Stars align for Grafton baseball

Mathematically, the Grafton High School baseball team had a chance to win the North Shore Conference after it finished 7-5 in the league with its season series split with Slinger a couple of weeks ago.

But so many other teams were vying for the title with so many games to go, coach Brian Durst knew it was unlikely.

Then the chips started to fall in the Black Hawks’ favor.

Durst watched part of the May 20 Whitefish Bay at Homestead game. The Blue Dukes won, 10-3, to sweep the season series over the Highlanders. He then checked the score of the Cedarburg game at Slinger. Grafton needed its rival to top the Owls, and the last-place Bulldogs pulled out a 4-3 win, sealing a four-way tie at the top of the conference.

Durst said he was more excited for Cedarburg’s big victory.

“Coach (Kyle) Peterson does a great job with the kids. He kept players believing they can beat anybody despite injuries and a number of things going wrong,” he said.

Grafton finished 7-5 in the NSC, along with Whitefish Bay, Slinger and Homestead. Nicolet and Hartford were 6-6, and Cedarburg was 2-10.

“A number of things had to go our way in order for that to happen, and it worked out,” Durst said.

“It’s a nice honor for our program to be able to raise another banner in the gym.”

It’s Grafton’s second league title in four seasons, and the second four-way tie. The 2023 Hawks finished 11-7, along with West Bend East, West Bend West and Whitefish Bay.

Some members of this year’s team had older brothers on the 2023 squad.

“They saw the effort that it took and they saw the amount of execution it took against excellent teams in the North Shore Conference,” Durst said.

Grafton put itself in position with a 13-6 win at Slinger on May 11, then lost, 2-1, to the Owls on May 13, its final NSC game.

“That’s how it was with everybody. There are always going to be the what-if questions, including a couple of teams who did not earn a share of the conference title. Everybody had opportunities,” Durst said.

The Hawks had a week to watch the rest of the conference finish their season.

“We put ourselves in a respectable position. Just be a baseball fan now until the regular season is over and see how it goes,” Durst told his team.

The Hawks swept Cedarburg, Nicolet and Whitefish Bay and split with Hartford, Slinger and Homestead.

“It’s an honor to share the title with three other programs and their coaching staffs,” Durst said.

The Hawks closed the regular season with a 13-12 loss at Waukesha West on Saturday.

It was the Wolverines’ senior day, and they started an inexperienced pitcher, Durst said. Grafton scored seven runs in the first inning.

The Wolverines scored seven in the third inning. Grafton needed two runs to tie in the seventh and scored one, leaving the bases loaded on a strikeout looking for the third out.

Sam Cameranesi had three hits, including a double, and two RBIs. Will Heinz had two hits and an RBI. Ryan Butts had a triple and an RBI. Zach Plier had a double, an RBI and scored three runs. Peyton McKinney had a double and three RBIs. Jack Schmanski allowed five hits, seven runs (none earned) while walking two and striking out two in three innings.

Grafton, 12-9 overall, got a 2 seed in the Division 2 playoffs and on Tuesday, June 2, host the winner of the game between No. 10 University School of Milwaukee and No. 7 Shorewood. The winner of that game plays Wednesday, June 3. If the higher seeds in the bracket win through June 2, Grafton would host No. 3 Kewaskum the next day.

Durst will take the week off to figure out his lineup and have his team face some live pitching.

“We like where we’re at right now. We definitely have some things we need to work on, situations we can execute a little better,” he said.