WEST BEND – Cumberland High School assistant baseball coach Joe Waite picked up the phone Tuesday with a weather update.

“It’s snow, we have snow,” said Waite with little enthusiasm. He denied his report had any connection to an April fools’ day joke.

“No…we have a covering and everything is white, but we’re kind of used to it.”

Cumberland is in Barron County on the Western edge of the state; north of Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls but just south of Spooner. The Beavers play in the Heart O’ North Conference.

“Everybody gets frustrated with the spring part of baseball but I think everybody accepts it,” said Waite acknowledging the ongoing debate between spring vs. summer baseball and the future of both seasons in the WIAA.

April means spring baseball season gets underway at high schools across Wisconsin. Bats ting and hands sting as temperatures hover in the low 40s. Many teams keep an eye on the skies as rain, wet fields and an occasional snow storm tend to postpone games.

 “It's Wisconsin and it is what it is,” said the WIAA’s Todd Clark who is very familiar with the line of questioning.

Looking at the numbers it appears most schools in Wisconsin prefer the spring season as 381 schools participate in the spring baseball tournament series and only 67 in the summer baseball tournament series.

“Actually we’ve seen an increase in spring ball from 366 schools to 381 in the last two years,” said Clark adding he can't make any assumptions on why schools change seasons. “The move to four divisions in the spring provides greater competitive balance by enrollment and those schools that defect from the summer have moved to the spring. During that same span and for the same reasons, perhaps, the summer program has dropped from 84 schools to 67.”

Clark said there are a number of reasons why most schools prefer the spring season over the summer. “First, the spring has four divisions.  Second, I assume many members believe school sports should take place as much as possible during the actual school year. Administration, discipline and supervision roles become more difficult when school is not in session.”

Summer baseball comes with issues as well according to Clark mentioning conflicts like vacations, summer employment, discipline enforcement, and other summer sport commitments.

LIMITED COMPETITION FOR SUMMER BALL

Dwindling numbers for summer baseball also factor into scheduling.

“The ones most susceptible to dropping summer baseball are the smaller schools in the outlying conferences because they’re running out of teams to play,” said Waite.

Strong programs dedicated to the summer league are Arcadia High School and West Salem in the Dairyland Conference along with Campbellsport and Howards Grove.

“Best thing about high school baseball is playing in the summer,” said Doug Gonring a former coach at West Bend East and this year’s coach at Kewaskum High School.

Gonring said the Hatfield and McCoy, spring vs. summer baseball debate has been going on the last 10 years however the issue is coming down to a final at bat. “It’s hitting a critical point because the state won’t recognize a state tournament if the school participation drops below 64 teams.”  

The spring versus summer received within the past two years as typical Wisconsin weather postponed and cancelled more than a handful of games.

“We have a blast in the summer because it’s baseball weather. If we were to go into spring, as a former West Bend East coach, do you know how much aggravation we’d get from the track coaches, golf coaches, tennis, softball coaches and soccer team and all the competition for indoor facilities during inclement weather.”

Gonring’s points are well founded, however league participation tells a different story as there has been a significant swing in the number of teams playing summer baseball.

In 1999 when Gonring’s West Bend East Suns won the state tournament, there were 110 teams playing summer ball. In 2006 that number dwindled to 84. In 2005 there were 78 teams.

“We’re now at 67 teams,” said Gonring about the season that includes 30 to 40 games and runs May 15 to July 27th. “It’s hitting a critical point because the state won’t recognize a state tournament if the school participation drops below 64 teams.”