Port star has the Wright stuff

Port Washington’s O’Neil Wright will play college baseball, but this summer he got one last chance to play as a high-schooler after the Pirates’ season ended.

Wright is the first Port High player in school history to play in the Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association All-Star Classic.

Seventy-two seniors nominated by their coaches are split into four teams — East, West, North and South — and play three games over two days in late June in Oshkosh.

Wright’s East team went 3-0. The East beat the South, 5-1, the West, 6-4, and the North, 12-9.

He played center field in two and right field in one, and had two hits and a walk. Teams came together quickly with players meeting each other around lunchtime and playing their first game later that day. They played two games the following day.

“Overall, the experience was amazing. The competition level was great, the setup and meals were amazing, the crowd was huge and you can never complain when you play the best kids around the state and go 3-0 on the weekend,” Wright said.

“Another plus was playing with and against my former club teammates from Hitters Baseball (Academy).”

Wright will play for McHenry County College in Crystal Lake, Ill. He plans to major in exercise science.

Wright was named to the Glacier Trails Conference second team as an outfielder this season after earning the same honor in the North Shore Conference in 2025.

He hit .391 in the GTC and .373 for the season. He had 12 RBIs, five doubles, one triple and a home run. He walked eight times and struck out 10, and had an on-base percentage of .434. He stole 13 bases in 12 GTC games. In center and during a short stint as pitcher, Wright had a perfect fielding percentage, with 41 putouts and an assist on 42 chances, including one double play.

Past local participants in the All-Star Classic, according to the WBCA website, are Ozaukee’s Al Albert in 1984 and Brandon Banton in 2003, Ozaukee coach John Tucker in 2006, Grafton’s Jim Clarke in 1990, Grafton coach Dennis Goecke in 1997, Luke Kzmierczak in 1999, Jack Pawlak in 2018 and Tommy Lamb in 2020.