Tigers yearn for another Marawood title
Squad has won three in a row
By Casey Krautkramer
Stratford’s varsity baseball team has technically won three Marawood Conference South championships in a row, not including the 2020 season that was cancelled because of COVID-19.
Marshall Lehman is in the midst of his fifth season as Stratford’s head varsity baseball coach and he’d like nothing more than for the Tigers to capture their fourth straight Marawood South Conference title.
“It is definitely a goal of ours to win another conference championship this year, but we have very good teams to compete with,” he said. “For us to have a shot at repeating again this year, we will need to be consistent with our approach in practices and games. We have a good mix of returning players and young newcomers so it will be fun coaching this group and seeing their development throughout the season.”
Stratford lost three starting players from last season’s squad and coach Lehman said there are “some big shoes to fill.” Stratford graduated ace pitcher Cam Daul from last season’s team, therefore coach Lehman will have more of a committee of starting pitchers this season.
“We have a lot of good innings to make up but we feel this year we can do that with a group of guys,” Lehman said. “We have two seniors and two juniors that have all had some good varsity pitching experience on the mound.
Stratford’s varsity assistant coaches this season are Drew Spaeth, Ryan Bloom and Scott Bauman.
“Our coaching staff does a great job of developing our younger players so we are excited for the opportunity some of the younger players are going to get this season,” Coach Lehman said.
Lehman is excited to witness his varsity team continue to gel throughout this spring.
“We have a good core of returning players on the mound, in the field and in the lineup,” he said. “It started with our three seniors, Jackson Ormond (pitcher and first baseman), John Seitz III (outfielder) and Braeden Schueller (pitcher and outfielder). We have two juniors that have a lot of experience on the mound that we are looking for big things from and they are Brady Schmidt and Henry Zaleski (pitchers and infielders). We also have sophomore Jack Tubbs (infielder) who is a leader in our middle infield and in the lineup.”
Stratford also has some up-and-coming players this season.
“We are looking for big things from sophomore Vance Kielman (pitcher and infielder) who did some hitting for us last year, but we are looking for him to be a consistent hitter and middle infielder this year,” Lehman said. “We also have a couple of freshmen in Brady Berg (catcher) and Riley Spindler (infielder) that we are excited about filling some roles on our varsity team this year as well.”
Stratford’s varsity baseball team is off to a 3-2 overall record this season. Stratford has a 2-1 record in the Marawood South Conference after losing a nail biter, 8-7, to Marathon on the road Tuesday. Stratford gets another chance to beat Marathon at 4:45 p.m. this Thursday, April 27, at home.
The Tigers suffered a 16-0 setback to the Mosinee Indians in the season opener at Woodside Sports Complex in Mauston, but this was more of a chance for both teams to finally get on the field this spring. Mosinee is a tough Division 2 opponent.
Stratford swept its regular season series against Wisconsin Rapids Assumption with 16-3 and 10-0 wins on April 11. Schueller earned the pitching win in the team’s 16-3 victory and Zaleski was the winning pitcher in the 10-0 win.
The Tigers also beat the Nekoosa Papermakers, 6-2, on April 14. Jackson Ormond was the winning pitcher. Ormond and Tubbs had an RBI each in the victory.
