Toughest competition yet for club sports

Toughest+competition+yet+for+club+sports

Brian Gale, Assistant Arts & Recreation Editor

Competition season is quickly approaching at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and the club basketball and baseball teams are looking forward to competing and getting back into the action.

The men’s club basketball team is split into two squads, the purple and white team. 

“The purple team plays hard at both ends of the floor throughout the game. Another strength of theirs is that they can close out close games. The white team players strengths are that they are extremely disciplined and work hard. They also know their roles and buy into them. They continue to play great team defense and are always the hardest working players on the court,” said club President Jordyn Robinson. 

There are a few notable players to watch out for on the white team this season including Cameron Tolefree, Amani Glosson, Tyrell Trussell, Damon Cameron, Josh Mork, and Demetrius Lewis. Players to look out for on the purple team are Jaylen Murphy, Jaylen Horozewski, Carson Richardson, Michael Harris, Frederick Crawford, and Trenton Ridgeway. 

The men’s club baseball team is forward to a competitive season against well rounded teams. “A lot of the teams we play have D1 varsity teams so people who can’t make the varsity team will often play for club teams. Which makes our competition very good. So playing close games and winning is a goal every year,” said President Coleman Brecke. 

The greatest strength of the baseball team is their offense. “When the team is hitting well there is no doubt in my mind we could put up 10 runs on any pitcher we have faced this year,” said Brecke. 

What they will need to work on is the consistency of getting hits in those big situations. Notable players on the team include Clark Schmaling and Alex Dill. Schmaling, a third year student at UW-Whitewater, has been sharing time behind the plate since he was a freshman and proves to be an offensive threat. Similarly, Alex Dill, was hitting .650 at the end of the fall season with multiple home-runs. The team is looking forward to playing the other U-W schools including their series against Marquette Apr. 29-20. 

 Key games for the basketball teams upcoming season that they are looking forward to playing are UW-Madison, Michigan State, Northwestern, UW-Richland, UW-Baraboo, and Loyola. They will be playing in a regional tournament at UW-Madison from Feb. 4- 6. In addition, they will be playing in the WIRSA tournament in Eau Claire from Feb.19-20.