(Update) Morning State Sports Briefs: Bay Port back in state baseball finals

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GRAND CHUTE - Bay Port will face Sun Prairie tomorrow for the Division-One title at the state high school spring baseball tournament.

Bay Port scored six runs in the fourth inning last night to eliminate Hartford 8-3 in the divisional semi-finals at Fox Cities’ Stadium near Appleton. And Sun Prairie edged Stevens Point 4-3 in the other semifinal on a walk-off single by Coyt Mayr with the bases loaded. Earlier in the day, Bay Port blanked Kenosha Bradford 9-0. Hartford topped Middleton 5-1. Stevens Point eliminated Oconomowoc 6-4. And Sun Prairie beat Appleton North 6-4.

The state tournament continues today with semi-finals in three other divisions. The Division 4 semis are up first. Coleman takes on Pittsville at eight this morning. And then unbeaten Greenwood will play Johnson Creek. In Division 3 this afternoon, Orfordville Parkview takes on Menasha Saint Mary's Central. And Prescott plays Oshkosh Lourdes/Oshkosh Valley Christian. The Division 2 semi-finals will be played tonight. Portage plays Fox Valley Lutheran and Ellsworth faces Racine Saint Catherine’s. Title games in all four divisions are set for tomorrow.

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Coleman High School defeated Pittsville 10-3 this morning in the first Division-Four semi-final at the state spring baseball tournament near Appleton. Coleman had a two-run lead when it broke the game open with five runs in the top of the sixth inning. Mitch Champagne tripled and singled in four trips with an RBI and two runs scored. Starting pitcher Chris Downs had two hits for Pittsville, which ended its season at 18-7. Coleman improved to 27-1, and will play either Johnson Creek or undefeated Greenwood for the Division 4 championship tomorrow. Those last two teams were playing each other in the other D-4 semi-final at mid-day. Semi-finals are set for this afternoon in Division-Three, and tonight in Division 2.

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Kansas City is the only team that Randy Wolf has not pitched against in his 14 years in the big leagues. But that will change tonight, when Wolf starts for the Milwaukee Brewers in Game-Two of their series at Kauffman Stadium. Wolf will go up against left-hander Jonathan Sanchez, who’s making his first start since May seventh after coming down with biceps tendinitis. Wolf is coming off a solid start from last Thursday, when he struck out six and gave up just one unearned run in six-and-two-thirds of a no-decision against the Chicago Cubs. But Wolf is still 0-3 in his last seven outings. And he’s 2-5 overall with a 5.55 ERA. Wolf has spent his entire career in the National League, and he’s 10-13 in 31 Interleague starts. Sanchez is 1-2 with a 6.75 ERA. He gave up two homers in his last start against Boston. The Royals ended a four-game losing streak with a 2-1 victory last night. It was Milwaukee’s second loss in its last three games.

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The Northwoods League has a pair of day games today. Thunder Bay is hosting Saint Cloud late this morning, while Rochester plays at Waterloo. All seven Wisconsin teams play tonight. The La Crosse Loggers host the Eau Claire Express. The Express lost at Battle Creek 9-5 last night. The Loggers took sole possession of first place in the South Division with a 3-2 win over the Lakeshore Chinooks. La Crosse is now 9-5. The expansion Chinooks from Mequon fell into a tie for second with the Wisconsin Woodchucks, both at 8-6. The Woodchucks will play at Wisconsin Rapids this evening. Wisconsin is coming off a 4-0 shutout of Madison. Wisconsin Rapids fell at Green Bay, 9-3. Green Bay plays at Lakeshore tonight. Alexandria is at Mankato. And Duluth hosts Willmar. Mankato and Waterloo share the North Division lead at 10-4. Duluth is in third, one game off the pace.

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In the Midwest League, the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers will play again tonight at Clinton. That’s where the Rattlers clinched the Western Division first-half title last night with a 3-1 victory in 10 innings. The second-place Beloit Snappers will host Peoria again, on the heels of a 5-4 Snappers’ win. Beloit is still in the running for a Wild Card playoff spot, with a three-game lead over third-place Kane County with five to play. Also tonight, Kane County is at Quad Cities. Burlington plays at Cedar Rapids. Eastern Division champion Lansing plays at Fort Wayne. Dayton is at Great Lakes. Two other Eastern contests were being played at mid-day – South Bend at Lake County, and West Michigan at Bowling Green.

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Green Bay Packers’ coach Mike McCarthy says he’s not certain about the intensity level that’s allowed for off-season practices under the NFL’s new collective bargaining agreement. The Packers are going through their first mini-camp under the new CBA. It began yesterday, and it followed a series of workouts as part of the Packers’ organized team activities. McCarthy was asked if there’s a fine line between a productive practice and having too much contact under the bargaining agreement – and the coach says he’s still not sure what that line is. The coach said the team’s public relations director asked if he had a good practice, and McCarthy called it quote, “a good CBA practice – I don’t know if it was a good football practice – It’s a transition.” The league office looks at practice video if the players’ union gets complaints – and the Seattle Seahawks had to forfeit two of the OTA workouts because some of their drills were too physical. The new bargaining agreement says there must be no contact work like blocking or tackling at mini-camps.

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University of Wisconsin men’s basketball freshman Zak Showalter has been given a full scholarship. He decided a year ago to be a walk-on with Bo Ryan’s Badgers, even though he received scholarship offers from about 20 other schools. Last night, Showalter’s coach at Germantown High School confirmed that his player received a scholarship – and Showalter later announced it on Twitter. He received the scholarship given up by Jarrod Uthoff when he decided to transfer to Iowa. Showalter led Germantown to the WIAA Division 1 state basketball title in March. He’ll join Sam Dekker of Sheboygan Lutheran as the only scholarship players in this fall’s Badger recruiting class.

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Oklahoma City has a one-game-to-none lead in the NBA Finals, after the Thunder scored a 105-94 home victory over the Miami Heat last night. Former Marquette guard Dwayne Wade is trying to win his second championship ring in three Finals’ appearances. He had 19 points and eight assists in a losing cause in Game-One. Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 36 points – 17 of which came in the fourth quarter. Game-Two is tomorrow night in Oklahoma City.

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Former Milwaukee Bucks’ forward Charlie Villanueva has been cut from his Olympic national team in the Dominican Republic. Coach John Calipari said Villanueva came into camp overweight and slow – which Villanueva didn’t take kindly to. He tweeted a photo which showed him weighing 243-and-a-half pounds, 11 and half pounds less than his playing weight of 255. Villanueva had been a big part of the Dominican national squad in the past, but the team was reportedly not happy with his conditioning last summer. And the Detroit News said it was among the reasons he was cut. Villanueva was hampered by an ankle injury and other physical ailments this past season. He only played 13 games for the Detroit Pistons, averaging seven points a game. The 27-year-old Villanueva is a seven-year NBA veteran. He played three seasons in Milwaukee before the Bucks cut him in 2009. And he has spent the last three years in Detroit. Villanueva has career averages of 12-and-a-half points and five-and-a-half rebounds per game.

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SCORES

In the Midwest League…

Wisconsin 3, Clinton 1 in 10 innings

Beloit 5, Peoria 4

Kane County 7, Quad Cities 5

Burlington 2, Cedar Rapids 1

Fort Wayne 1, Lansing 0

Lake County 9, South Bend 6

Great Lakes 6, Dayton 4

Bowling Green 6, West Michigan 2

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In the Northwoods League…

La Crosse 3, Lakeshore 2

Wisconsin 4, Madison 0

Green Bay 9, Wisconsin Rapids 3

Battle Creek 9, Eau Claire 5

Alexandria 10, Mankato 2

Waterloo 13, Rochester 3

Duluth 2, Willmar 1

Thunder Bay 4, Saint Cloud 3

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At the WIAA state high school spring baseball tournament…

Division 1 semi-finals…

Bay Port 8, Hartford 3

Sun Prairie 4, Stevens Point 3

Division 1 quarter-finals…

Bay Port 9, Kenosha Bradford 0

Hartford 5, Middleton 1

Stevens Point 6, Oconomowoc 4

Sun Prairie 6, Appleton North 4

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