2009-10 SEASON IS COMPLETE

There are no more games to be played, races to be run, or meets to win. The Edgewood College athletics program has wrapped up a very successful 2009-10 season, so this will be the final Talon Newsletter until next August. Here are a few highlights that we will recall from the past year, while we enjoy the summer:

- A school record seven Edgewood College student-athletes earn Academic All-District awards, while two, Tyler Duellman (First Team) and Jerrid Dokey (Second Team), earn Academic All-American honors
- NAC championships in Men’s Cross Country, Women’s Tennis and Baseball
- Women’s Tennis makes their second straight NCAA Tournament appearance
- Josh Williams becomes the first Eagle cross county athlete to compete at the NCAA Championships
- Josh Williams (MXC) and Mallory Palmer (VB) win NAC All-Freshman of the Year award
- 21 First Team All-Northern Athletics Conference awards
- Eight Second Team All-Northern Athletics Conference awards
- Eight All-Northern Athletics Conference Honorable Mention awards
- Seven Northern Athletics Conference All-Freshman Team awards
- Bethany Brewster wins NAC Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year award
- Kristina Santaga becomes the first Eagle track athlete to earn a NAC Athlete of the Year award
- Aaron Gavin wins medalist honors in both the fall and spring portions of the NAC Men’s Golf Championships
- Jessica Spitzer wins First Team All-NAC in two sports, women’s golf and softball
- Josh Williams wins Northern Athletics Conference Indoor Track Freshman of the Meet award

Miota gets head coaching job at Madison East HS

Edgewood College men's basketball assistant coach Matt Miota has been named the new head boys basketball coach at Madison East High School. He replaces longtime coach Rich Cleveland who retired at the end of last season. Congratulations, Matt!

Prep basketball: Miota takes over at East (courtesy of Madison.com Sports)

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"Strike Out Cancer" Photo Gallery

Check out the Photo Gallery from the "Strike Out Cancer" Awareness Day:

http://www.edgewoodcollegeeagles.com/photo_gallery.aspx?gallery=58

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Sidearm Scoop: All good things...

The end to our magical season finally came Saturday night against Aurora. We ran into a team that was playing very good baseball at the right time of the year and ultimately we didn't have an answer for them. We accomplished a ton this year but it is still hard to keep that in perspective after your season is ended.

I wanted to take the opportunity to recognize some of the people on this team who really stood out when you take a look back at our season. The first person on that list is Ken Spangenberg. We were a team that was supposed to be built around our starting pitching and an opportunistic offense. Coach Spang changed all of that and deserves a lot of credit for Steve Binder hitting .405, Erik Massey turning into a .300 hitter, Jimy Landwehr breaking almost every offensive record in the book, Tim Barry setting the home run record, and the entire offense overall stepping up and performing above all expectations.

Secondly, I have to recognize our two senior starting pitchers who did a tremendous job this year. Matt Krueger was the epitome of an ace this year. Every time he took the ball you felt like you were going to win and he would throw all nine innings. He only lost one game this year and really stepped up every time we needed him to this year. Scott Winters was a guy who kind of got overlooked this year but this team would not of been nearly as good without him. He set the tone for our season at the beginning of the year by absolutely dominating UW-Oshkosh and finished the year by closing out our last conference game and throwing a very good game against Aurora in the first round of the tournament. Scott was the kind of guy you love to have as a coach because he simply does whatever it takes to help his team win. We are really going to miss those two.

Finally, I just want to recognize how great a group of guys this years senior class really was. Erik Massey was the heart and soul of Eagle baseball and always kept the dugout alive no matter what the score was. Steve Binder, in my opinion, was our MVP this year and was exactly the kind of captain this team needed. Brad DeVault was one of the best friends I had at Edgewood and was the kind of guy who serves as a role model for underclassmen about what it means to truly compete. I could continue to go on and on about these guys but would rather just sum it up by saying they will be missed dearly and I know each and everyone of them with go on to do something special someday.

Well that's about all I've got for now, so until next year, this is The Sidearm Scoop signing off.

- Blake Hunt
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Pink Bat Raffle Winner

Eryn McDonald of Verona won the commemorative pink bat which was raffled off as part of the "Strike Out Cancer" Awareness event to benefit the Breast Cancer Recovery Foundation.

Congratulations!

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Eagle Baseball featured on WKOW-27

The Edgewood College baseball team was the subject of a story on WKOW-27. The Eagles open the Northern Athletics Conference Baseball Tournament on Friday. If the video doesn't appear below click on the headline.



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2010 NAC Baseball Tournament Promo Video

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Fiene featured on WKOW-27's Medical Minute

Edgewood College women's basketball student-athlete Amber Fiene was featured in a WKOW-27 news story on Sport & Spine Clinic's anti-gravity treadmill rehabilitation machine. Fiene injured her knee playing for the Eagles and has been using the machine in her efforts to return to the court. Click the headline to see the full video.



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Catch the Eagle baseball team on WKOW-27 News at 10

UPDATE: This story will run on WKOW-27 on Thursday evening at 6:00 p.m. and on Fox 47 at 9:00 p.m.

The WKOW-TV27 sports team will be running a feature on the Edgewood College baseball team during their 6:00 broadcast. Sports anchor Matt Zahn will be speaking to some of the Eagles about their special relationship with a Matt Wright. Matt was an Eagle baseball recruit who tragically never got to play for the Eagles. He was diagnosed with testicular cancer and passed away on October 5, 2009.

Many members of the team got to know Matt well and Matt served as the inspiration for the Eagles' "Strike Out Cancer" Awareness Day last Sunday.

Also, catch the WKOW news at 5:00 to see Eagle women's basketball player Amber Fiene in a feature on new rehabilitation equipment at Sport & Spine Clinic.

(Pictured: Matt Wright)

Sidearm Scoop: Tournament Time!

Edgewood College pitcher Blake Hunt's continuing diary of the Eagles' championship season....

I must say this is the most excited I have been to write a blog entry (mostly because I am looking for any excuse to stop studying for exams). As I am sure you all know by now we clinched a share of the Northern Athletics Conference regular season title last night against Lakeland. I have never had the opportunity to win a conference championship so this was an extremely special night for me and one that I won't soon forget. It was awesome to see a pair of seniors (Matt Krueger and Scott Winters) pitch the best they have all season and absolutely baffle Lakeland hitters. Steve Binder continued to rip the ball and Treye Dennison kept finding ways to get on base and come up with clutch hits. Everything is clicking for us right now and I am excited to see just how far we can go.

While winning conference certainly was exhilarating, we also hosted a "Strike Out Cancer" event that supported a cause that is way more important than baseball will ever be. We honored one of our teammates who succumbed to testicular cancer before the game and it reminded all of us how lucky we are to be doing what we do and what an inspiration he is for so many of our players. Cancer has touched our team in way to many ways so it was great to raise money for such a worthwhile cause.

We will continue our season in Loves Park this weekend at the NAC tournament and would encourage you all to come out and enjoy a great weekend of baseball. I think we are all anxious to dump another cooler on Coach Brisack's head so hopefully that can inspire us enough to win three in a row this weekend, move on to regionals, and extend my tenure here writing The Sidearm Scoop!

Finally, I would just like to send a shout out The Eagle Blog's biggest supporter in former coach Josh Verb. It is great to know that Eagle fever is alive and well out in Pennsylvania.

Brisack to be on 1310 WIBA radio Thursday morning

Edgewood College's head baseball coach Al Brisack will be a guest on 1310 WIBA radio on Thursday morning, May 6. Coach Brisack will be a guest on "Madison in the Morning" hosted by Dick Alpert, discussing Saturday's "Strike Out Cancer" Awareness Day for the benefit of the Breast Cancer Recovery Foundation.

Saturday's "Strike Out Cancer" Awareness Day features a pair of doubleheaders with Verona H.S. vs. Madison East H.S. at 10:30 a.m. followed by Edgewood College vs. Lakeland College at 4:00 p.m. The teams will be wearing special pink insignia and Stampfl Field will be decorated with Survivor Flags. T-shirts will be for sale and donations collected with all proceeds going to the Breast Cancer Recovery Foundation.



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Sidearm Scoop: The Tarpaulin Love-Hate Relationship

The regular season is coming to a close and we have a chance to do something I haven't had the opportunity to do since I came here: Play in the NAC Tournament. We are currently in second place and three wins away from securing a bid to the tournament. I wish I could name every person in here who has stepped up for our team but it really as been a total team effort. Jimy Landwehr has been hovering around .500 all year and freshman Blake O'Brien went 21 straight innings without giving up a run. Mike Selvaggi has been on an absolute tear lately and even Treye Dennison hit his first home run the other day. (Editor's Note: I didn't see that one coming either.) This team is unlike any we've had the last two years and I am excited to see how the rest of the year plays out.

The greatest blessing, and curse, to happen to our program was when we got our tarp my freshman year. Rain is a common occurrence this time of year and the tarp has saved us from being rained out numerous times. This weekend was one of those times. When we arrived at the field Saturday morning I could not believe the amount of rain that was on the tarp. We pooled all of the water into one corner and used buckets to haul hundreds of gallons of water off the field. It ended up being a beautiful day to play baseball and without the tarp we would probably still be waiting for our field to dry. As much as I hate getting Coach's text messages at eight in the morning to put the tarp on it is way better than being rained out for several days.

My favorite part about the baseball season is the bus rides and finding ways to pass the time. Lately I have taken to engaging in intense chess matches with Eric Massey. I am a very conservative player who likes to make low risk moves while he is more of a daredevil who likes to get his queen out early and wreak havoc on the board. The wise old man has been getting the best of me lately winning about every three out of four games, but I picked up a few chess strategy guides this weekend and feel confident my luck will change on the trip to Platteville tomorrow.

That's about all I have right now but would encourage all of you to come out and watch us wrap up the regular season this Saturday against Lakeland. It should be two good games and we are planning a little surprise for all the mothers in attendance for Mother's Day.

- Blake Hunt

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