Bracket Breakdown: Division 3
The playoffs begin on Thursday, and we're taking a comprehensive look at the brackets for all four Divisions. Things kick off for Divisions 2-4 with the regional quarterfinals on Thursday, and Division 1 gets underway on May 30. Continue reading as we offer the most in-depth look at the playoffs you'll find anywhere.
Sectional 1 (Cumberland)
The teams in this sectional will do battle in the northwestern reaches of Wisconsin. There are a handful of quality teams in this bracket, but Regis stands out as the favorite. The Ramblers are 22-3 this season and have dominated many of their opponents. They enter the playoffs as our No. 2 team in Division 3. Other potential contenders in this sectional include Unity (15-4 with one game left to play), Cumberland (14-5), Elk Mound (17-6) and Durand (16-7).
Unity won this sectional last year, and they have the chance to repeat as the No. 1 seed in regional A. The Eagles are currently 15-4 this year. Their best win this year was probably against Clear Lake, who is currently 23-2 and our No. 2 ranked team in Division 4. They are 5-2 against teams in this regional. No. 2 seed Cumberland is 14-5 with one regular season game remaining and has the potential to make some noise in the bracket. The Beavers have two nice wins over Hayward, a good team in Division 2. The only team in the regional they’ve faced is No. 6 seed Luck/Frederic, who they beat. No. 3 seed Clayton/Turtle Lake finished above .500 and picked up a handful of nice wins at the end of the year, so they’re trending in the right direction going into the playoffs. Fourth-seeded Grantsburg has had mixed results against the teams in this regional, but they can’t be ruled out. They swept the No. 5 seed St. Croix Falls (6-13) this spring.
Regional B is considerably weaker than the others in this sectional. Top-seeded Phillips is the co-champion of the Marawood North Conference. They’ve played solid baseball this season. No. 2 seed Chequamegon is 13-10 this year. The Screaming Eagles were outscored by Phillips 27-1 in two games this spring. No. 3 seed Ladysmith has also hovered around .500 this year. They have a win over Hayward under their belt, but not much else that will blow anyone away. No. 4 seed Cornell/Lake Holcombe is interesting. The Knights are 14-4 this season playing against meager competition. Still, their record is noteworthy. They could have what it takes to pull off an upset or two. No. 5 seed Washburn is 8-13 this season.
Regional C is the home of Regis. The 22-3 Ramblers are the Cloverbelt West Conference champions. They defeated No. 2 seed Elk Mound 12-0 earlier in the year. The Mounders are 17-6 this year and are the co-champions of the Dunn St. Croix Large. They have several starters batting over .300 and a solid pitching staff. No. 3 seed Spring Valley won the Dunn St. Croix Small but got crushed by Elk Mound when they squared off. Playoff baseball is unpredictable though, and the Cardinals should not be counted out. The rest of the teams in the regional might be able to spring an upset, but one of the top three seeds is likely to be the winner here.
Durand is the top seed in regional D. The Panthers are 16-7 this season and the co-champions of the Dunn St. Croix Large. Bret Schlosser is playing out of his mind this year with a .472 batting average and 40 RBIs entering the postseason. Overall they’ve got five starters hitting over .300. No. 2 seed Stanley-Boyd has played essentially .500 baseball this spring. They beat a good Thorp team earlier this year, but that’s their only signature win for the most part. It has been a similar story for No. 3 seed Osseo-Fairchild. They were one of the few teams to beat Regis this year, so they’ve got that going for them. It seems pretty likely that it’ll be one of these three teams advancing to sectional play.
Sectional 2 (Crivitz)
The Crivitz sectional has a handful of interesting matchups. St. Mary Catholic is the top-ranked team in Division 3, and they’re carrying a 47 game win streak into the playoffs. The defending state champs are 21-0 this year. They have a team capable of winning back-to-back titles. Their toughest challenge in this sectional might come from Coleman. The Cougars, our No. 3-ranked team in the Division, are 20-2 with a game remaining this year. The two played a thriller in the sectional semifinals last year, with the Zephyrs getting a narrow win to move on. There could be a rematch in the sectional semifinals if both teams make it that far this year. Wittenberg-Birnamwood (15-5) and Stratford (14-4 with one game remaining) are a couple of the other top teams in the sectional.
Stratford is regional A’s top seed. The Tigers are 14-4 with a game left to play this regular season. They took second place in the Marawood South Conference and picked up a win over Marawood North champion Athens recently. No. 2 seed Auburndale is 9-7 with a regular season game remaining. They beat Stratford once this year. Third-seeded Marathon is hovering around .500 as well. They split their series with Auburndale this season. All things considered, this regional is fairly open.
Regional B is home to Wittenberg-Birnamwood, the top seed. The Chargers are 15-5 and played very well in the Central Wisconsin Eight Conference. They split their season series with No. 2 seed Pacelli, who is 17-7 this year. Both of those teams are capable of making deep runs. No. 3 seed Weyauwega-Fremont is 13-9 this spring. They went 2-2 against the top two seeds, so they’re more than capable of an upset. Likewise, fourth-seeded Iola-Scandinavia is 12-6 and could make a run. No. 5 seed Amherst is 6-11. Regional B is balanced across the board.
Regional C is where Coleman will go to work. The top-seeded Cougars are 20-2 this spring with one regular season game left. They went 5-0 against teams from this regional. Preseason First Team All-Wisconsin pitcher Matt Osterberg decimated opposing offenses this year, routinely racking up over 10 strikeouts in his starts. No. 2 seed Oconto has played close to .500 ball this year, so they would need to come up with something pretty special to beat Coleman. Third-seeded Crivitz is in a similar situation. They played Coleman close in their two games against the Cougars this year, but came up empty.
St. Mary Catholic, the top seed in regional D, has the longest winning streak in the nation. Their 47 straight are extremely impressive, and it would be shocking if any team other than the Zephyrs wins this regional. No. 2 seed Brillion is 9-11 this season, while No. 3 seed Reedsville is 6-13. There is little reason to expect a big upset here, as the Zephyrs went 6-0 against teams in this part of the bracket, with most of the wins being blowouts.
Sectional 3 (Whitehall)
The Whitehall sectional should be interesting to watch unfold. A few teams stand out as the best in the bracket, including Shullsburg/Benton (22-3), Aquinas (15-9), Fennimore (17-5), Cochrane-Fountain City (20-6) and Wisconsin Heights (16-5).
Aquinas is the top seed in regional A. The Blugolds have gone 15-9 while playing a schedule against mostly Division 1 teams. They beat La Crosse Central (No. 1 seed in Division 1) and Tomah (No. 2 seed in Division 1) this year. Their strength of schedule for a Division 3 team should make the playoffs seem a little easier by comparison. No. 2 seed Cochrane-Fountain City is 20-6 this spring. The Pirates lost to Aquinas this year, but went 4-0 against other teams in the regional. They’ve got six starters batting over .300 this season, and their pitching staff has been good too. Neillsville, the No. 3 seed, is 14-5 this year. The Warriors won a share of the Cloverbelt East Conference, but missed out on a top two seed due to the strength of the regional. They’re capable of making a run, but they got crushed by Aquinas earlier in the year. No. 4 seed Melrose-Mindoro has been pretty good this year too, posting an 11-6 record. This is a deep regional that should make for some exciting games.
Regional B isn’t quite as good as regional A. Fennimore is the top seed. The Golden Eagles are 17-5 this season and did well against teams in the regional. They got bounced in the regional semifinals as a No. 1 seed last year, and will be eager to rectify that this year. No. 2 seed Lancaster is 13-7 this spring. They have a handful of starters hitting over. 300. Third-seeded Brookwood hovered slightly above .500 this spring, but got beaten handily by Lancaster in their only game against one of the top two seeds. No. 4 Iowa-Grant is 12-10 but went 0-3 against the top two seeds.
Darlington won the Southwest Wisconsin Activities League title this year and is the No. 1 seed in regional C. The Redbirds are 14-7 this year and went 3-1 against teams in the regional. No. 2 seed Shullsburg/Benton ended up with the lower seed, but has a 22-3 record this year. They won the Six Rivers Western Conference and have a win over Pecatonica, the top-ranked team in Division 4, on their résumé. They have not faced any of the teams in this regional, so it’ll be a journey into the unknown for S/B. Mineral Point got the No. 3 seed and is 9-11 this season. They split their regular season series with top-seeded Darlington. Fourth-seeded Parkview went 10-12 this year. Like Shullsburg/Benton, they haven’t faced any of the teams in this part of the bracket. They face No. 5 seed New Glarus (6-11) in their playoff opener.
Wisconsin Heights got the top seed in regional D, and they’re the strong favorites to advance. The Vanguards are 16-5 with one game remaining this spring and won the Capitol South Conference very handily. They went 8-1 against the teams in this regional. No. 2 seed Poynette is 11-8 this season. They lost to Wisconsin Heights by 10 earlier in the year. Third-seeded Waterloo is 7-14, while No. 4 Belleville is 8-8. Ultimately, this regional is Wisconsin Heights’ to lose.
Sectional 4 (Markesan)
Sectional 4 has some good teams, but Winnebago Lutheran stands out as the best. The Vikings went 15-3 this year and won the Flyway Conference. They easily have the best record in the sectional, and are the preliminary favorites to make it to the state tournament.
Gibraltar is the top seed in regional A. The Vikings are 14-6 this year and took second place in the Packerland Conference. They went 4-2 against the teams in this regional during the regular season. They split their series with No. 2 seed Southern Door, who is 12-10 this season. Third-seeded Manitowoc Lutheran is 14-8 and finished toward the top of the Eastern Wisconsin Conference standings. They could pull off an upset or two in the regional. No. 4 seed Kewaunee is 8-15, and No. 5 Algoma is 8-11.
Markesan is the host of this sectional, and the Hornets are the No. 1 seed in regional B. They are 12-7 with one game remaining in the regular season. They won the sectional last year, so they have the experience of a deep playoff run on their side. They went just 5-4 against teams in this regional this year, so it could be home to a number of upsets. No. 2 seed Lourdes Academy/Valley Christian is 12-8 this season. They had a 6-2 record against the other teams in this part of the bracket. No. 3 seed Laconia finished in the middle of the Flyway Conference standings. Fourth-seeded Green Lake/Princeton is 12-9 this year. No. 5 seed Montello is 10-8 and could surprise a team.
Regional C should be the toughest in this sectional. Top-seeded Winnebago Lutheran is 15-3 and a conference champion. They are 4-0 against teams in this regional, including a win over No. 2 seed Lake Country Lutheran. The Lightning are 14-9 this season. Sophomore Tyler Brandenburg is playing at an all-state level, hitting over .450 with five home runs. Their offense is good, but the pitching will need to find some consistency to make a deep run. No. 3 seed Brookfield Academy is 12-8 this season. They split their season series with LCL. No. 4 St. Mary’s Springs is 8-14 this spring, while No. 5 Horicon is 11-7.
Regional D lacks depth for the most part. Palmyra-Eagle is the top seed. The Panthers are 12-11 with a game remaining this regular season. They went 4-0 against the other teams in the regional. No. 2 seed Kenosha St. Joe’s is 10-12-1 this season. They swept No. 3 seed Shoreland Lutheran (6-13 record) this year. No. 4 seed Kenosha Christian Life is 7-14 this spring. This regional is wide open given the lack of a dominant team.
*Stats, unless otherwise noted, are from wissports.net
