner Mark Attanasio during the game. He will report to Phoenix, AZ for some extended spring training before reporting to the Brewers single A club in West Virginia.

 

Eau Claire native Jake Dowell who played some high school hockey for the Memorial Old Abes and played his collegiate career for the Wisconsin Badgers has signed a 2 year NHL contract with the Chicago Blackhawks. The NHL regular season begins in October and WWS congratulates Jake and wishes him the best of luck with the Blackhawks.

 

Wisconsin head football coach Bret Bielema has received some very highly regarded oral commitments for the 2008 season. Several 2, 3 and 4 star athletes as ranked by Rivals.com have given oral commitments to the Badgers these past few weeks. They include:

 

Kevin Claxton....a 6'1 180 # CB from Lauderdale Lakes, Florida

Marcus Cromartie a 6'1 165# CB from Mansfield, Texas

Jake Current a 6'3 270# OL from Troy, Ohio

Zach Davison a 6'4 225# speedy DE from Waukee, Iowa

Leonard Hubbard a 6'2 225# LB from Springfield, Illinois

Wes Kemp a 6'4 210 WR from St. Louis, Missouri

Peter Konz a 6'6 290# OL from Neenah, Wisconsin

Brandon Marti a 6'1 184 # S from Miami, Florida

Curt Phillips a 6'3 220# QB from Kingsport, Tennessee

Joe Schafer a 6'5 265 OT from St. Paul, Minnesota.....he attends Cretin-Derham Hall high school

Erik Smith a 5'11 185# TE from Bollingbrook, Illinois

Mike Taylor a 6'2 200# LB from Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin

Tyler Westphal a 6'6 230 # DE from Menasha, Wisconsin

 

WR Michael Floyd who is a 6'4 210# soon to be senior from St. Paul, MN will be making a visit to Madison in the coming days. Other colleges who are reportedly interested in his services include Notre Dame, Minnesota, Michigan, and Ohio State.

 

Mondovi girls basketball coach Mark Nelson has resigned and the resignation was accepted by the Mondovi school board recently. Mondovi went 20-3 this past season and their only losses were to Colfax and Osseo-Fairchild in a regional final.

 

Amery 2007 graduate Matt Mullendore who helped guide the Warriors baseball team to it's first ever state baseball appearance and is pitching for the Osceola Braves this summer will be pitching for Hamline University next year.

 

Baldwin-Woodville 2007 graduate Brian Wevers who played under head basketball coach Scott Benoy will play hoops for St. Scholastica in Duluth, MN. Brian helped lead Baldwin-Woodville to the 2006-2007 Middle Border Conference title.

 

Grantsburg's Mollie Bjelland was recently voted the St. Paul Pioneer Press female athlete of the year for 2006-2007.  She was the top female choice amongst all athletes across Western Wisconsin and Minnesota. Mollie helped lead Grantsburg to two state volleyball tournament appearances, three state softball tournament appearances and made the WWS 1,000 point scoring list for basketball during her distinguished high school career. As stated here before Mollie will be going to Winona State in the fall and will participate in volleyball and softball.

 

Area players and coaches selected to participate in  the Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association All-Star Classic in Oshkosh June 29th and 30th include

Blake Cifaldi from Cumberland

Andy Sandelier from Greenwood

Derrick Zappa from Cumberland

Curtis Dachel from Bloomer

Alex Burian from Eau Claire North

Gary Seifert from Prescott

Nolan Fadness from Eau Claire Memorial

Blake Berger from New Richmond

Matt Mullendore from Amery

Tyler Graskewicz from Hudson

Coach Ryan Huppert from Hudson

 

West Wisconsin Sports offers our sympathies and prayers to the family and friends of Luck head baseball coach Bob Pilz. Bob died at age 59 on Tuesday June 26th after a long courageous battle with a rare blood disease. In addition to serving as the head baseball coach Bob served as athletic director for a number of years and was a guidance counselor. Bob is survived by his wife Mary  and children Tyler, Tatum, Travis, Taryn and Tabitha. Memorial services for Bob will be held Saturday, June 30, at the Assembly of God in Siren, at noon. Visitation will be at Rowe Funeral Home in Luck, Friday evening, 4-9 p.m., and again Saturday morning from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at the church. God Bless the memory of Bob Pilz.