Preseason Power 25 Countdown: No. 1 Waunakee

March 26, 2019
By Andy Sroka
Staff Writer

The WIAA high school baseball season opens on March 26, the opening day for prep baseball in Wisconsin.

Leading up to the opening week of action, we’ll be rolling out team-by-team previews, counting down to our state’s preseason No. 1-ranked program for the 2019 season. We’re combing over all classifications and corners of the state to determine our top-25 ranked teams ahead of what’s sure to be an historic campaign, with the merging of the spring and summer divisions into one single WIAA season.

Perennially, we’ve submitted a Preseason Questionnaire to high school head coaches across the entire state. Their responses have been flooding in and we’re using the detailed insight they’ve provided in our analysis.

Our 2019 preseason coverage continues today.

Team: Waunakee
Preseason Rank: 1
2018 Record: 21-6
Conference: Badger North
WIAA Division: 1
Head Coach: Spencer Lee
Playoff Run: D-1 State Champions
2018 Final Rank: 1
Returning Starters: 6
Returning Pitchers: 1

TOP PLAYERS

Name	State	School	Class	Pos	Commitment
Nathan Stevens	WI	Waunakee	2019	C	Arkansas
Ryne Fueger	WI	Waunakee	2019	OF
Taiten Mariquez	WI	Waunakee	2020	SS/RHP
Joe Hauser	WI	Waunakee	2020	RHP/INF
Nick Smith	WI	Waunakee	2020	RHP/1B
Dane Luebke	WI	Waunakee	2019	OF
Will Ross	WI	Waunakee	2020	OF	St. Louis

KEY PLAYERS LOST

Riley Ripp, LHP/1B
Derek Lee, INF (Madison JC)
Ben Nordloh, RHP/OF

NEWCOMER TO WATCH

As if championship rings weren’t a big enough gift for the returning Warriors, the reigning Division-1 champs are also welcoming aboard one of the most dynamic two-way players in the state: Joe Hauser. The junior is possibly the most talented and interesting uncommitted prospect in the state’s 2020 class. He transferred from Sun Prairie to Waunakee in the fall and is set to inject this rotation with a much-needed boost, especially after graduating a couple key arms in 2018. Hauser is a true two-way threat, who could potentially carry that same threat through the college ranks.

He was used sparingly on the mound over the last couple of springs, but most recently at our Madison Preseason I.D., Hauser showed arguably the best pitchability in the state. He sat at an easy 88-90 mph with swing-and-miss spin pitches, coupled with a devastating changeup. His repertoire is enough to slide into the No. 1 spot in virtually any rotation in the state. On top of that, he’s a next-level right-handed hitting infielder. His 6.76 speed in the 60 and plus arm are two tools that allow him to play any spot on the dirt, and will likely man the most demanding spot in the infield all while hitting either just in front of or behind the left-handed slugger Nathan Stevens, to add to his elite run production.

Joe Hauser (3/10/19)

STAT RAT

Snubbed of an all-state mention, Nathan Stevens put up eye-popping numbers in 2018. The Arkansas commit batted .512 with eight doubles, three triples, and eight home runs which led to 38 runs driven in. He was one of the more feared hitters in the state in 2018 and he turned it up a notch when it mattered most in the playoffs. In Waunakee’s six playoff games, Stevens went 10-for-18 with two doubles, a triple, and three home runs. He drove in 11 playoff runs and scored seven himself, and when he got to Fox Cities Stadium, teams had already walked him four out of his first nine plate appearances.

X-FACTOR

Waunakee has a gaping hole to fill on the mound in 2019, with over 96 of their innings pitched gone and graduated. Head coach Spencer Lee will be looking for arms up and down the roster to fill out the staff. The addition of Hauser is monumental, but junior right-hander Nick Smith could also be the beneficiary of Coach Lee’s dilemma. Smith made some serious progress on the mound this summer and has refined his repertoire even more over the winter. Recently, Smith showed us an electric fastball that reach 89 mph, and sat in the 87 mph range, a six-tick jump from when we saw him around this time last year. He’s shown a better feel for harnessing the strike zone with his No. 1, and if he can do the same with his secondary stuff, you’re looking at an instant rotation guy. At the very least, Smith should see a significant bump in innings from last year, and with a power arm like his, he should have value in high-leverage situations.

Nick Smith (3/10/19)

OUTLOOK

Let’s start with the Waunakee outfield, where the Warriors look to be the most stable. Three outfield bats are back, and each finished last season hitting over .300. Senior Dane Luebke saw the fewest at-bats of the three, but started two of the Warriors final three games in Grand Chute. Will Ross, a junior Saint Louis commit, is the likeliest breakout candidate among these three outfielders. Ross hit .325 as a sophomore, earning his varsity stripes, and should have a more regular role with everyday at-bats coming his way in 2019, so look for his production to jump. Senior Ryne Fueger rounds out the outfield and is the one who saw the most action of any of the returners. Fueger hit .414 last spring and garnered first team all-conference honors.

Obviously, Nathan Stevens is going to be this team’s starting backstop. Stevens will be well-known on the circuit this spring and we’ll see how opposing pitchers approach him. Regardless, he’s the ultimate threat in the batter’s box and the lineup revolves around him.

Nathan Stevens (2/3/19)

The infield is where the Warriors will get its reinforcements, successfully filling any lost production to graduation. Again, Hauser is the big addition here, who we detailed at length in our Newcomer to Watch section. His bat will help take a huge load off of Stevens, and could be the beneficiary of pitchers working around Stevens in the order. Hauser and Taiten Manriquez could alternate at shortstop, depending on which one of them is pitching, but both should see significant innings on the mound, too. Manriquez also returns a .417 batting average from last spring. When Smith’s not pitching, he could be relied on as the mainstay at first base, where he also features a power-type bat.

The Warriors’ rotation, while packed with front-line talent, is short on depth. It’s the biggest question mark on this team from a year ago but the pieces are there to help them endure another lengthy run at state. Manriquez returns the most innings to the mound, with a 2-2 record and a 2.19 ERA. He, too, is a mid- to upper-80s arm who got his feet wet as a sophomore, and should likely take another step forward in his junior campaign. Hauser and Smith will like see more prominent roles on the mound than they did a year ago. It’ll also be interesting to see how Coach Lee constructs his bullpen with the lack of returning innings.

BOTTOM LINE

Most programs fresh off a state championship enter the following spring with lowered expectations. Typically, those programs lost a valuable senior class, return little experience, and will need to rely on new faces to achieve a successful state title defense.

However, this year’s Preseason Power 25 has three defending 2018 championship representatives, and each are poised to do it again, though none are more talented than the Waunakee Warriors. Coach Lee will be staring across the dugout at several familiar faces, who were critical members of last year’s squad who have already experienced what it takes to win it all. It’s a big advantage for a high school team’s ability to rekindle those moments when the season gets tough.

Waunakee is loaded with talent and was fortunate enough to add even more starpower to fuel their run back to Grand Chute, making them the pick to reclaim the Badger North for a third straight spring. The Warriors are PBR Wisconsin’s preseason favorites to hoist the D-1 trophy again in 2019.

Make sure to follow @PBRWisconsin on Twitter for the most up-to-date coverage throughout the season.