By MIKE KEMMETER
of The Gazette
In its final Wisconsin Independent Schools Athletic Association state baseball tournament, the Pacelli High School baseball team just wants to get through Friday and into Saturday's action.
But in order to play the next day, in a semifinal against the Green Bay Notre Dame/Milwaukee Lutheran winner, the Cardinals (15-5) have to go through the defending state champions, Burlington Catholic Central (21-1), first. The clash with Catholic Central is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. at Bukolt Park.
"We just want to get to Saturday. On Saturday, you get to the opponent's bench for pitching. It's anybody's ballgame," Pacelli coach Wayne Sankey said. "It depends on who is deep in pitching."
Pacelli will pitch three-time Central Wisconsin Catholic Conference player of the year Josh Owens in the opener. If the Cardinals reach the semifinal, Chris Jacobson will likely start. Pitchers are limited to 10 innings of work in the tournament, so Sankey may turn to Josh Konz or James Hackl sometime in the two-day tournament.
But first things first - Burlington Catholic Central, which is ranked No. 4 in Division 3 in the state baseball coaches association poll. The team carries a .373 batting average with 18 total home runs in 20 games and 11.4 runs per game.
Pacelli's Owens enters the quarterfinal match-up with a 7-1 record and a 1.17 ERA. Opponents are batting .152 against him.
The Cardinals' offense enters the game hitting .368 as a team and averages 9.1 runs per game. Catholic Central has three pitchers that carry the load, two of which have ERAs under 1.50.
"I don't know that much about them," Sankey said. "When you don't know anything about a team, you have to concentrate on what you do.
"We believe we're going to score runs against whoever we face."
The Cardinals, who received honorable mention in the Division 2 poll, are familiar with two of the teams in the eight-team field, Green Bay Notre Dame and Chippewa Falls McDonell.
Green Bay Notre Dame (19-3) and Milwaukee Lutheran (8-11) open the tournament at 11 a.m. Friday. Wisconsin Lutheran (17-4), ranked No. 5 in Division 1 in the coaches poll, takes on Watertown Luther Prep (14-4) at 1:30 p.m. McDonell (20-1), No. 4 in Division 2, faces Appleton Fox Valley Lutheran (13-5) at 4:30.
The tournament continues Saturday with the semifinal round at 10:30 a.m., with the Wisconsin Lutheran/Watertown Luther Prep winner taking on the McDonell/Fox Valley Lutheran winner. If the Cardinals win Friday night, they would play at 1 p.m. The state championship game is scheduled to start at 4 p.m.