Slinger: 1977

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: March 19, 2015

Slinger: 1977

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

Daily News

When the final buzzer sounded in Slinger’s victory over East Troy in a WIAA sectional final in 1977, it was a moment of celebration for the Owls’ boys basketball team and the community that supported it.

The Owls were off to the state tournament for the first time in school history.

It was also redemption for two players on the team — Dale and Bobby Scherr.

Eight years earlier, the brothers’ older brother, Rick, was on Slinger’s team in the 1968-69 season. Dale Scherr was 10 years old at the time.

In 1969, Rick Scherr and the Owls lost to Nicolet in the sectional — a team Dale Scherr said was much better than the Owls team of 1976-77.

“It was a pretty remarkable season,” Dale Scherr said.

This team won games in impressive fashion at times. They averaged more than 70 points per game, scoring more than 80 points twice and more than 90 points twice, including winning the sectional final, 92-57. All that offense came in an era that wouldn’t see the 3-point line be introduced for another decade.

There was a reason for that.

“Back then, if you were open, you shot,” Scherr said. “There wasn’t structure. Our press was tough. We got a lot of points off steals; the defense was so aggressive.”

Just about everybody on the team knew how to score.

Greg Jonas (16.6 points per game) and Robb Schulz (12.1) were the leading scorers.

Jeff Wolf and Al Konrath were good long-range shooters and Bobby Scherr led the way as the point guard. Dale Scherr was the first player off the bench.

Dale Scherr went on to score more than 750 points in three years and played in the state’s first All-Star game in 1978. He averaged 22 points per game his senior season.

The 1976-77 team was coached by Doug Potter. The Owls went 21-3, losing 74-72 to Prairie du Chien in the Class B state semifinal.

Slinger looked a lot like the team coached by Bob Knight at Indiana University, running a four-corners offense.

Assistant coach Doug Riesop loved the Owls’ persona.

“It was a bunch of guys who were good athletes, but they had that edge to them where they didn’t back down to anybody,” he said. “If they were challenged, they thrived on that. They backed down to nobody. They did not like to lose.”

Their first test of the postseason was against No. 2-ranked Columbus in the Slinger Sub-Regional. Riesop said to this day, the atmosphere inside the old gym at Slinger is the best he’s ever seen for a Slinger boys basketball game. “It was a heck of a basketball game,” Riesop said. “The gym was packed full early and there was a lot of noise. It’s fun when you have that kind of electricity in the game.”

Having a persona was something the Owls’ boys basketball program had been lacking.

“It gave Slinger an identity, which they may not have had in the past,” Riesop said. “For being the first team to get to state in basketball, it was a nice feather in the cap for the community.

“We were a farm community, playing second fiddle to West Bend and Hartford.”

“It’s good for the community because people still talk about it,” he added. “... It’s something people still connect with.”

Dale Scherr still remembers the atmosphere for the Columbus game, saying the gym was electric.

“We were a pretty close-knit team,” Scherr said. “We played basketball together in the gym. We’d play basketball for hours. We did everything together.”

They had a swagger to them.

“We had enough arrogance and confidence to win games,” Scherr said. “That was key. Coach Potter was pretty intense himself. But he let us play our game.”

Riesop was on the staff as a first-year assistant. He went on to work in the district for more than 30 years, including 15 as the athletic director. He retired in 2008.

“(Potter) was a good guy to take my first job under and I learned a lot from him,” Riesop said.

He remembered when the game was on the line, there’d be arguments in the huddle as to who would take the big shot.

“They were confident and they were very good,” he said.

That attitude continued in the years after the state tournament appearance.

“Bobby and Dale were two kids that when I played softball with and against them, they were kids you hated playing against them, but you also wanted them on your team,” Riesop said.

“When it got down to the end, there was a chance they were going to lose, you knew they were going to do something,” he said about the team’s competitive spirit. “These kids were really competitors. That’s what made them good.”

Hartford Union: 1953

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: March 19, 2015

Hartford Union: 1953

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

Daily News

Bob Talajkowski was a starter on the Hartford Union boys basketball team that reached the WIAA state tournament in 1953. He went to state again, this time as a coach, with the Orioles’ girls basketball team four times in the 1990s and 2000s.

In 40 years, what’s changed with the state tournament?

“It’s always electric; no matter who makes it,” Talajkowski said. “I’ve gone to a lot of state tournaments. The schools really enjoy it. It’s a great time. Everybody’s rooting for their team. It’s a great community builder.”

Talajkowski was a junior at Hartford in the 1952-53 season. He was in his third year as a starter. Also in the starting lineup for the 1953 Orioles were Dennis Carroll, Jim Stracka, Bill Chaplin and Jerry Schwartz. The reserves were Don Hagen, Howard Hagen, William Dierterich, Chester Bliss and Wayne Fischer.

The coach was Hal Beatty.

“We always played together through our whole high school careers,” Talajkowski said. “We were good friends. ... We grew up together.”

Talajkowski, who is 79, made the varsity team as a freshman for the 1950-51 season.

The Orioles teams at that time were some of the best in southeastern Wisconsin. They won three straight Wisconsin Little Ten Conference championships from 1950-53. They won 27 straight conference games.

At that time, there were no schemes. Teams mostly just played. But because this team did so much together, they were a well-oiled machine.

“We shot the ball well,” Talajkowski said.

Going into the 1952-53 season, the Orioles had their postseason runs cut short, including in the sectional final to Baraboo in 1951.

“We were close,” Talajkowski said.

When the Orioles finally broke through with the sectional championship in 1953, it was a dream come true.

“It was a highlight of my athletic career, being at the state tournament,” Talajkowski said.

According to the WIAA Yearbook after the 1952-53 school year, the Orioles were the darkhorse of the tournament.

It was easy to give them that label.

“It was one division and only eight schools made it and we were one of the smallest schools that got through the sectionals,” Talajkowski said. At the time, Hartford had a population of 2,549 people and about 400-500 attended the high school. Today, there are more than 14,000 people in the city of Hartford and the enrollment for the high school is more than 1,400.

“It was a big deal,” Talajkowski said of the Orioles and the city of Hartford to make the state tournament. “The other teams were from big towns.”

Also in the state field in 1953 were Menasha, Beloit, Eau Claire, Superior East, Birnamwood, Sheboygan Central and Tomah.

“We were close twice before this and we finally made it,” Talajkowski said. “It wasn’t unexpected.”

Carroll and Stracka were considered two of the tournament’s premier players, according to the WIAA Yearbook.

Carroll was the sharpshooter from just about anywhere on the court, while Stracka was the man in the middle, anchoring the center of the Orioles’ offense and defense.

In the state quarterfinal, Hartford beat Eau Claire, 58-51, after building a sizable lead in the first half.

In the state semifinal, Hartford led Menasha late in the fourth quarter. However, Menasha won, 62-51.

Menasha then defeated Sheboygan Central, 61-57, in the championship game.

“We were young when we first lost (to Baraboo),” Talajkowski said about the team’s development. “We had freshmen and sophomores on the team. We got more physical and stronger and we got better, played better.”

Today, there are five divisions in the state tournament and 20 teams make it to state.

“It was a life-changing event because it didn’t happen to many teams,” Talajkowski said. “Now there’s five divisions. At that time there was one, you had to beat a lot of teams in a lot of areas. We had to go to Madison to play in the sectional final.”

One of the biggest differences between the tournament in the 1950s to when Talajkowski returned to state as a coach 40 years later was how the community responded.

“The whole town was excited about it,” he said of the community’s support in 1953. “It was a lot of fun.”

“When I played everybody knew everybody; there were no strangers,” Talajkowski said, adding reaching state brings communities together.

“It’s a great community builder,” he said.

Talajkowski was apart of four state tournament appearances by Hartford’s girls program from the early 1990s into the 2000s.

“It created great memories for us,” Talajkowski said.

Memories that are still hanging around 62 years later.

A1: $500K donated to YMCA upgrade

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: March 17, 2015

$500K donated to YMCA upgrade

Locker rooms to get facelift

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

Daily News

A $500,000 donation to the Kettle Moraine YMCA in West Bend will give the facility a facelift to its adult locker rooms. Construction is expected to last five months, starting April 1.

The donor was not disclosed.

That donation, plus the donations of nine other parties, will fund the projected estimated cost of close to $900,000, YMCA Executive Director Rob Johnson said. No tax dollars or outside funds will be used for the project.

None of the donors’ names were disclosed, but they’ll be recognized once the project is completed, which is slated for Sept. 1.

“It’s unbelievable,” Johnson said. “The Kettle Moraine YMCA has a long tradition in the community.”

CG Schmidt Construction, Milwaukee, and Zimmerman Architecture, Milwaukee, will handle project construction and design.

Discussions for improving the adult locker room began about a year ago. The YMCA had in-house surveys for its members and had feedback sessions where members and nonmembers could introduce areas of concern.

The No. 1 concern from the surveys and the community feedback sessions was the condition of the adult locker rooms.

“We’re just thrilled to make an improvement that’s going to benefit all of our adult members,” Johnson said.

The YMCA was founded in West Bend in 1969 and the current building, which is located 111 W. Washington St., was built in 1973. Five years later, adult locker rooms were built in addition to the set of locker rooms located on the upper floor next to the swimming pool.

Not much has been done to either locker room since, outside of cosmetic work, such as new flooring in the adult locker rooms about five years ago.

“It really solidified the importance,” Johnson said of what he learned of the members’ desires after the feedback sessions.

“We really take it to heart, their comments,” he added. “While we can’t meet all the needs, we try to address as many as we can.”

The last major project at the YMCA was the family adventure pool, which cost $4 million and opened in June 2011. Johnson said that project was an easier sell to the community because everybody can see and/or use it.

The locker rooms, however, are only for members.

“It’s a tough project to showcase and see the benefit unless you’re one of the people utilizing the space,” Johnson said.

So if donors hadn’t stepped up the project “wouldn’t have happened without a doubt.”

During the remodel, the men’s and women’s adult locker rooms will be closed. The River Shores Branch is available for members 18 years old and older. The Feith Family Ozaukee YMCA in Port Washington is also available.

Johnson added the YMCA recently reached a five-year contract extension with the River Shores facility, which goes through 2020.

The Kettle Moraine YMCA has 12,663 members, which is close to its all-time high of 12,686 in June.

HUHS grad to be honored by Reading Phillies this spring

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: March 12, 2015

HALL OF FAME BOUND

HUHS grad to be honored by Reading Phillies this spring

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN

Daily News

Dan Held grew up in a house where baseball had a history. Baseball wasn’t for him, though.

“I loved basketball; I was all about it,” said Held, who grew up in Neosho and graduated from Hartford Union in 1988. “I was a gigantic Milwaukee Bucks fan and went to the games. I tried to emulate all those guys.”

More than 20 years after graduating from Hartford, Held will be inducted into a baseball Hall of Fame. In May, Held will be one of two inductees into the Reading Phillies Hall of Fame in Reading, Pennsylvania.

Joining him will be former teammate and close friend, Scott Rolen.

“It meant a lot,” Held said when he learned of the honor. “The community really embraced me.”

The ceremony will take place May 2. It will also honor the team’s 20th anniversary of the Eastern League championship, which Held and Rolen were members of.

“It was a fun experience,” Held said. “I had a lot of success and I played with Scott, which was fun, and I still keep in contact with a lot people to this today.”

Held is ecstatic to be inducted with his friend and teammate.

“It’s almost fitting,” Held said.

“To have two guys that shared career milestones made perfect since to put those two guys in to the Hall of Fame together,” said Eric Scarcella, director of public and media relations for the Phillies.

“It’s cool they’re able to share this together.”

Held played nine seasons of professional baseball in the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets organizations, while Rolen went on to star in the major leagues and win the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 1997. Rolen also won a World Series ring with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2006.

Held was the assistant bullpen coach with the 2006 Cardinals.

“I can’t tell you the excitement with everything that goes around and being on a championship team,” Held said. “It’s a tremendous amount of fun.”

Baseball didn’t become Held’s focal point until later in high school.

He loved basketball, dreaming of playing in the NBA someday.

As a freshman at Hartford, he didn’t make the basketball team.

“I was absolutely destroyed,” Held recalled.

“I remember looking on the door expecting to see my name and I wasn’t on it,” he added. “I stared at it and I couldn’t believe it. I was shattered.”

He got into the weight room and worked out with his brother, determined to make next year’s squad, which he did.

In addition to basketball, Held played football and baseball. In 1987, Held was a member of the Orioles’ baseball team, which reached the WIAA spring baseball tournament for the first time in program history.

Held was All-Conference in all three sports.

He was in La Crosse for one year after high school, then dropped out to work at a factory. He did that for two or three years.

It was OK work, and he didn’t mind it.

“There was just something different for me,” Held said.

So Held enrolled at Waukesha County Technical College. He wanted to be a police officer and play baseball on the side.

“I just wanted to play baseball to get my degree,” he said.

As it turned out, he was pretty good in baseball. He was drafted in the 42nd round of the 1993 Major League Baseball June Amateur Draft by the Philadelphia Phillies.

At about the same time, he also got a college scholarship offer from Presbyterian College and coach Tim Corbin, who is now the coach at Vanderbilt. Corbin is 622-388 in his coaching career going into the 2015 season.

“It was good to have two choices,” Held said.

But the choice was easy: professional baseball.

“Where I grew up, it was a no-brainer,” he said.

In 1993, Held played in 45 games with Batavia of the New York-Penn League (Single-A), where he batted .205. In 1994, he played 130 games with Spartanburg (Single-A), where he batted .254, but was the team leader in home runs (18) and was second in RBIs (69). The team leader in RBIs? Rolen with 72.

Held started the 1995 season with Clearwater in Single-A and played 134 games, hitting 21 home runs and 82 RBIs — both team highs.

Held was called up to the Phillies’ Double-A affiliate in Reading toward the end of the 1995 season and helped lead Reading to a league championship.

Held played the 1996 season with Reading. He set a franchise record for career home runs with 52, which stood until 2006, bested by Gary Burnham (54).

“Dan had a great career here,” Scarcella said.

“It was extremely humbling,” Held said of playing professional baseball. “I never took it for granted. I understood what real work was about. I worked as hard as I could. I don’t have any regret. I’d do it all over again.”

❑

Held gets into coaching

Held retired from baseball in 2002 and got into coaching.

After the 2002 season, Rolen was a free agent. In the middle of that season, Rolen was traded from the Philadelphia Phillies to the St. Louis Cardinals.

In seven years with the Phillies, Rolen batted .282 in 844 games with 150 home runs and 559 RBIs. He also won three Gold Glove awards and was an All-Star in 2002.

In 2002, Held was a batting coach for Batavia.

In 2003, he became the bullpen assistant coach for the Cardinals when Rolen re-signed with the team. Rolen urged the Cardinals to hire Held as a coach.

“He’s been a good friend to me,” Held said.

In the minors, Held knew Rolen was a special kind of player.

“You could tell with his size and agility, his arm strength was a little different,” Held recalled. “When I was playing A-ball with him, he threw the ball over to me (from third base) and I went to grab it (at first base) and I missed it.”

“The ball hit me right in the stomach; he smoked me,” he added with a laugh. “I dropped for a while.”

Rolen retired from baseball in 2012. He played in 2,038 games, batted .281, hit 316 home runs and drove in 1,287 runs.

“I was very proud,” Held said of Rolen’s accomplishments. “He’s the kind of guy who deserves it. That’s why I couldn’t be happier for him.”

In 2004, Rolen and Held were on the Cardinals’ roster when they went to the World Series, but lost to the Boston Red Sox, which ended the “Curse of the Bambino.” Held said, while disappointing to lose in the World Series, it was neat to see a historic moment in baseball.

“I was sitting in the bullpen,” Held recalled. “When we were down 3-0, I thought this would be pretty cool to see history. I stuck around to watch their celebration.”

Two years later, he got to celebrate a championship, which was more unbelievable than he ever imagined.

❑

What he’s up to today

After the 2006 season, Held left the Cardinals and took on an opportunity to spend more time with his family.

Today, he is the executive director of a youth baseball program in the Indianapolis area — the Indiana Bulls.

The Bulls is a program of baseball players age 8-18, with 24 teams and 325 kids.

Held is 44, married to Lynn, with an 11-year-old daughter (Téa) and a 7-yearold son (Boston).

“I really enjoy working with the kids,” Held said. “I miss professional baseball, but I enjoy watching the kids develop and get to college.”

But it’s funny how things work out, right?

“I wanted to be an NBA basketball player,” Held said. “I ended up being a professional baseball player.”

COLUMN: Six Rivers making a mess

Daily News (West Bend, Wis.)
Published: March 7, 2015

Six Rivers making a mess

Members of the Six Rivers Conference believe the road to success is too tough. The solution? Cause a ruckus within the membership and threaten disbandment from the WIAA if we don’t get our way.

Kind of sounds like a toddler, doesn’t it?

The idea of larger populations directly correlating to success in athletics is hard to swallow. There have been plenty of programs with less pickings of potential students, but have enjoyed success in athletics.

However, let’s try and take a look at things from the Six Rivers Conference’s perspective.

A story in Friday’s Daily News revealed how the conference believes there is competitive imbalance because a collection of schools don’t believe there is a fair chance of postseason advancement. The conference schools believe this because its population is a disadvantage. That part is true. Southwest Wisconsin is a rural section of the state, comparable to areas north of Wausau, while other parts of the state are far more populous.

Having more students in a region can offer good things, such as competition. However, success doesn’t always come with it.

But speaking of areas north of Wausau, let’s consider South Shore High School in Port Wing — a sixhour drive from West Bend.

The South Shore girls basketball team is one of the premier programs in the state. It has the top-two all-time leading scorers in state history — Jolene Anderson and Megan Gustafson.

In the last five years, South Shore has lost 19 games — only four in the last three seasons — and are consistent contenders to reach state; it has been for more than a decade.

South Shore’s girls team finished the regular season ranked No. 2 in the state’s Associated Press Division 5 poll.

The population of Port Wing, which is along Lake Superior? 164. South Shore’s enrollment? 52.

Look at Randolph’s boys basketball team from 2002-05. The latest enrollment number for Randolph? 176.

Success in small towns and areas is possible.

Being able to have a larger population can help maintain a program. However, the argument that population is a direct factor in success in athletics doesn’t add up.

The Six Rivers Conference wants to level the playing field. If it doesn’t get its way, there is the potential of some schools leaving the WIAA.

So, let’s get this straight: You can’t advance in a postseason tournament because larger populations have it better than you, so the best solution is to leave the organization that sponsors state tournaments, therefore excluding your school from those tournaments.

Is that really what’s best for the kids?

It’s said all the time the experience of high school athletics outweighs the success or lack of success on the playing field or court. That’s not what this behavior is teaching.

If anything, it almost comes off as we don’t believe our kids are good enough to make it to state, so we have to make things easier for them to do so.

If it’s not hard to achieve, then why bother?

Data doesn’t support nonpublic schools having it easier to get to state than public schools.

Co-ops could potentially work in this situation. Try that first before passing a bunch of enrollment multiplier figures that will segregate member schools for no reason at all. Not to mention adopting a bunch of goofy math equations in attempt to get fairness is tedious.

You want fairness? This is not the way to go.