Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association

The 2025 WBCA DIII Preseason Poll features Kenosha Saint Joseph holding the one spot, after finishing up as the last team to lose a game in 2025.  The Lancers will be seeking their fourth trip to the State Tournament in Grand Chute the past five years.  

1. Kenosha Saint Joseph: The 2024 State runner-up team is primed for another strong season, bringing back a solid core of pitchers and hitters, including UWM commit Pete Visconti. Visconti boasts an impressive track record as a three-time All-Conference player, two-time All-District selection, and 2024 3rd-Team All-State honoree.

2. Kewaunee: The Storm are favored in the Packerland Conference, with all varsity innings and most position players returning. Ethan Paplham, a three-year starter, primarily plays catcher and is versatile in multiple positions. Despite past injuries, he is now healthy and prepared to contribute significantly this season as the leadoff hitter and key player for Kewaunee.

3. Lake Country Lutheran:  LCL had an outstanding 24-2 record last year, overcoming a coaching change midseason. With a new coach again this year, the team looks to capitalize on the talent they have. Returning Midwest Conference Player of the Year, Jack Poellot, was a standout on the mound once again with his impressive strikeout count. 

4. Stratford: The Marawood South co-champions come back with three-quarters of their hitting and the Conference Player of the Year, Jack Tubbs, leading the pack.

5. Columbus: The Cardinals are back after a near-20-win season, returning almost their entire roster. Senior lefty Axell Allain, who went 7-1 with a sub-2 ERA and hit .443, leads the way, supported by three teammates batting over .300. With strong pitching and offense, they’re primed for another successful season.

6. Lomira: Lomira brings back over half of their pitching and hitting from a Flyway Conference title-winning team in 2024, picked to challenge D2 Campbellsport for the title in 2025.  There is still a lot of roar in these Lions.

7. Cedar Grove-Belgium: The Rockets return 60% of their at-bats, including Conference Player of the Year Brayden Oelhafen, who will be asked to take the bump in big games, and most of their pitching.  Favored to win the Big East South.

8. Brillion:  With 13 of their 17 pitching victories returning and an ERA that was 2.09 on the season, the Lions feel like their pitching should keep them in games all season while the offense catches up. While they are young, the Lions have enough returning players to make some noise in the postseason. Look for Joe Shimek to lead the way on the mound and in the infield. 

9. Elk Mound: The Mounders return more than half of their pitching and at-bats from a conference-title winning team in 2024, including 1st Team All-District pick Kam Diermeier and are picked to win the conference again this spring, their last season in the Dunn-Saint Croix.

10. Pardeeville: Pardeeville, favored in the Trailways West, has a solid core returning from their successful 2024 season, setting the stage for a strong upcoming campaign. Preston Jenkins, a four-year veteran at PHS, leads the pitching staff after excelling in the conference last season. He is also a key player in the team’s offense, looking to continue his successful run and propel Pardeeville to more victories.

11. New Glarus: The top pick in the Capitol South Conference brings back almost two-thirds of their hitting and pitching from a record-breaking season that ended just one game short of Appleton in 2024.

12. Mondovi: The Buffaloes return three-quarters of their pitching and all but one position player and expect to be right on Elk Mound’s heels for a Dunn-St. Croix Conference Title this season.

13. Fennimore: Coach Brent Sheckler begins his 20th season as the Golden Eagles skipper and is fortunate to have his son Ethan, a two-time 1st Team All-Conference pitcher and catcher to lead his team.  

14. Viroqua: As the team grieves over the loss of their legendary leader, they’ll do what Coach Swanson had them do for year after year: compete for a Coulee title.  Long time friend and assistant coach of Pete, Nate Noggler,  has the tough task of replacing a legend.

15. Amherst: Amherst, along with Bonduel,  is favored to compete for a title in  what is arguably the best DIII conference in the state, the Central Wisconsin East. Coach Bill Held’s Falcons bring back  seven starters and three-quarters of their pitching from last season.

16. BondueL: Veteran coach Donnie Gruenenwald has his Bears back in contention for a Central Wisconsn East title once again, and once again, they re going to have to fight Amherst and their veteran head coach Bill Held for it.

17. Fall Creek: Fall Creek came storming back after a two-year hiatus due to low numbers.  Coach Matt Prissel not only got the program back on its feet, he led them all the way to the top of league in the first year of their renaissance.  The same is expected this year.

18. Oconto: Hall of Fame coach Tom Armstrong brings back almost all of his pitching and seven starters from a team that won 15 games a year ago.  Cooper Campshure is a three-year starting shortstop who has been a 1st Team All-Conference player for the past two seasons.

19. Bangor: Half of the Cardinals’ pitching and three-quarters of their hitting return from a one-loss team in 2024 - expected to tangle with D4 Royall for a Scenic Bluffs Conference title in 2025.

20. Westby:  The Norsemen return nearly all of their varsity innings and 75% of their at-bats and are picked to be right on Viroqua’s heels for a Coulee Conference title this spring, led by their Hall of Fame coach,  John Hamilton. 

21. Wittenberg-Birnamwood:The Chargers are right up there with Amherst and Bonduel as CWC-East favorites.  WB won 17 games last year and return staff ace Chris Sipplwho had a 1.82 ERA last year pitching against the Charger’s toughest opponents.

Based on this, we evaluated the strength of each of the eight sectionals as compared with each other.

1. Sectional 4 (Kohler) 94
2. Sectional 2 (Chilton) 51
3. Sectional 3 (Osseo) 36
4. Sectional 1 (Augusta) 26

Again, this is a very unscientific list and based solely on the strength of top 21 teams list this preseason.  It does not account for teams outside the Top 21 Poll. You can see this spring's Sectional Assignments by clicking the pdf icon below.  That list also includes a printable version of the rankings.  As always, we wish all coaches and players a very successful season and that each team achieves growth this spring.