2011 U.S. Amateur champ secures PGA Tour status

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: May 30, 2015

2011 U.S. Amateur champ secures PGA Tour status

Kelly Kraft hopes to play in 2017 U.S. Open


By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

Daily News

Even though it’s been almost four years, Kelly Kraft remembers winning the 2011 U.S. Amateur Men’s Golf Championship at Erin Hills like it was yesterday.

“It’s the biggest amateur golf tournament you can win,” Kraft said Tuesday. “I remember it like it was yesterday. The course was in incredible shape. I remember it being really long.”

In two years, Kraft hopes to get another shot at Erin Hills and the 26-year-old Texan may get his wish.

Recently, Kraft earned his PGA Tour card for the 2016 season and if he can finish the season in the top 125 in the FedEx Cup points standings, he’ll maintain the card and be eligible to compete in the 2017 U.S. Open at Erin Hills.

“I’m pretty excited,” Kraft said. “It’s a dream come true. I’ve always wanted to play on the PGA Tour.

“I’m pretty pumped about it.”

This week, Kraft is competing in the Byron Nelson Classic at TPC Four Seasons outside of Dallas. He received a sponsors exemption to participate in the championship.

Play was suspended Friday because of darkness. On Thursday, Kraft shot a 3-over-par 73. He didn’t complete his second round, but was 1 under after four holes.

It’s his 11th career start in a PGA Tour event, with his best finish being 40th at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in 2013.

He is one of a handful players in the field who played in the 2011 U.S. Amateur at Erin Hills, one of whom is reigning Masters champion Jordan Spieth.

Also in the tournament this weekend is Russell Henley, Harris English and Patrick Rodgers.

“It’s been interesting to watch a lot of those guys,” Kraft said. “But Jordan didn’t waste any time once he turned pro.”

Kraft and Spieth are also frequent practice partners as they’re both from the Dallas area. Kraft has beaten Spieth in some rounds, including making an albatross in a round.

Kraft defeated Patrick Cantlay, 2 up, for the 2011 U.S. Amateur championship. At the time, Cantlay was a heavy favorite to win the tournament.

Cantlay entered the tournament as the No. 2-ranked golfer in the world amateur rankings.

Kraft, on the other hand, was ranked outside the top 50 going into the U.S. Amateur.
“It was cool, because I was the underdog,” Kraft said of beating Cantlay and winning the U.S. Amateur. “I wasn’t a bad amateur, but that’s all everybody was talking about was Patrick Cantlay and how he was going to beat me. It was pretty cool.”

As part of winning the tournament, Kraft got an invite to play in The Masters.

“It was a special experience,” he said. A few weeks later, Kraft turned pro. When he did, he forfeited his invitations to participate in the U.S. Open and the Open Championship, which was also part of the package for winning the U.S. Amateur.

“I was done with school,” said Kraft, a Southern Methodist University graduate. “I would’ve had to wait another four or five months to play in the U.S. Open and British Open. I was just ready to get out and play in golf tournaments. I was excited about the next chapter of my career.”

For the next three years, it was an up-and-down ride for Kraft.

“I think I picked up a couple bad habits that wasn’t right for my body type,” Kraft said. “I was fighting my body that didn’t want to do certain things.”

After about two years, Kraft changed coaches and started to return to the type of golfer he remembered being in 2011.

“I did it at the right time,” Kraft said when asked if he ever wondered if he turned pro too soon. “I was 23 years old at the time. I think I got out to a slow start because I did wait so long.”

In March, he won his first professional event with the Web.com Tour, formerly the Nationwide Tour. Kraft edged Lee Dong-hwan by one stroke to win the Chitimacha Louisiana Open in Broussard, Louisiana.

The victory assured him full status for the Web.com Tour for the remainder of 2015 and for the 2016 seasons — a year after he barely held onto that tour card, finishing 75th on the money list.

Then last month, he finished second at the BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by SYNNEX Corp. in Greer, South Carolina, to move him into second place on the Web.com Tour money list and clinch a spot on the PGA Tour for 2016.

Kraft lives in Dallas with his wife, Tia. They were dating at the time of the U.S. Amateur.

“We’re loving it,” Kelly Kraft said.

Kraft wants another shot at Erin Hills.

“I haven’t been back since I won,” he said. “I would love to play in the U.S. Open there.”

Kewaskum avoids another quick exit

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: May 29, 2015

Kewaskum avoids another quick exit

Indians score 4 unearned runs in 6th inning

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

Daily News

KEWASKUM — Indians softball coach Jeff Gosse stood in the third base coaches box four outs away from another quick exit in the WIAA state tournament series.

“I was starting to wonder ‘what do I have to do different to get us out of the second round?’” Gosse said. “It’s the second round that’s been our bugaboo. I don’t know what I’ve got to do different.”

They got a break.

Kewaskum’s Melanie Juech hit a well-hit ball into right-center field with two outs in the bottom of the sixth and the Indians trailing. She put her head down and ran.

“Coach always tells us to think two on a hit,” she said.

She didn’t see Mayville’s right fielder drop the flyball in the gap and extend the inning. From there, the Indians didn’t let up, going on to score four unearned runs in the inning and escape with a 7-5 victory Thursday in a WIAA Division 2 regional semifinal at Kiwanis Park.

“They fought; they fought all game long,” Gosse said. “They didn’t give up.”

A loss would’ve been a devastating blow for the Indians after they broke a school record this year for victories in a season (21-5).

It would’ve been the third straight year the Indians failed to win a playoff game — all at home and as the higher seed.

Since 2011 — all secondround exits — Kewaskum has averaged 15 victories per season, but has one playoff victory to show for it. In 2012, Kewaskum beat Brown Deer in the first round of the regional, then lost to Kettle Moraine Lutheran in the second round.

“After the season, I would’ve had to sit down and talk to people and say ‘What am I doing wrong? What are we doing wrong?’” Gosse said when asked what a loss Thursday would’ve meant going into the offseason.

Instead, the Indians are on their way to the third round of the regional for the first time since 2010.

Awaiting them is No. 1-seeded Grafton, which beat KML, 9-1, on Thursday.

It’ll be the third straight year Kewaskum and Grafton will meet in the playoffs. The teams also met in the third round of the 2010 playoffs.

Grafton has won each matchup.

“We’ve been looking forward to it all year,” Juech said about the rematch with Grafton.

The game will be at 4:30 p.m. today at John Long Middle School in Grafton.

Juech stepped up to the plate with a runner on second and two outs. Her putting the ball into play allowed Lindsay Winkler to score from second base.

“I thought it was in the gap,” Gosse said. “All of a sudden that outfielder came in and I was like, ‘Oh, she’s going to get there, she’s going to get there.’ “Then all of a sudden I saw she took the wrong (angle) and sort of knew it was going to be off the tip of the glove. I was like, ‘We’ve got to get them in.’” After that, the Indians got a pair of singles from Madalyn Lehmann and Brittany Williams, and a double by Emma Debelak to add two more runs and a 6-5 lead.

Lehmann’s RBI single tied it at 5 and Debelak’s double gave Kewaskum the lead.

Kewaskum added an insurance run when an errant throw to the pitcher during an at-bat allowed Williams to score from third.

“I think the pressure went from on us to them,” Gosse said. “We caught a break.”

“The emotion really picked up,” he added.

Kewaskum surrendered the lead twice in the game. It led 1-0 going into the third, then Mayville scored twice in the inning to take a 2-1 lead. Kewaskum countered with two runs for a 3-2 lead.

Mayville scored three runs in the top of the fifth to take a 5-3 lead and that was the deficit going into the bottom of the sixth.

While Gosse struggled with the possibility of another early playoff exit, his players were thankfully optimistic.

“We were feeling pressure, but we knew we had to buckle down, get outs and do what we normally do,” Juech said. “We had to stick together as a team.”

“We knew we could pull this off,” she added.

The winner of today’s regional championship game will play Tuesday in the sectional semifinal.

Going with her gut

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: May 28, 2015

Going with her gut

Slinger coach makes the right move

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

Daily News

SLINGER — Whether Slinger softball coach Tanya Villarreal is a genius or not is a debate that can be settled later. But sophomore Kaitlyn Shatswell sure made Villarreal at least think like one.

Shatswell hit a 1-2 pitch with two outs in the bottom of the sixth to drive in the go-ahead run and Slinger went on to beat visiting West Bend West, 3-2, in a WIAA Division 1 regional Wednesday.

“Amazing,” Shatswell said when asked what it was like standing on first base after driving in the goahead run.

It was only Shatswell’s second varsity game. She played the rest of this season on junior varsity.

But in practice Tuesday, Villarreal saw something with the way Shatswell swung the bat in practice.

In between innings, the Owls’ bench players typically jog down to the outfield fence and back to stay loose. When Shatswell passed Villarreal who was in the third-base coaches box, she was told if Hannah Strupp’s spot came up in the inning, she’d pinch hit.

Villarreal made the move not just because Strupp was 0 for 3 in the game at that point. It was a hunch on her part based on what she saw in practice Tuesday.

“I just had a good feeling about it,” Villarreal said.

After fouling off a 1-2 pitch, Shatswell got set in the batters box and waited for a pitch from West’s Brooke Brockman.

Shatswell perfectly placed a ground ball just beyond the reach of Spartans second baseman to bring in Katie Rongstad.

“I was kind of nervous,” Shatswell said. “But I knew she put me in there because she had confidence in me. I knew I had to get the job done.”

Rongstad got the rally going with a two-out hit herself, a single to left.

“She came up and didn’t let the pressure get to her,” Villarreal said of Shatswell. “That’s huge. You look for those kids; no matter the situation, they rise above it.”

Alyssa Hicken took care of the Spartans’ offense in the seventh, facing the 1-2-3 hitters, including Ashley Hall who had a big game at the plate.

Hall hit a two-run opposite field home run over the leftfield fence in the top of the first inning to give West a 2-0 lead. She added a double in the third and a single in the fifth.

Hall popped out to second, hoping to extend the game and possibly get a triple to complete the cycle.

Hicken retired the final seven batters she faced after scattering five hits in the first 4 2/3 innings pitched.

Hicken got the victory in the circle. She pitched the complete game, allowed two runs on six hits, walked three and struck out eight. At one point, Hicken struck out four straight Spartans batters.

Her counterpart, Brockman, gave West a chance to pull off the upset.

The junior right-hander pitched six innings, allowed three runs on 10 hits, walked two and struck out three.

The 10 hits is a bit misleading as four of them were bloopers just out of the reach of the Spartans defense.

“Brockman pitched a heck of a game,” West coach Dallas Wodsedalek said. “She really did. She made very few mistakes, she hit her spots, she was in complete control.

“I’m proud of her effort.”

Villarreal wasn’t worried to fall behind to West early on. When she began to worry was when her offense wasn’t responding to opportunities. Twice, the Owls left runners at second and third base, including doing so in the fifth with one out.

“I thought we were going to score; there was no doubt in my mind,” Villarreal said.

To end the fifth, West’s Gwen Hovorka ran down a sharply hit ball and made the catch in the gap.

Unfortunately for West, it didn’t respond in the top of the sixth as it went down in order. And in the bottom of the sixth, Slinger took the lead for the first time and held on.

“We missed a couple signs throughout the game and in that inning was one of them,” Villarreal said. “That’s very frustrating. This late in the season, you can’t be missing signs.”

Bill: Allow nonpublic students in public school activities

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: May 27, 2015 (A1)

Bill: Allow nonpublic students in public school activities

Some question why proposal discussed in budget meeting

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

Daily News

Another push is being made by state lawmakers to allow nonpublic school students to participate in extracurricular activities, including sports, at a public school.

This time, it has Gov. Scott Walker’s support.

The Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee passed a motion May 19 for a proposal made by Rep. Bob Kulp, R-Stratford.

“It just makes sense to have equal access for all kids,” Kulp said. “Other states are doing it, but that’s not why we’re doing it. It simply makes sense to do it here.”

The bill isn’t official. It is subject to approval in both chambers of the Legislature before it goes in front of Walker.

“I was contacted by many parents around the state who were really concerned about their kids and they can’t play sports,” he said.

While Kulp said the legislation is aimed at creating fairness, Tomi Fay Forbes, Wisconsin Parents Association representative for Washington, Dodge and Ozaukee counties said the bill does the opposite.

“One of the problems is the WIAA has academic regulations that they want, which is entirely appropriate,” Forbes said. “Homeschoolers don’t tend to use the same type of academic criteria, which is one of the benefits of homeschooling.”

Discussion on the proposal will likely take place in June when the state budget is discussed.

Forbes said she thought that was a sneaky tactic, wondering why a sports item is going to be discussed in a budget meeting.

“We don’t trust legislation,” she added. “It’s been in place for 30 years. We want it left alone. We’re not asking for anything.”

This is the third time since 1999 this idea has been discussed as possible legislation, including most recently in 2013.

Rep. Jeremy Thiesfeldt, R-Fond du Lac, drafted legislation in 2013 with the same goal in mind: allow all students in a district an opportunity to participate in extracurricular activities even if a student isn’t a student at the school.

The key stipulation is a sport can’t be available at the nonpublic school setting the student is at, but is available at a public school in the district he or she resides.

For example, if a girl lives in Slinger and attends Kettle Moraine Lutheran High School, but wants to play tennis, she can participate on Slinger’s girls tennis team and still be a student at KML.

KML doesn’t offer girls tennis.

Kulp acknowledged the WPA doesn’t support the legislation. Larry Kaseman, the executive director for the WPA, wrote a letter on the organization’s website saying, “The vast majority of homeschoolers are clear that they do not want to trade their homeschooling freedoms for the possibility of a very few homeschoolers participating in public school sports.”

Kaseman couldn’t be reached for comment.

“They don’t represent all homeschool parents,” Kulp said.

Kulp also said in conversations he’s had with Walker, the governor is in support of the idea.

“He understands that it’s a need,” Kulp said.

If it passes, the hope is to have the law go into effect in time for next school year.

“If homeschoolers start doing public school sports, the schools will have the right to say show me your academic records,” Forbes said, adding that is the last thing supporters of homeschooling want.

The law would also require school districts to not be associated with organizations that forbid nonpublic school students from participating in public school activities.

That would mean one of two things would have to happen. The WIAA would have to change its bylaws and/or the school district can’t be a part of the WIAA, which oversees all state sports tournaments, thus eliminating the opportunity for schools to participate in the state tournament.

“I’m all about giving opportunities to kids,” said Daren Sievers, Slinger’s superintendent. “We want to give kids the opportunity to participate, but we have an activity code at Slinger in order to be a part of the teams and hold (the students) to that standard.”

A message left for the WIAA was not returned.

“It’s bad press for us in a lot of ways,” Forbes said. “The schools have a system that they stay in. I don’t want to see public school kids sitting on the bench because a homeschool kid comes in and takes their place.”

Slinger grad, national champion now coaching throwers at West

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: May 26, 2015

Throwing knowledge

Slinger grad, national champion now coaching throwers at West

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

Daily News

Working with a national champion is awesome. It’s also hard work.

But it’s not without some fun in the process.

All that is providing a unique experience for the girl throwers at West Bend West.

This year is the first season for Breanna Strupp as the girls throws coach for the Spartans’ girls track and field team.

“I absolutely love it,” said Strupp, a 2009 graduate of Slinger High School.

Her throwers love having Strupp around.

They love her personality.

“She’s so humble,” West’s Nikki Heimark said.

Once they learned her background, a wow factor overtook them.

“We’re so lucky to have her as our coach,” West’s Anna Duening said.

Strupp won three national championships at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. She won the outdoor discus title as a sophomore, outdoor shot put as a junior and indoor shot put as a senior.

At Slinger, she qualified for state in her junior and senior years. As a junior, Strupp was 11th in discus at state. As a senior, she was third in discus and 11th in shot put at state.

And Strupp may not have been the best thrower on the team. She would admit as much. In 2009, Sam Steinbring finished second in discus at state.

But somehow, to maybe even her amazement, Strupp became a national champion.

“A lot of work — just a lot of dedication and time and the drive to want to be successful,” she said when asked how she did it. “You can put in the work and everything, but if you just go through the motions, you’re not really going to get anything out of it.”

When Strupp graduated from Slinger, she aspired to be an All-American.

“I never really had my eye set on being a national champ,” she said.

“I was happy with my one place at state,” Strupp added. “I ended up becoming a national champion. It was fun, coming from a small town where not many people expected me to do anything in college.”

Strupp might have swept the shot put national titles as a senior, but an injury sidelined her from accomplishing that feat. It was one reason why she decided she had enough of competition. Other reasons were she was tired and, more importantly to her, she believed she had accomplished more than she dreamed of, which was good enough for her to keep her head up.

Just being an All-American — without or without a national championship — was satisfactory to her.

“Being an All-American would’ve told me that all my hard work paid off and that I would have something to show for it,” Strupp said.

She accomplished her goal of being an All-American — four times.

“I definitely exceeded my expectations,” Strupp said. It’s because of that Strupp believed she had something to give back to track and field. After all, it did some good things for her and that’s why she got into coaching.

However, the ambition to become a coach didn’t happen until toward the end of her collegiate career at Oshkosh.

She always knew she wanted to be a teacher. But as she worked with some summer camps with the program, she developed an itch to be a teacher next to the discus and shot put circles. She was moved by the feeling she’d get to see someone make progress, no matter how small or big.

“When I would help with camps and things like that, it was nice to see that passion in the younger kids,” Strupp said. “I knew I wanted to be a part of that.”

Strupp is ready to move on and the Spartans couldn’t be happier to have her.

“I will always be an athlete,” she said. “But I’m ready to pass on my knowledge, what I know and share it with kids.”

Knowing her background, whatever Strupp tells the near 20 girls that make up the throws group for the West track and field team, they soak it up like sponges.

“She’s very motivational,” West’s Lauren Klemstein said. “When I found out that she was a national champion, I was super hyped to be working with her.”

Strupp is a special education teacher at Kewaskum Elementary School. She was hired as a long-term substitute after her graduation in December. Recently, she was hired to become a full-time teacher starting in the fall.

When she stands next to the circles at practice, Strupp can’t help but think of the good and difficult times she spent in those circles.

Seeing a girl improve on something, whether it is better technique or farther distance than the throw before it, is almost as good as winning a national championship.

To accomplish these feats, Strupp keeps things simple, which was a big help for Duening. To help with that situation, Strupp simplified everything; focus on one element at a time.

Strupp also tinkered with Duening’s technique. Before, Duening did one technique for shot put and another for discus. This year, it’s the same for both, more spinning in the shot put. It’s help with consistency and power.

In the shot put, Duening reached her goal distance for the season in only her second meet of the season.

“I over-analyze everything, so I always have so much going on in my head,” Duening said. “She said to focus on one thing you want to change.”

The other point of emphasis by Strupp, maybe the most key, often at practice is this: keep it fun.

“Once it stops becoming fun, there’s no point in doing it,” Strupp said, adding having fun also builds confidence.

With confidence, comes a greater ambition to come to practice and work hard. When that happens, the results start to show.

The West girls appear to be having fun and are making strides that leave them in awe.

In Heimark’s case, her personal best in discus was 93 feet going into the season. At the halfway point of this season, she soared right past it and is in triple figures in the event and doing so more consistently.

And one more key piece of advice Strupp has passed down which has helped ease tension: “It’s OK to fail,” Klemstein said.

And don’t forget this: “She’s a hoot to work with,” Klemstein said.

Chasing a dream

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: May 23, 2015

Chasing a dream

Area players to join teams in top-tier Northwoods League

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

Daily News

Nate Krause, a graduate of Kettle Moraine Lutheran High School, can see how close he is to possibly fulfilling his lifelong dream.

Last season, Krause played two weeks with the Duluth Huskies of the Northwoods League. His teammate and fellow catcher was Mac James, who had just finished his junior season at the University of Oklahoma.

Last summer, James was drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays in the sixth round of the MLB First-Year Player Draft (No. 187 overall).

“It feels cool to have been on the same team with him, knowing I’m that close (to the major leagues),” Krause said.

Krause and Germantown graduate Brian Keller will play in the Northwoods League this summer, hoping to take another step toward their dreams of being professional baseball players.

'Hopefully I’ll get a chance,' Keller said.

Krause, a sophomore catcher at Winona State University in Minnesota, is committed to play one month with the Eau Claire Express, maybe more.

“It was the best baseball I’d ever played in my life,” Krause said. “The competition level was something I never experienced before.”

The Express’ first game is Tuesday at the Thunder Bay Border Cats in Canada.

Last season with Duluth, Krause hit .125 in eight games with four RBIs.

Keller, a junior right-handed pitcher at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, will play with the Lakeshore Chinooks in Mequon.

“That’ll be really fun,” he said.

Lakeshore will host Eau Claire on July 19 at Kapco Park in Mequon.

The Chinooks’ first game is Tuesday at the Battle Creek Bombers in Michigan.

Keller may or may not play the whole season. It’ll depend on how his arm feels.

The Northwoods League is considered one of the top amateur summer baseball leagues in the nation, alongside the Cape Cod League on the East Coast.

The league’s mission is to introduce budding talent to life as a professional baseball player.

That life includes playing baseball every day against some of the top talent in the country, traveling on buses and essentially living on their own. Each player has a host family he stays with.

Last season, Keller played one month with the La Crosse Loggers.

“I had a blast doing it and I’m excited to do it again,” Keller said.

With the Loggers, Keller pitched five games — all starts — and went 2-0 with a 2.35 ERA in 34 1/3 innings pitched.

“I learned that professional baseball is extremely long and playing everyday is a huge commitment, but a lot of fun,” he said.

The Northwoods League started in 1994 and has served as a training ground for prospective professional baseball players since. Some of the notable alumni include Andre Ethier, Curtis Granderson, Chris Sale, Max Scherzer and Wisconsin native-Jordan Zimmermann.

It’s an unique opportunity for Keller for two reasons.

The first is that the Chinooks are close to his hometown.

“It’ll be a lot of fun,” he said. “My family will be able to come and watch more often.”

The second is that the Chinooks are the defending league champion.

Going into the Horizon League tournament, which started Wednesday, Keller is 3-6 with a 3.44 ERA for the Panthers. He has 60 strikeouts to 18 walks in 86 1/3 innings and has allowed 92 hits. This season in 13 outings, he’s averaged 6 2/3 innings pitched.

On Thursday, Keller pitched in the Panthers’ elimination game of the Horizon League Tournament in Whiting, Indiana.

He pitched seven innings, allowed two hits, two runs, walked two and struck out three. He got the victory against Valparaiso.

On March 4, Keller was the starting pitcher for UWM in an exhibition game against the Milwaukee Brewers. He pitched one scoreless inning and got Carlos Gomez to ground into a double play.

After that game, Keller said his goal this season was to improve his slider as an out-pitch on two-strike counts.

Keller threw the slider that got Gomez to ground into the double play.

He’s been happy with the progress and it gave him confidence with four pitches: slider, fastball, curveball and changeup.

“It really tightened up,” Keller said of the slider. “You could see it midway through the season. I’m trying to continue that.”

“It gives me more options,” he added about his confidence on the mound to have a go-to pitch. “I can attack the zone with different pitches.”

Krause was the Warriors’ everyday catcher as a freshman. However, his offensive numbers weren’t good. He batted .215 with 16 RBIs and no home runs.

This season, Krause has made progress, but nowhere near his liking.

He batted .260 with 17 RBIs and hit three home runs.

“I need to prove I can hit top-notch pitching,” Krause said. “I’ve struggled hitting in Winona the last two years.”

To help with that, Krause shortened his base in the batters box.

Krause and Keller will look to enter next summer’s MLB draft.

“It’s very reachable, but I still have work to do to get there,” Krause said.