The one dominant player of Pewaukee may not exist this season. First Baseman Tom Zimmerman was a force on offense, as proven by his two All-State selections. Outfielder T. J. Frett was an All-Conference selection 3 times, and was named 2nd team All-District last year. According to Head Coach Adam Dobberstein, "Together, they re-wrote the PHS baseball record book."

On the other hand, it's not like they don't have anything coming back. Pewaukee played in the Parkland Conference last year, finishing in 4th place. With the dissolution of the Parkland, the Pirates are now competing in the Woodland North Conference. The North doesn't included Top 10 team Cudahy, but does include another team on that list in New Berlin West, a team that Coach Dobberstein identifies as one of the best in the North Division. Brown Deer and Shorewood from the Parkland join Pewaukee as well as they compete in their new conference.

Coach Dobberstein is entering his 7th season. He has several players entering their 3rd year of Varsity play. It's too early to say if any of these players will be comparable to Tom Zimmerman or T. J. Frett, but time will tell. Seniors Blake Hunt and Eddie Shoning have been on board since their sophomore years. Alex Barr, Brandon Werner, and Alex Birch have all been on the Pirates' Varsity since their freshman year.

Hunt is expected to do a lot of pitching this year. He is not only a senior, but the only left-handed starter on the team as well. Brad Warner is probably the team's number 2 Pitcher. Last season he recorded 4 wins against 1 loss. Tyler Warmath also brings experience back to the mound. While these three bring experience to the table right away, their collective ERA's could stand to go down. Last year, Hunt and Warner has ERA's around 4, and Warmath's was over 5. With experience comes great responsibility, and no one is questioning the ability of these three to prove they are plenty responsible to perform well this season. Just in case though, Barr and Werner will both see some innings during the year as well.

The pitching should do well this year, but the Pirates should have plenty of offense too. Outfield Eddie Shoning returns after scoring 19 runs, 17 RBIs and assembling a .358 batting average. Alex Barr is still a year away from having senior leadership, yet he's still one of the top bats in Pewaukee's lineup. He's returning with a .333 average and 24 RBIs. Both Barr and Shoning are left-handed bats as well. Brandon Werner will return to the middle of the order after pounding out 23 RBIs last year.

Coach Dobberstein is also excited about a few newcomers to the Varsity team. Juniors Dominic Biagioli and Donny Heinzelmann could make the difference between Pewaukee being good and great. Freshman Mike Dusel and Bryan Spakowicz may be capable of making the same impact right off the bat, so to speak.

The overall look for Pewaukee is very bright, even in a new conference. Coach Dobberstein's thoughts: "We have depth on the mound, guys who will be tough outs throughout the line-up, and the potential to be very good defensively. I'm not sure we have players who will dominate like some who have recently graduated, but if we stick together and focus on improving, this team can be very good."