Here is a look at some of the biggest bats from around the state heading into the spring high school baseball season
Kyle McHugh, senior, Rosholt
With his .613 batting average last year, McHugh was the only hitter in the state to bat above .600. He also hit for power and was near the state lead in homeruns, with nine, and tied for the state lead in doubles, with 15. His power and average combined to result in a gaudy slugging percentage of 1.227, second-best in the state last year.
Jack Brooks, McHugh's head coach at Rosholt, said there was rarely a time he saw his star player struggle.
"He hit the ball all last year, every game," Brooks said. "He's probably the best hitter we've ever had, he's certainly one of the best I've ever seen."
Brooks said McHugh has extremely fast hands, and that he wouldn't be surprised if he had an even more successful senior campaign.
"I think he could hit up in the .800s this year," Brooks said. "We've got some real good hitters around him this year, so it's possible he could even improve."
Brian Cook, senior, Arrowhead
Tim O'Driscoll, Cook's head coach, is entering his 36th summer of coaching, and says that Cook has the best hand-eye coordination he's ever seen.
"He's got tremendous bat-speed and knows the strike-zone extremely well," O'Driscoll said.
It's that skill set that helped Cook bat above .500 and still finish with 9 HR, 10 doubles and 5 triples. Cook also finished with a top-five slugging percentage at .943.
O'Driscoll said that he doesn't like to put a lot of pressure on players, but that he simply expects "Brian to be Brian."
"That is to be one of the top five hitters in the state, if not the best," O'Driscoll said. "I really think he'll have a great senior year."
Aaron Eichsteadt, senior, Port Edwards
Eichsteadt is known for having a long wingspan and being able to cover the entire plate extremely well.
"He's not a power hitter even though he stands 6'4 and about 180 (lbs.)," Tim Martin, Eichsteadt's coach said. "He's more of a gap hitter."
Eichsteadt only finished behind McHugh (see above) in batting average last year when he hit .576. He also added seven doubles in just 66 at-bats.
Martin said his success this year will really depend on the batters around him. If they are struggling, he's going to have to make sure he is patient and take walks as they come, he said.
"It'd be great if we saw a repeat of his junior year, but what I am really looking for is more leadership on the diamond," Martin said.
Also keep an eye on•
Elisha Roundtree, junior, Riverside
Roundtree is a speedy player who saw lots of success in just his sophomore year.
As an underclassman he led the state in triples, with 8, and was one off the lead in doubles, with 14. His multi-base hits lead him to the sixth best slugging percentage in the state at .932.
Watch out for Roundtree to really break out this year as an upperclassman.
Nate Schmidt, sophomore, Pardeeville
As a freshman, Schmidt had the third best batting average in the entire state at .551. He also demonstrated some potential for power with nine doubles, six triples and a homerun.
His combination of power and average helped him finish with a top-ten slugging percentage at .820. Expect Schmidt to be one of the best hitters in the state each year until he graduates.
Prep News and Notes
The Ashland girls' basketball team, for the first time in school history, had three players named to the Lake Superior Conference all-conference team. Earning first team honors were Senior Caitie Zepczyk and junior Anika Whiting. Making the second team was Junior Barb Malyuk.
When the Brillion girls' basketball team competed in the state tournament on Friday, their school became the only the one to have both their girl's and boy's teams compete in the competition. The lady Lions fell in the semifinals to Cuba City 56-40, and then boy's team dropped their semifinal game to Eau Claire Regis 52-42.
After two years of coaching baseball at Baraboo High School, Chris Labeots has resigned, citing personal reasons. The Thunderbirds' junior-varsity coach Jeff Isensee will take over as interim head coach, according to Aaron Andres, the school's athletic director.
Derek Watton of McDonell has committed to play D3 college basketball at the Milwaukee School of Engineering next year. Watton, who lead the Macks in scoring this season, also considered UW-Superior, Carroll University, Northland College, UW-La Crosse and Beloit College.
The Beaver Dam girls' track and field team earned six top-three finishes at the Cedarburg Indoor Invitational. In the 1,600-meter run they had Amanda Henningfield place second and Jordyn Schwartz take third. Eva Steiner had third place finishes in the 400 dash and long jump, while the 3,200 relay team and Ashley Smith (shot put) both took second.
Catholic Memorial's T.J. Bray was named The Associated Press 2010 Wisconsin boys basketball player of the year. Bray lead the Crusaders to this year's D2 state championship and was their top scorer with 18.2 ppg. The senior point guard was offered numerous scholarships before he decided on playing at Princeton next year.
Green Bay Preble's track and field team won this year's Green Bay City Indoor Invitational with 211 points, in the event that featured four Green Bay area schools. Green Bay Notre Dame was second with 202 points, Green Bay East was third with 58 points and Green Bay West finished in fourth with 38 points.
Cuba City's girls' basketball team won its ninth state championship on Saturday after taking the D3 title, a state record. The Cubans went 29-0 after defeating Oostburg 53-40 in the championship game. In the past six seasons they have gone 158-3 and appeared in five state championship games.
On Friday Vincent's Nicole Griffin was the only unanimous pick on the WBCA's D1 all-state team and on Saturday she was chosen as the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association's Miss Basketball. Griffin averaged 17.6 ppg and 8.8 rpg this season while shooting 53.5 percent from the field. The Oklahoma recruit is also the leading candidate for The Associated Press 2010 girls basketball player of the year, which will be announced on Tuesday.
Bradford junior running back Melvin Gordon has become possibly the most recruited athlete in Kenosha Country history. Gordan received his sixth D1 scholarship offer on Tuesday when Michigan State expressed interest in him. Four other Big Ten schools including Wisconsin have made offers, and Cinncinati is expected to make an offer within the next week.
The girls' basketball coach at Seymour, Casey Zakowski, has decided to step down after two seasons of coaching. During that time he led the Thunder to a 34-13 record an appearance in the D2 regional semifinal this season.
| 
