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WIAA’s Stephanie Hauser talks about passing of NIL

WIAA executive director Stephanie Hauser talks about the membership passing the Name, Image and Likeness proposal

Seven top-seeded baseball teams from the greater Milwaukee area are poised for deep playoff runs.Hartford Union, Sussex Hamilton, Muskego, and Franklin are among the top Division 1 contenders.Pewaukee, Whitnall, and Kenosha St. Joseph Catholic lead their respective divisions.

The WIAA high school baseball playoffs began in Divisions 2, 3 and 4 on May 29, while Division 1 regional play begins June 3. Seven of the greater Milwaukee area’s top teams earned No. 1 seeds in the WIAA brackets, which revealed intriguing paths to potential state tournament appearances.

Here are the seven top seeds from the greater Milwaukee area to watch this postseason, their case for a deep run and the leading contenders in their sectional of the WIAA bracket.

Division 1, Sectional 4Hartford Union

The North Shore Conference co-champions with Slinger and Whitefish Bay begin their WIAA postseason June 5 against the winner of the June 3 regional opening-round meeting of No. 9 Oshkosh West and No. 8 Fond du Lac. The top seeded team Hartford could face prior to the sectional championship would be No. 4 seeded Manitowoc Lincoln in the sectional semifinal. If No. 2 seed Slinger reaches the sectional final, Hartford has the momentum of victories of 4-3 on May 3 and 4-2 on May 22 over the Owls working in its favor. The Orioles have reached at least the sectional semifinal in three straight seasons, highlighted by a state quarterfinal appearance in 2023.

Division 1, Sectional 6Sussex Hamilton

The Greater Metro Conference champions enter the postseason on a bit of a slide over the back half of the season, losing four straight and seven of their final 11 games of the regular season. The conference lead held thanks to a blazing hot start over the first month of the season, as the Chargers won 14 of 15 games. Hamilton will seek to recapture some of that magic beginning June 5 against the winner of No. 9 Homestead and No. 8 Nicolet from June 3. Likely sectional semifinal opponents are either No. 4 seed Menomonee Falls or No. 5 Oconomowoc, the former of which Hamilton swept in a season-opening two-game series. No. 2 seed Arrowhead or No. 3 seed Germantown could await in the sectional final. The former Hamilton beat 5-2 on April 25, and the latter handed the Chargers their two close losses to end the regular season. A state appearance would be the program’s second WIAA spring state appearance in program history (2019).

Division 1, Sectional 7Muskego

The Warriors had some struggles with the top end of the Classic 8 Conference during the regular season, but seem to have a manageable path through the early postseason rounds based on prior meetings. Muskego’s regional final matchup will be against either a No. 9 seed Waukesha South team it defeated a combined 19-0 in two meetings, or a No. 8 seed West Allis Hale team that finished well under .500 in the regular season. Likely sectional semifinal opponents could be No. 5 seed Waukesha West, which Muskego defeated 4-2 and 8-1 in two meetings, or a No. 4 seed Marquette program the Warriors beat 2-0 in a May 23 meeting. A No. 2 seed Waukesha North team that beat Muskego twice in league play during the regular season could pose a tough sectional final matchup if seeding holds, while No. 3 seed Wisconsin Lutheran coming out of a competitive Woodland West Conference could pose a tough matchup as well.

Division 1, Sectional 8Franklin

The Sabers took the Southeast Conference title race to the final day of the regular season with Oak Creek, winning most of their series with top league competition they could face in postseason play. On June 5, Franklin will meet either a No. 8 seed Greendale team it beat 3-2 on April 24, or a No. 9 seed Racine Case team it took two-of-three meetings from in the regional final. No. 4 seed Kenosha Indian Trail could await in the sectional semifinal, a team Franklin took two-of-three meetings from as well. The story is similar for fellow top seeds the Sabers could meet in the sectional final like No. 2 Oak Creek and No. 3 Kenosha Tremper, which Franklin took two-of-three from each in the regular season.

Division 2, Sectional 4Pewaukee

Pewaukee may have the front-end arms to lead a deep postseason run, but needs to avoid the ice cold days at the plate that plagued it in spurts during the regular season to defend its top seed in D2 Sectional 4. The tone for what kind of postseason it will be for the Pirates could be set in the third meeting this season against No. 9 seed Pius XI Catholic in the regional semifinal June 3. In the first of back-to-back meetings May 22, Pewaukee erupted at the plate in a 9-1 win. The following day at Pius, the Pirates were stifled offensively in a 3-1 loss. The winner of No. 5 seed University School of Milwaukee vs. No. 4 seed Grafton awaits in the regional final, and a date with a No. 2 seed Whitefish Bay team that shut out Pewaukee 3-0 on May 27 could loom in the sectional semifinal.

Whitnall

In the other half of Sectional 4, No. 1 seed Whitnall awaits the winner of No. 9 Martin Luther and No. 8 Catholic Memorial in a June 3 regional semifinal. After three of its final five regular-season games were canceled, rust could be a factor for a Falcons team that will have played just a pair of games since May 18. Whitnall beat a No. 2 seed New Berlin Eisenhower team it could face in the sectional semifinal, 10-9, on May 9. It also knocked off No. 4 seed St. Thomas More, 2-1, on April 10 in what could prove to be another preview of a regional final opponent. After a couple late-season losses to top programs like Sussex Hamilton (5-4 on May 8), Arrowhead (6-5 on May 15) and Greenfield (4-3 on May 27), the Falcons will need to turn the corner in close games to make a run to state.

Division 3, Sectional 4Kenosha St. Joseph Catholic

KSJCA did not lose to a team in Division 3 or lower all regular season, with its six losses coming to four D1 teams and two in D2. The Metro Classic Conference champions face No. 9 seed Marshall on June 3 in the regional semifinal, a team that went 5-14 in the regular season before knocking off Parkview in the regional opener. No. 4 seed Columbus or No. 5 seed Brookfield Academy await in the regional final, two programs that hovered around .500 for much of the season. If seeding holds, a pair of conference champions in No. 2 seed Cambridge out of the Capitol South or No. 3 seed Lake Country Lutheran out of the Midwest Classic could be sectional semifinal opponents. The other No. 1 seed in Sectional 4 is Cedar Grove-Belgium, which put up an impressive 18-3 record with some challenging opponents as well. Few opponents at KSJCA’s level have managed to slow down a juggernaut offense, and a fourth WIAA state tournament appearance in five years could be on tap for an experienced Lancers outfit.