Uncertainty is on deck for Bluejays

The Three Lakes-Phelps varsity baseball team began practice for the 2026 spring season last week. And while the coaching staff and players have the usual springtime high filled with enthusiasm and confidence, predicting how the team will perform this season is a difficult challenge. It will largely depend on how a group of younger, inexperienced players can fill the shoes of six starting players lost to graduation in 2025.

One reason for optimism is that head coach Brad Bisnette will be back for his 10th season. His long history of winning, even with revolving rosters, is well documented as the Bluejays have finished at the top of the Northern Lakes Conference in seven of the past eight years. During this time, the Bluejays also captured two regional championships, including the latest title in 2024.

The overall team record during this period is also impressive, as the Jays had a 75-12 conference record and an overall 103-39 record. They have reached a regional championship game in six seasons and have had many all-conference players along the way. Topping that list is current Bluejays pitcher and shortstop, Cruz Melton, a senior who has made the all-conference first team three consecutive years.

Melton had a great season last year, batting .521 with 29 runs, 25 hits, 24 runs batted in, and 15 stolen bases in his 48 times at the plate. On the mound, he was just as effective, throwing fireballs to opposing batters with 68 strikeouts on his way to a 4-1 starting record and an excellent 1.84 earned run average. Not only did Melton earn first-team all-conference honors, but he was also a unanimous selection by coaches in the Northern Lakes conference during the past two years.

Joining Melton as a team leader is Sawyer Szews, also a senior who had a nice season of his own last year with a batting average of .273 with 20 runs batted in, 10 runs scored and five stolen bases. Szews has a strong arm, and coach Bisnette says that he will likely be in the pitching rotation, filling some of the gap for Carter Flannery, a graduate who was a workhorse for the Bluejays last season.

Sam Koshuta is expected to work behind the plate again this year. He was the only starting freshman in 2025 and will have to use his experience to help the new group of at least four freshmen perform at the varsity level. Last season, he batted .204 with nine runs scored and five runs batted in. Koshuta is also likely to pitch, and preseason indications are that he has a strong arm.

The final player returning from last season is C.J. Forss, who batted .185 with two doubles and six runs scored in limited action last year. He came into the preseason looking for his chance at a full-time playing opportunity and will now be asked to join Melton, Szews and Koshuta in helping guide the new players on the roster.

Bisnette says that developing pitchers this year will be an important element in finding success.

“We would like to get four to five guys in the rotation,” he said. “It will just take some time to get them comfortable on the mound, but we have a couple of good prospects.”

Bisnette also says what matters most is how well the team is playing at the end of the season.

“If we can play well near the end, take care of our grades, and stay healthy, anything can happen in our ever-changing conference.”

New to the team this year will be Phelps High School sophomore Isaiah Perlewitz, along with Phelps freshmen Ryker Hafer and Charlie Duquaine. Three Lakes newcomers include freshman Wyatt Gentile-Donner and senior David Littleton. All of these players participated on a Bluejays sports team in the past, but will look to Bisnette, his assistant coach Brandon Sharpe and returning players to contribute in a meaningful way.

The first game of the year that was scheduled for this Thursday at Crivitz was cancelled. The next game on the schedule will take place next Friday, April 10, at Marion High School.