The Indoor Football League's top defense will try to defend the Resch Center on Saturday when the Frisco Fighters come to town to face the Green Bay Blizzard.

The Blizzard leads the league in points allowed, total sacks, and third-down completion percentage, among other statistical categories. Last weekend, that was in full display when the Blizzard beat the Tulsa Oilers 42-22, allowing them to less than 200 yards of total offense. Max Meylor nearly outgained the Oilers himself, throwing for 161 and rushing for another 29 en route to a five-touchdown afternoon. 

The Blizzard play the Oilers at 3:05 p.m. Saturday.

The WIAA Softball Tournament is underway, but some local teams are still getting some extra work in this week to prepare for their opening games on Tuesday.

In tournament action, a big inning proved fatal for the Gibraltar/Washington Island softball team once again in Thursday's 11-6 loss. Sturgeon Bay saw their tournament postponed to Friday at 4:30 p.m. when they face the host Kiel Raiders. 

In exhibition, Algoma was the only other team to get a game in on Thursday, beating Bay Port 4-2.

On Friday, Luxemburg-Casco will try to get some extra work in against De Pere (4:30 p.m.) after their Thursday matchup against Southern Door was rained out. 

The NEW Radio Sports Network will feature three area teams across two radio stations on Friday after Thursday's rains washed away the only game of local note.

The Gibraltar/Washington Island Vikings will start their busy weekend on Friday with a trip to Green Bay to visit NEW Lutheran for a baseball doubleheader. Tim Kowols and Eric Fischer will have both ends of the doubleheader, beginning with the first pitch at 4 p.m. The pregame show will start at 3:45 p.m. on 105.1 The GOAT and NEWRadioSportsNetwork. Some players will have a road trip in the other direction on Saturday when Gibraltar/Washington Island hosts Clintonville on Washington Island beginning at 11 a.m.

The Kewaunee Storm will host the Sturgeon Bay Clippers on Saturday in a key Packerland Conference baseball doubleheader at Memorial Field in Kewaunee. Pregame for the first game will begin at 4:45 p.m. Friday, with the first pitch set for 5 p.m. on 104.1 WRLU. The second game will start about 15 minutes after the opener, with both games on-air and streamed on New Radio Sports Network. Paul Schmitt and Henry Annen will have the call from Memorial Field in Kewaunee.

Other games scheduled for Friday include a twin bill featuring Sevastopol and Southern Door in Institute (4:30 p.m.) and Luxemburg-Casco traveling to Little Chute (4:30 p.m.). 

The Sturgeon Bay girls' soccer team will have no shortage of matches before their WIAA opener against NEW Lutheran on May 30th.

No score was reported from Thursday's scheduled contest against the Blazers, though the storms that ran through the area may have also postponed that matchup.

The Clippers are scheduled to play Marinette on Friday at 4:30 p.m. The team has split their last five matches, going 2-2-1, including a record of 1-2-0 at last weekend's Kiel Tournament. The Marines sit atop the NEC with a 5-1-1 mark in the conference and a 9-3-1 mark overall. They beat Luxemburg-Casco 6-1 in their last match. 

The Clippers' JV team is also scheduled to play Milwaukee Reagan at noon on Saturday. During halftime of the match, the program will honor Maddie Hemminger with a signing celebration. Hemminger will sign her National Letter of Intent to play soccer at Carroll University.

In other Thursday action, Luxemburg-Casco lost to Waupaca 1-0 on the road, while no score was shared from Sevastopol/Gibraltar's match at Peshtigo.

The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers were looking to make it five wins in a row with a victory over the Beloit Sky Carp on Thursday Night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium.  Cade Gibson and his teammates had other ideas.  Gibson pitched seven scoreless innings with support from three home run and the Sky Carp beat the Rattlers 6-0.

Beloit (18-17) scored first for the third straight game of the series.  Josh Zamora hit a solo home run with one out in the top of the second inning for a 1-0 advantage.

Wisconsin starting pitcher Will Rudy retired the first two Sky Carp batters on two pitches in the third inning and it looked like the Rattlers hitters would get another crack at Gibson.  However, Yiddi Cappe fouled off three two-strike pitches and beat out an infield single to keep the inning alive.  Jake Thompson was next, and he singled to right on a 3-2 pitch.  Then, Mark Coley II hit a long homer on a 2-0 pitch.  Cameron Barstad followed with another long home run and the Sky Carp were up 5-0.

Osiris Johnson made it a 6-0 lead with a sacrifice fly in the top of the fourth and neither team threatened for the remainder of the game.

Gibson needed 83 pitches to match his single-game high as a pro for innings.  The lefty allowed four hits, walked two, and struck out three over his seven innings.  Josh Ekness and Dale Stanavich both worked a scoreless inning out of the bullpen to hand Wisconsin its first shutout loss of the season.

Wisconsin (23-13) used a quartet of relievers to cover the final five innings after Rudy left the game.  Jake Polancic tossed a perfect fifth inning with two strikeouts.  Aaron Rund worked two scoreless innings with a walk and two strikeouts.  Tyler Wehrle pitched the eighth inning with three strikeouts and an infield single.  Craig Yoho pitched a 1-2-3 top of the ninth with two strikeouts.

Yoho has 31 strikeouts in sixteen innings pitched with the Rattlers this season.

The Sky Carp ended a six-game losing streak with their win on Thursday night.

Game four of the series is Friday night at Neuroscience Group Field.  Brian Fitzpatrick (2-1, 4.05) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers.  Karson Milbrandt (1-2, 3.14) is set to start for the Sky Carp.  Game time is 6:40pm CDT. 

Two area softball teams are in do-or-die mode on Thursday while others are looking for at-bats before beginning their own WIAA Tournament runs on Tuesday.

The Gibraltar/Washington Island Vikings would like to have another matchup against their Packerland foes in Algoma, but they will have to get past the Roncalli Jets Thursday afternoon in the opening round of the WIAA Softball Tournament. Tim Kowols will have the call in Manitowoc on 105.1 The GOAT beginning at 4:15 p.m. with the pregame show followed by the opening pitch at 4:30 p.m. Sturgeon Bay will also open their WIAA Tournament run when they visit Kiel for a game at 4:30 p.m.

On Wednesday, Luxemburg-Casco earned their second straight NEC championship with a 6-0 win against Marinette. They return to action on Thursday with a game against local rival Southern Door at 4:30 p.m. Algoma will hit the road to get some extra playing time as they travel to Suamico to play at Bay Port (4:30 p.m.).

Many local teams are saving their at-bats for the weekend as the area will see only one game on Thursday after a single contest on Wednesday.

Heads-up baserunning in the bottom of the seventh inning led the Luxemburg-Casco baseball team to beat St. Mary Catholic on Wednesday, 5-4.

The only local game on Thursday is Algoma's trip to Pedersen Park to face Marinette (4:30 p.m.).

The WIAA Baseball Tournament brackets were released on Wednesday. Here are the Matchups

#6 Luxemburg-Casco vs. North Fond du Lac OR Xavier (5/28 at home)

#7 Sturgeon Bay vs. Ripon (5/23 at home)

#9 Southern Door vs. Manitowoc Lutheran (5/23 at Manitowoc Lutheran)

#5 Algoma vs. Weyauwega-Fremont (5/23 at home)

#3 Kewaunee vs. Valders OR St. Mary's Catholic (5/28 at home)

#1 Gibraltar/Washington Island vs. Tigerton OR Hilbert (5/28 at home)

#10 Sevastopol vs. Marion (5/23 at Marion)

All three soccer teams in the area will be in action on Thursday as they work to build their resumes ahead of the  the WIAA Tournament.

Thursday's matches include Sturgeon Bay hosting NEW Lutheran (6 p.m.), Sevastopol/Gibraltar visiting Peshtigo (6 p.m.), and Luxemburg-Casco heading to Waupaca (6 p.m.).

Some of the brackets have been announced with the following pairings:

#11 Sevastopol/Gibraltar at Wrightstown (5/30)

#7 Sturgeon Bay vs. NEW Lutheran (5/30)

James Glampe led the way for the Luxemburg-Casco golf team on Wednesday as they took third in the NEC Championships at Brown County Golf Course in Green Bay.

The Spartans shot a score of 353, which was seven strokes behind champion Waupaca and six strokes behind second-place Wrightstown.  Glampe shot a team-best 82 to finish in sixth place, five strokes behind individual champion Jacob Zwiers of Little Chute. Josh Parins (87) and Lance Cherovsky (89) finished in the top 20.

You can find the full results here.

A noon preseason game, three divisional games for Gold package season ticket holders, and four straight primetime games are some of the highlights revealed during Wednesday's schedule announcement.

With the unbalanced schedule, the Packers will host just one preseason game, a noon contest on August 24th against the Cleveland Browns. They will play nine regular-season games, including four straight in primetime beginning on Thanksgiving night against the Miami Dolphins. The other scheduling quirk that irked many season ticket holders was the distribution of Green package versus Gold package games. The gold package, which is primarily Milwaukee-based season ticket holders, traditionally gets the second and fifth home games. Due to the unbalanced schedule, the group also received the ninth home game. This year, that means contests against NFC North rivals Minnesota Vikings (9/29), Detroit Lions (11/3), and Chicago Bears (1/4 or 1/5). You can find the full schedule below:

Doug Gottlieb hopes to prove the naysayers wrong by the time the team hits the court this fall. 

The Green Bay Athletics Department introduced Gottlieb as its 10th head men's basketball coach at a press conference on Wednesday. Chancellor Michael Alexander credited Athletic Director Josh Moon on his outside-the-box thinking on the hire, which almost occurred ahead of last season before Sundance Wicks won the job. 

Gottlieb spoke for approximately 35-40 minutes after he was introduced, reflecting on his time playing college basketball at Notre Dame and Oklahoma and his experiences. He began his press conference by telling a story about how he told his mom that he got the job.

 

 

 

 

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Critics of the hire have pointed to his national sports talk show, which he will keep doing as the coach of the Phoenix, as a possible distraction. Gottlieb defended the decision, saying he had rid himself of other commitments and was open to dropping the show if he could not handle doing both. With three scholarships remaining to fill and several players wondering if they should dip their toes in the portal, Gottlieb asked for trust.

 

 

 

 

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Gottlieb was named the coach shortly after Wicks opted to move back home to take the head coaching position at Wyoming.

Three local teams played on the softball diamonds on Tuesday as the Packerland Conference championship was decided in Algoma.

The Algoma Wolves took care of business, repeating as the Packerland Conference softball champions with a 4-0 and 9-6 doubleheader win over the Sevastopol Pioneers.  The Wolves came away with the win in the opener by scoring all four runs in the fifth inning.  Macie Zimmerman picked up the win in going the distance, clinching the conference for the Wolves.

In Crivitz, the Gibraltar Vikings fell to the Wolverines 7-6 in non-conference softball action.

(photo courtesy of Algoma Little League Softball)

Just a few baseball games were played on the area's high school diamonds on Tuesday as some unfinished business was taken care of between rivals Gibraltar and Sevastopol.

In a game suspended at 5-0 due to darkness on April 9, the Gibraltar Vikings finished with a 13-1 victory over the Sevastopol Pioneers on Tuesday afternoon in Packerland Conference play.

In non-conference action, the Algoma Wolves fell to the Mishicot Indians 10-5 at home.

The Luxemburg-Casco Spartans dropped a North Eastern Conference game to the Little Chute Musangs 6-1 at home. 

(photo courtesy of Ron LeCloux)

A four-run second inning was enough for the Milwaukee Brewers to prevail against the Pittsburg Pirates 4-3 on Tuesday night.

The Brewers had six straight hits in the second inning, including a two-run home run by Sal Frelick to take the early lead.

Pittsburg scored two runs in the fourth on a two-run blast by Nick Gonzales.

Joe Ross (2-4) started for the Brewers and went five innings allowing only two runs on two hits in picking up his second win of the season.

The Brewer bullpen was impressive again as Bryan Hudson pitched two scoreless innings and Elvis Peguaro blanked the Pirates in the eighth inning.

The only other hit in the game by the Pirates came in the bottom of the ninth inning on a solo home run by Conner Joe with two outs.  Brewer Trevor Megill picked up his fifth save of the season by striking out Jack Suwinski to end the game. 

The Brewers (25-17) and the Pirates (19-24) will play the rubber game of the series on Wednesday at 12:10 p.m. with Robert Gasser (1-0) pitching for Milwaukee in his second career start after a six-inning, no-run outing his last time out.   Martin Perez (1-2) will go for Pittsburg.

UPDATE: The hiring is confirmed. He will be introduced on Wednesday

Only two days after its old coach left for Wyoming pastures, Green Bay is set to hire a familiar name for its latest head men's basketball vacancy.

Several outlets report that Green Bay is set to hire FOX Sports radio host Doug Gottlieb as its new head men's basketball coach after flirting with the opportunity last year.

The Green Bay Press-Gazette's Scott Venci suggests that Gottlieb could keep his radio duties and be the program's leader. Gottlieb said last year it was a sticking point in his pursuit of the position, saying on his radio show that he feels it would be good promotion for the program. His only previous coaching experience was as a member of the staff for the U.S. team at the Maccabiah Games held in Israel in 2009 and 2017. He made his name collegiately as a high-scoring guard at Oklahoma State after leaving Notre Dame due to a credit card stealing scandal.

No other details, including the specifics with his contract, have been released.  

The area's baseball teams hope to finish their respective season strong with the WIAA brackets being settled this week and conference crowns still in play.

The Clippers never trailed during Monday's doubleheader against Sevastapol on U102.1 in Sturgeon Bay, winning the games 10-8 and 13-0.

The other Monday games saw Kewaunee sweeping NEW Lutheran 10-0 and 15-1 with Brett Paulsen throwing a six-inning no-hitter in game one.

Tuesday's games include Gibraltar and Sevastopol wrapping up their darkness-shortened game at 4 p.m., Algoma hosting Mishicot (5 p.m.), and Luxemburg-Casco hosting Little Chute (4:30 p.m.).

The Sevastopol/Gibraltar soccer team could not get the offense going against its visitors as Kaukauna toppled the United 7-0.

The Ghosts scored three goals in the first half and chipped in four more in the second half to take the road win. It was the third time in four tries that the United were shut out, including 4-0 loss to Martin Luther and a 5-0 loss to Manitowoc Lincoln at Saturday's Kiel Tournament. They did beat New Holstein in that tournament 3-0.

In Tuesday's action, Luxemburg-Casco will play at home against Marinette at 6:30 p.m.

Familiar teams found themselves at the top of the leaderboard on Monday after the dust settled at the Packerland Conference championships in Algoma.

The Kewaunee track team continued its tradition of excellence at Monday's Packerland Conference championships, with the boys' squad winning its sixth straight title. The Storm boys scored 170 points in the afternoon, with second place Southern Door close behind with 165.5 points, and Peshtigo finished third.

The Southern Door girls' track team won the crown with a healthier advantage over second-place Peshtigo, outscoring them 157.5 -144.5. Kewaunee came in third place with 87 points, two points ahead of fourth place Sturgeon Bay. 

Female Team Scores
1 Southern Door SODO 157.5
2 Peshtigo PESH 144.5
3 Kewaunee KWNE 87
4 Sturgeon Bay STBA 85
5 Sevastopol SEVA 59.5
6 Gibraltar GIBR 57
7 Green Bay New Lutheran NWL1 38
8 Algoma ALGO 35
9 Oconto OCO 24.5

Male Team Scores
1 Kewaunee KWNE 170
2 Southern Door SODO 165.5
3 Peshtigo PESH 137.5
4 Sturgeon Bay STBA 73
5 Algoma ALGO 68
6 Oconto OCO 24
7 Gibraltar GIBR 23
8 Green Bay New Lutheran NWL1 12.5
9 Sevastopol SEVA 11.5

Full Results Here

The area's softball teams will spend Monday and Tuesday wrapping up their seasons ahead of the WIAA Tournament on Thursday.

In Monday's action, Luxemburg-Casco topped Wrightstown 5-3, and Southern Door shut out Kiel 1-0, while Sevastopol and Kewaunee traded one-run wins.

On Tuesday, the Pioneers will visit Algoma for a doubleheader (4:30 p.m.) and Gibraltar will make its way to Crivitz (4:30 p.m.).

The domino effect has begun for the Green Bay men's basketball program after the departure of head coach Sundance Wicks.

Horizon League All-Freshman Team performer David Douglas Jr. announced on social media that he would be entering the transfer portal. He specifically cited Wicks' departure as his reason for entering. He did tell Scott Venci that he was not ruling out a return to the Phoenix.

Venci also talked to other members of the Phoenix that had decided to stay. Preston Ruedinger has not decided what he will do. Bennett Basich, who just wrapped up his high school career, has indicated he will stay.

In the wake of the change, athletic director Josh Moon said he is hard at work and hopes to have the decision made in the coming weeks.

There was no shortage of offense on the Door County League's opening day on Sunday.

On 105.1 The GOAT, the Sister Bay Bays opened the 2024 Door County League at home with a resounding 17-3 win over the Washington Island Islanders in eight innings.

Other Door County Baseball league action on Sunday saw Kolberg double up Egg Harbor 20-10, West Jacksonport beat Institute 9-6, and Maplewood topple Baileys Harbor 17-6.

The best track athletes in the Packerland Conference will be crowned on Monday at the conference track meet hosted by Algoma.

The Wolves will welcome Gibraltar, Kewaunee, NEW Lutheran/Providence Academy, Oconto, Peshtigo, Sevastopol, Southern Door, and Sturgeon Bay for the meet that will settle the All-Packerland Conference teams and give athletes a tune-up before next Monday's WIAA Regional meets.

The first events are scheduled for 3:30 p.m.

The field is set for softball while area baseball teams will find out later this week where they will go for the WIAA Tournament.

Baseball seeding meetings began on Sunday and are expected to be wrapped up by May 15th, according to the WIAA. Monday's action includes Sturgeon Bay hosting Sevastopol on U-102.1 for a doubleheader (4:30 p.m.) and Kewaunee welcoming NEW Lutheran for a twin bill (4:30 p.m.).

Softball teams will wrap up some conference matchups this week before some teams begin the WIAA Tournament on Thursday. Monday's slate includes Luxemburg-Casco traveling to Pulaski to face New London (4:30 p.m.), Algoma playing a doubleheader at NEW Lutheran (3:30 p.m.), Gibraltar/Washington Island hosting Oconto for a doubleheader (4 p.m.), and Kewaunee visiting Sevastopol for a doubleheader (4:30 p.m.). Below are the playoff matchups for the area softball teams:

#1 Algoma: 5/21 vs. the winner of Gibraltar/Washington Island and Roncalli 

#1 Luxemburg-Casco: 5/21 vs. the winner of Two Rivers/Marinette

#5 Kewaunee: 5/21 vs. Chilton

#6 Southern Door: 5/21 @ Valders

#10 Sturgeon Bay: 5/16 @ Kiel

#9 Gibraltar/Washington Island: 5/16 at Roncalli

#3 Sevastopol: 5/21 vs. NEW Lutheran

Sundance Wicks is going home, leaving the Green Bay men's basketball team with a vacancy for the third time since 2020.

Wicks signed a five-year deal with Wyoming over the weekend to become their head basketball coach after one year with the Phoenix. The wheels were set in motion when the Cowboys' previous head coach, Jeff Lindner, left the program to become the top assistant coach at Texas Tech reportedly. Wicks became a candidate almost immediately because of his Gilette, Wy. roots and his previous stint with the Cowboys as an assistant coach. Scott Venci of the Green Bay Press-Gazette reported on Saturday that Wicks had asked Green Bay for permission to talk to the Cowboys, and Pete Thamel of ESPN reported the hire on Sunday.

Wicks had recently signed a contract extension to stay as the Phoenix head coach, which included a $705,000 buyout if he chose to leave. Athletic Director Josh Moon told Venci that the search is already underway and he hopes to have the position filled by next week. 

The Sevastopol/Gibraltar soccer team will play at home to start their week when they welcome Kaukauna to the Institute on Monday.

No results were reported from their scheduled tournament over the weekend, but the United squad had a two-match winning streak snapped when they were doubled up by NEW Lutheran 6-3 last week. 

The Ghosts are 3-6-4 on the season and are on a four-match non-winning streak (0-3-1). They were shut out by Kimberly 6-0 last Thursday.

The first touch is scheduled for 6 p.m.