A new era begins as Ryan Stace takes over the reins as Oregon’s head baseball coach.
Stave takes over for longtime coach Jacob Soule. Stace has served as the president of Oregon Youth Baseball.
Oregon went 13-13 and finished fifth in the Badger Large Conference with a 6-8 mark last season. The Panthers have two all-conference players back. Senior Landon Gladden was a second team all-conference selection at pitcher last year. Gladden posted a 2-1 record with a 3.62 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 48 innings.
Junior Gavin Kupcho returns at catcher after earning honorable mention all-conference honors last spring. Kupcho is entering his third year as a starter. He hit .274 with four RBIs last year.
The Panthers have two of their top three pitchers back from last season. Junior Dillon McCarthy went 2-1 with a 4.58 ERA and struck out 37 in 29 innings last year. Two years ago, McCarthy hit .328. Oregon graduated seven seniors from last season’s team.
Milton, the defending conference champion, enters the season ranked ninth in the Wisconsin Baseball Report’s Preseason Power 25 state poll. The Red Hawks are led by junior catcher Jack Spielmann, a West Virginia verbal commit and senior shortstop Jack Cummins, a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee commit.
Another contender for a conference title is Monona Grove. The Silver Eagles are led by Cal Moreau, a Central Florida commit, one of the top prospects in the Class of 2026 and throws a fastball that reaches over 90 miles per hour. Moreau was the conference’s Player of the Year last season and two years ago earned Co-Pitcher of the Year.
See newspaper for schedule.