The fall sports season begins in August for Sevastopol athletes.

According to Sevastopol School District, For the 2020-2021 school year, the Pioneers will have one athletic code meeting on August 3rd for all athletes interested in participating in athletics for the school year. Attendance at this meeting is a requirement in order to compete in the first practice for any 20’-21’ sport. The guest speaker will be Kimberly head football coach Steve Jones, who has been a part of the Papermakers' run of six state title appearances the last seven years.

The homecoming date was also set for September 19th when the Pioneers are tentatively scheduled to play against NEW Lutheran/Oneida Nation.

We will tomorrow if dozens of spring sports athletes in Door and Kewaunee Counties will have a senior season.

That's when coaches, district administrators, and athletic directors will meet via teleconference to discuss options for the spring season. It could be canceled or a portion of the season could be salvaged. Governor Tony Evers called for school districts to keep buildings closed and extracurricular activities postponed for the rest of the academic year as a part of his Safer at Home order extension.

Sturgeon Bay head baseball coach John Berns told his players this via Gamechanger

"The WIAA has announced that its Board of Control will discuss the membership's options for the rest of the spring sports season at its scheduled meeting Tuesday, April 21st. "The meeting which will be done by video conferencing, is expected to reach a decision to cancel the spring sports season or, less likely, to attempt to somehow salvage an abbreviated portion of it." High school principals and athletic directors are included in this video conference. Once a decision has been reached and made public, I will post the information on GameChanger as soon as possible."

The other coach pictured in this picture from last year is Kent Berkley, who assisted Sturgeon Bay the last two seasons before taking over the Sevastopol baseball team this year. 

The peninsula's last football champion was the state's first in one aspect.

The WIAA was hosting its first-ever tournament to determine the top eight-man football team in the state when the Sevastopol Pioneers prevailed in 2018. Prior to defeating traditional eight-man power Luck 38-30 in the state championship, it dealt Newman Catholic its first-ever loss since switching from 11-man and shutting out Oakfield in the playoff opener.

The team's first W on the season was actually a forfeit with Bowler-Gresham forfeiting its entire year due to a lack of numbers. The Pioneers won their first two games before running into Newman Catholic, losing that contest 26-6. The Pioneers would not lose again that season, capping the regular season off with a commanding 64-16 homecoming win over Door County rival Gibraltar. 

In the state championship game, the Pioneers found themselves down 16-0 before they clawed their way back into their game. Their first lead of the game after Nathan Stenzel scampered in from a couple of yards out to give the Pioneers a 36-30 lead with just over two minutes remaining. The rest is history. Stenzel was a dual-threat, tossing for 1286 yards while rushing for another 1606 on the ground. 

The WIAA's Advisory Council will have a familiar face to those in Door and Kewaunee Counties.

Superintendent Kyle Luedtke was recently elected to a three-year term on the WIAA Advisory Council. He replaces Royall's Mark Gruen as a small schools representatives. The state's 171 smallest high schools are represented by five administrators of the 18-member panel.

Picture courtesy of Sevastopol School District

Sevastopol became the first of two schools on the peninsula to win back-to-back softball state titles after it won the championship in Madison in 2008.

Its 4-3 over Aquinas in the state championship game completed an impressive run that saw the Pioneers make three straight tournaments and capturing two titles. Two big innings set the tone for the Pioneers in their 6-1 win over Oakfield. The Pioneers jumped all over the Oaks in the first inning, scoring three times thanks to Cathy Kaye home run and a two RBI single Brittany Jilot. The Pioneers would tack on insurance runs in the fifth inning after Allison Ripp took home on a wild pitch and Lacey Weber knocked in another two. Carissa Neinas went the distance allowing just run as the Pioneers put up six runs on a team that only allowed 11 all season long.

The title game came with some drama as the Pioneers saw their two-run lead evaporate in the fourth inning. Ripp broke the 2-2 tie with a run-scoring triple in sixth and scored on single by Neinas for what proved to be the game winning run. Aquinas would add a run in their half of the seventh inning and sent Jilot deep for the final out of the game.

With the usual meeting canceled due to the school's closure, Sevastopol is putting out its call for fall sports online.

According to the district's Facebook, fall coaches typically hold meetings in April or May to determine preliminary participation numbers for each sport. If students are considering participating in any fall sport,  they need to complete a questionnaire online. The district needs these numbers to determine the amount of coaches and competitions needed for their athletes. The survey should be filled out on a per athlete, not per family basis. You can access the survey online by clicking this link.

The first of two straight state championships for Sevastopol came in 2007 thanks to the Pioneers' relentlessness from the plate.

Coached by Heather Spetz, the Pioneers rocked Arcadia pitcher Kayla Finner for 13 hits, which is tied for the fourth-most hits allowed in state tournament history. The 6-3 victory in the state championship game gave the Pioneers a 23-3 record for the year. It marked the first time Arcadia lost all season long up to that point after beating the defending state champion in Grantsburg the day before. Cassie Neinas slowed down Arcadia, pitching a complete game while allowing three runs on seven hits. Down 2-0 in the fourth inning, Brittany Jilot tied the game with a two-run

double, which sparked a four-run rally to take the lead. After giving up a run in the bottom half of the fourth inning, the Pioneers struck again in the seventh to put the game out of reach thanks to RBI double by Niki LaPlant and an RBI single by Lacey Weber.

It was the first of two straight championships for the Pioneers, which we will highlight tomorrow at DoorKewauneeHighSchoolSports.com

It is safe to say the late 80's were a great time to be a Sevastopol baseball player and fan.

Led by Dennis Remington, the Pioneers made three state championship game appearances from 1984 to 1987, capturing the title in 1985. That year they shut out Plum City 6-0 at Wausau Athletic Park after falling to Oakfield in a heartbreaking 8-7 loss the year before. Patience was key for the Pioneers in the title game, forcing Plum City pitcher Mark Luebker to walk a state-record 11 batters in the game. This came after getting another state record 14 hits off Waterloo hurler David Lenius earlier in the tournament. 

The team was honored last year, along with the runner-up squads during a special ceremony last year at Sevastopol Town Park. We will feature interviews with members of the 1985 state champion Sevastopol Pioneers baseball team later this month.

Sandwiched between two sour endings was a Sevastopol volleyball's big breakthrough in 1984.

Led by coach Cassandra Cibik, the Pioneers made three straight state tournaments from 1983 to 1985, finishing the final two seasons competing for a title. In their championship season, they went 8-2 in pool play to win the Golden Ball over Turtle Lake. 

The Pioneers would come up just short of a repeat in 1985, but went 6-3 in pool play and came in second to Webster High School.