The 2024 Wisconsin high school baseball season is quickly approaching and, as usual, excitement is abound throughout the state. Players and coaches have been working in preparation for the upcoming season and, as is the case each year, there are some very talented players and teams across the Badger State.

Teams across the state have goals and aspirations to finish their seasons in their respective WIAA Division State Championship, but there is plenty of work to be done before that becomes reality. We hope to familiarize our readers with many of the teams with this initial Preseason Power 25 release which will take us right up to first pitch.

Please keep checking back throughout the season as we will be your one-stop shop for everything related to high school baseball across Wisconsin. Each week we will be releasing our Power 25, Players of the Week, Diamond Notes, Scout Blog and much more.

Our 2024 preseason coverage continues today.

High School: Stevens Point Area Panthers
Preseason Rank: 25
Head Coach: Kraig Terpstra
WIAA Division: 1
Conference: Wisconsin Valley
2023 Record (Finish): 26-2 (Lost in State Semi-Final)
Key Players Lost: Jackson Fox, Josh Opiola (Bryant and Stratton), Deacan Koback (Bryant and Stratton), Ben Fonti, Kale Roth.

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ROSTER PREVIEW

Team Strengths: Pitching, Defense, Experience
No. of Returning Starters: 8
No. of Returning Pitchers: 4

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X-FACTOR

+ After missing a large chunk of last season due to an injury, LHP Noah Marschke (2024; Madison JC commit) is set to lead the Panthers on the mound this season. Before said injury, Marschke was dominant in front of our staff in the summer of 2022 and ultimately earned an invite to the 2022 Prep Baseball Future Games. There the 6-foot-3, 190-pound left-hander ran his fastball up to 88 mph from a simple and repeatable delivery. His curveball, which sat in the low-70s back in 2022, has been his go-to offspeed pitch, coming out of the same window and playing with sharp 1/7 action. He has also shown feel for a deceptive changeup in the upper-70s, too, which rounds out his productive three-pitch mix. While it might take some time for Marschke to fully acclimate back to pitching in-game, which is to be expected, Coach Kraig Terpstra and crew are certainly excited to have him back in some capacity. As the season rolls on, look for Marschke to gain more-and-more traction within the Panthers rotation; and he will certainly be a huge piece for the Panthers as they try to make it back to Appleton in 2024.

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STAT RAT

+ 16: The number of Wisconsin Valley Conference Championships the Panthers have accumulated in Head Coach Kraig Terpstra’s 19 years at the helm. SPASH has been one of the winningest teams in the state for some time now as Terpstra has accumulated a overall record of 359-107 and he will look to add to that come spring.

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TEAM OUTLOOK

Year after year SPASH is amongst the top teams in the Wisconsin Valley Conference, if not the top team, and heading into 2024 it seems like they are going to do more of the same. Last season, after another first place finish in conference play, they got hot heading into the playoffs and rode that streak all the way to the Division 1 State Semi-Finals when they ultimately fell to the eventual State Champions in Whitefish Bay. In 2024, with a number of returners, highlighted by a dominant pitching rotation, they have similar aspirations.

Besides the aforementioned Marschke, RHP Ty Rechner (2024; Wisconsin-Stevens Point commit) is another arm that will be leaned on this season. This is nothing new for Rechner though, as he was considered this team's ace in 2023. He pitched to a .16 ERA and struckout 58 across his 49.1 innings of work which earned a spot on our Prep Baseball Wisconsin All-State Third Team list as a result. It’s easy to see why Rechner has had so much success over his prep career, as the imposing 6-foot-6 right-hander features a fastball up to 88 mph, while possessing a curveball and changeup, too. He is set to be another large piece for the Panthers this year and will be the second of a dominant one-two punch all season long.

RHP Jaxon Stetler (2024) and RHP/OF Braylen Nystrom (2024; Wisconsin-Stevens Point commit) are two other arms that are expected to see a quality amount of time on the mound, most likely in starter roles. Nystrom is another experienced arm on this squad that certainly adds to the overall depth of the Panthers’ rotation, but his right-handed bat will make arguably an even larger impact this season. Nystrom is set to lead this offense as he returns a batting average of .350 while also leading the Panthers in RBIs a year ago and he will be relied on even more in 2024. 3B Max Kruger (2025) is another returner on the offensive end for SPASH and he will look to build off an up-and-down sophomore year. Names like OF Chase Geyer (2024), INF Zach Beichler (2025), C Adam Noskowiak (2025), and INF Jacob Garth (2024) are some other names that are expected to shoulder larger workloads offensively this season, too.

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BOTTOM LINE

+ After a successful season last year, where they took home their fifth straight Wisconsin Valley title and made a deep run all the way to Appleton, they look to do the same. This season they are backed by a dominant and experienced pitching staff that certainly has the talent to keep shut down the opposition. While the offense doesn’t quite have the firepower that the rotation has, they do return some bats from last year and will rely on a number of players to step into larger roles this season. Under legendary Head Coach Kraig Terpstra the Panthers have been more than dominant over his nearly 20 years at the helm and they head into the spring as our pick to take home a conference title and maybe even more, yet again.

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