FRCC Week: A Look Back
By Spencer Flaten, lead writer
We’re kicking off the spring season with Fox River Classic Conference Week. Enjoy an in-depth look into the conference and its various teams throughout the week.
To start the week, let’s take a look at how the 2014 season went down in the FRCC.
Last spring, Bay Port took home the conference title by finishing the season with a one game lead over Ashwaubenon. It was their second consecutive conference championship, and their fourth in five years.
In the Pirates’ final conference game of the season, they clinched the outright conference title with a 5-3 win over Sheboygan South, who went on to finish in 3rd place. The game was essentially the conference championship game, as a win for the Redwings would have meant that there was a three way tie atop the standings between Bay Port, Ashwaubenon, and South. In the end, De Pere finished in fourth place, while Notre Dame and Preble tied for fifth.
In the postseason, six FRCC teams made it to the regional finals, while three (Bay Port, Ashwaubenon, and Notre Dame) made it to sectionals. Bay Port knocked Ashwaubenon out in the sectional finals to advance to the state tournament, while Notre Dame beat Freedom to do the same. It was the second consecutive year that the two schools represented the conference at the state tournament. In the end though, neither team was able to win its state tournament game as Bay Port fell to Janesville Parker and Notre Dame lost to Jefferson.
Individually speaking, there were some standout performers during the season. Bay Port’s Tucker Noe won the conference batting title by posting a .462 batting average in conference play. De Pere’s Conner Rutherford, who had the second highest batting average at .452, and Bay Port’s Mac Cisar tied for the most home runs with three apiece. De Pere’s Evan Heim led all batters with 19 RBIs, and Southwest’s Mason Johanek was near the top of the steals category with 17.
On the mound, Bay Port’s Connor Hock posted the lowest ERA and most strikeouts, hurling his way to a 0.79 mark and 59 punch outs. Ashwaubenon’s Turner Wittig and Bay Port’s Dakota Klein each had six wins, while amongst pitchers with at least 40 innings pitched, Sheboygan South’s Tyler Zietz had the fewest walks, only giving a free pass to 14 batters.
It was ultimately Bay Port’s year last season. The Pirates led the conference with seven all-conference players. Sheboygan South had the next highest total, with six players making the all-conference squads. No other school had more than four all-conference players.
Stay tuned this week for more coverage of the FRCC! Tomorrow we’ll have a live audio broadcast of the De Pere vs. Kimberly game. Click here for more info.
