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Top 10 Stories of 2023: No. 2 Whitefish Bay’s Cinderella Run to D1 State Title

December 29, 2023
By: Maddox Durst
Staff Writer

At the end of each calendar year, the PBR Wisconsin staff reflects back on the 10 most intriguing headlines that surrounded the baseball scene in the Badger State. Through the end of the month, we will break down the most impactful storylines from an eventful 2023 campaign, ending with our No. 1 story revealed Dec. 30.

June 6 proved to be a big day for the Whitefish Bay baseball program. The date marked Sectionals, where the Blue Dukes fell short in 2022.

Their 2022 season surprisingly ended at the hands of Menomonee Falls in the Brookfield Central Sectional, as a three-run blast from OF Caden Wilson (2022) sent Whitefish Bay home with a 9-3 loss. The Blue Dukes were the No. 1 ranked team in the Power 25 for the entirety of the regular season before that matchup.

A season of ups and downs followed for a formidable Whitefish Bay team, as they tried to find their footing after losing many key contributors to graduation in 2022. A positive emerged, as they nearly went undefeated at Cahill Park – winning 14 out of their 16 matchups there.

It was the road woes that threw the Blue Dukes off course in 2023. Whitefish Bay faltered in five conference matchups on the road – facing adversity they avoided in the season before. In a messy North Shore Conference, they tied with Grafton, West Bend East and West Bend West for a four-way tie for the conference title. Each team finished with an 11-7 record.

“Anything that we did, we managed to do something else a little worse,” Wojcinski said about his program’s midseason struggles. “You know, we’d get a lead and our pitching couldn't hold it or we'd pitch well enough to win but we didn't hit… It was just kind of two different teams right there.”

Something clicked between the pitching staff and the offense toward the end of the season though. The Blue Dukes rattled off five straight wins before the postseason – including a shutout win over Slinger and an upset of Franklin.

Come playoff time, Whitefish Bay only needed one win to get to Sectional Tuesday. They took care of business against Wauwatosa East with a 2-0 shutout win behind a complete game effort from LHP Tyler Andrews (2024; Wisconsin-Milwaukee commit).

His performance got the Blue Dukes back to June 6, where 364 days beforehand they lost their magical season. Their first game came against conference rival Nicolet – the last team that had beat them during the regular season.

It was Andrews again, as the left-hander twirled a no-hitter in the Sectional semifinal. Whitefish Bay went on to win 8-0, and got back to the Sectional final with a dual against Marquette University.

Wojcinski and his staff took a shot in giving freshman LHP/OF Charlie McIntyre (2026) the ball in that matchup, and it paid off. It was deemed similar to his role as a cleanup hitter for the Blue Dukes all year long.

“He came through quite a bit for us,” Wojcinski said about his star underclassman.

McIntyre once again did his job, and enough offensive production led to another shutout victory for Whitefish Bay with a final score of 3-0 – their third in a row to punch their ticket to the state tournament.

A week later, the Blue Dukes made the trip north to Appleton to take on the team that eliminated them the season prior: Menomonee Falls.

That’s where the top-of-the-order combination of INF Jack Counsell (2023; Michigan), INF J.D. Dix (2024; Wake Forest) and 1B Austin Wienke (2023; Marshall) shined on the biggest stage. While Wojcinski and his staff had been surrounded by their production all season, their presence to begin games proved to be a difference-maker at Fox Cities Stadium.

“Those three guys kind of took it upon themselves like all fall, all winter leading up into the season, making sure people were involved,” Wojcinski said about his leaders. “...They were the tone-setters.”

RHP/INF Zach Wolfram (2023) hit a game-changing three-run home run to shift the momentum against the Blue Dukes – handing Whitefish Bay their first deficit of the playoffs. It was an all too familiar spot for this group, but they overcame the adversity through a full team effort.

McIntyre came on to control the situation on the mound, and got some help from his teammates on the offensive end. OF Ian Gunn (2023) – in a pinch-hit spot – put a ball off of the left field wall to ignite the offense to set up Counsell, Dix and Wienke. A throwing error in extra innings after McIntyre put a ball in play led to more runs scoring for Whitefish Bay, who took a 7-5 lead into the bottom of the eighth.

OF Ryan Callahan (2023) sealed the victory with a diving catch with runners on base to advance the Blue Dukes to the semifinals – arguably the biggest moment in their playoff run.

“I'm not sure how many people really remember this but the last out of that game, Ryan Callahan [in] centerfield came sprinting in and made a diving catch to end the game,” Wojcinski said. “If that skips by, we're in trouble, but I mean, that was a huge play.”

From there, it was pretty smooth sailing for Wojcinski’s group. They came out and blitzed SPASH to advance to the championship game with an impressive 17-0 win.

A day later – against a predominantly pro-Hortonville crowd – Whitefish Bay used a four-run second inning to pull away from the Polar Bears and spoil a championship run. Andrews went 6.2 innings in a gutsy outing – limiting a strong Hortonville lineup to just one run on five hits. He struck out six, and only walked two to help secure the win.

Due to pitch count though, Andrews had to be removed before he could get the final out. Wojcinski called in McIntyre once again, and the freshman delivered. The left-hander struck out the lone batter he faced, and began the ensuing celebration to cap off the 2023 WIAA Baseball season.

Whitefish Bay struck gold and avenged their elimination from the 2022 playoffs with a 5-1 victory over Hortonville in the Division 1 state championship game.

“I'll probably say, out of all the teams that I've coached, everybody gets along and everything. But, it's like these guys were actually like a family,” Wojcinski said. “Everybody wanted everybody to do well.”

Wojcinski has since moved on from the Blue Dukes’ program and is now the head coach at Germantown, a formidable program out of the Greater Metro Conference. Whitefish Bay looks to reload in 2024 after losing a big senior class – retaining a couple of key pieces from their memorable state championship run.

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