The Watertown High School softball team will face Sun Prairie East on Thursday morning at 10am in a WIAA Division One State Quarterfinal at the Goodman Diamond in Madison.
Watertown, the sixth seed, advances to State for the first time since 2016 and for the 10th time overall. The Goslings’ previous experiences at State have produced four runner-up finishes, one in 1981, another in 1984 and in back-to-back experiences in 2015 and 2016. They finished third in the Large Division of the Badger Conference behind #4 seed Milton and Beaver Dam. The Goslings are the representatives from the Oshkosh North Sectional after defeating Beaver Dam 8-0 in the final.
Sun Prairie East is the #3 seed in the bracket. The Cardinals qualify for the second consecutive season after the school district split into two schools in 2023. Sun Prairie, before it split into two schools, finished runner-up in 2022 and qualified for State five straight times before the split, not including 2020 when the season and tournament was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The former version of the Cardinals made eight appearances overall. The Sun Prairie program also finished runner-up in 2012, 2019 and 2021. They won their lone championship in 2018. This season, Sun Prairie East is the champion in the Big Eight Conference, and they advanced to the State quarterfinals following a 3-2 victory over Middleton in the sectional final played at Middleton.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE IN THE WIAA STATE SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT
Click the link to hear a preview with Watertown Coach Matt Meracle
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