The Wisconsin high school baseball season kicks off on April 27, opening day for regular season action under WIAA regulations. Over the next several weeks, leading up to opening day, we’ll be publishing our team previews ahead of the 2021 spring season, touching on programs spanning all state classifications, leading into a countdown through the official PBR Wisconsin Preseason Power 25 Rankings.

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 team-by-team preseason analysis.

Our 2021 preseason coverage continues today.

Team: Wauwatosa East
Preseason Rank: No. 15
2019 Record: 16-7
Conference: Greater Metro
WIAA Division: 1
Head Coach: Pete Schwichtenberg

TOP PLAYERS

OUTLOOK

The unquestioned strength of the Red Raiders is arguably the state’s strongest pitching staff from top to bottom. They’re set to trot out a multitude of competitive arms on a game-to-game basis and it definitely gives them a chance to compete with any team they run up against at the Division I level. 

Senior LHP Tommy Meyer (Northern Illinois commit) is a top-10 prospect in the state’s 2021 class and he brings an experienced presence atop the Red Raiders’ rotation. He’s a strike-throwing lefty that we’ve seen up to 88 mph in the past and can throw both of his off-speed pitches for strikes. Another senior atop this starting rotation is LHP Calvin Dobbe (Wisconsin-Whitewater), who’s a pitchability southpaw that fills up the zone with all three of his pitches. The experience these two bring to the mound, especially after the lost 2020 season, will be key for Wauwatosa East.

Tommy Meyer (3/1/20)

Right behind them is a major arrow-up name in the state’s junior class with true frontline potential: RHP Thomas Harper. Still uncommitted, Harper represented Team Wisconsin at the PBR Future Games this summer and showed well, although his stuff had yet to take that next step we’d been expecting. He did just that, however, at the West Milwaukee Preseason I.D., comfortably bumping his fastball up into the 89-90 mph range and also showed an improved slider with swing-and-miss upside that spun at 2,300-plus RPM. Harper’s long-levered 6-foot-4, 195-pound frame suggests even more velocity could potentially be on the way and he could truly cement himself as one of the top arms in the entire WIAA with a strong spring season.

Thomas Harper (2/21/21)

Rounding out this team on the mound are RHP Eli Michaelis (2022), RHP Brandon Marquardt (2021), and RHP Trevor Marquardt (2021). All three will be called upon in relief to finish games out for the Red Raiders and they are all strong complimentary pieces that complete one of the state’s top pitching staffs. 

Wauwatosa East doesn’t have many returning players with varsity experience on offense and they’re a scrappy bunch that’ll have to grind things out on offense. Their outfield bunch, and the top three hitters in their order, is arguably the fastest trio in the state with the aforementioned Michaelis, Maurice Rockette (2021), and Zachary Ortner (2021) as members of that group. Meyer and Dobbe will hit when they’re not pitching and junior Parker Thompson is their projected starting shortstop and he’s also someone that could log innings for them on the mound as the spring rolls on. Keep an eye on C Alex Esser (2022) as a potential ‘X-Factor’ type for the Red Raiders as he’ll be tasked with handling all of these quality arms behind the plate and he showed a quality left-handed stroke at our Milwaukee Preseason I.D. last month. 

BOTTOM LINE 

The Red Raiders are equipped with a talented pitching staff that’s going to give them a chance to win plenty of games and puts them as early favorites to claim the Greater Metro conference championship. How far they go will ultimately depend on how an inexperienced offensive group performs and if that unit clicks, watch out for this Wauwatosa East as a legitimate threat when the WIAA playoffs start. 

Make sure to follow @PBRWisconsin on Twitter for the most up-to-date coverage throughout the 2021 season.

Find more information on the 2021 Red Raiders below:

+ Team Website
+ Team Schedule
+ Team Twitter

PRESEASON POWER 25 COUNTDOWN