MILWAUKEE — The St. Thomas More Cavaliers are heading into the state playoffs with momentum, a No. 2 seed, and a first-round bye — and they believe they have what it takes to make a serious state title run, even if they may be overlooked in their division.
Watch: The St. Thomas More baseball team is eyeing a state title run after earning the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in the postseason.
Head coach Tim Schultz has led the program for six years and says this team is built for playoff baseball.
"We pride ourselves on defense, we are pretty all around the diamond, and this year we really taken the next step, hitting-wise, offensively. We don't have any holes. You know once you get down to that 7-8-9, we seem to turn the lineup back over," Schultz said.
The Cavaliers finished their regular season with a 20-6 record and earned a share of the Metro Classic Conference title, securing the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye heading into the postseason.
Outfielder Luke Mrazek said the team is focused on staying sharp heading into regional play.
"We're trying to keep our skills as high as they can to make sure that we're ready for next week. Because we don't know who we're playing yet, but we want to treat it as like the toughest game of the season, no matter who we're playing," Mrazek said.
The Cavaliers also bring strong pitching into the postseason, led by ace Ethan Rudolph, who enters the playoffs undefeated at 7-0.
"When I'm in his zone, I feel like I can't throw balls like where I want the ball to go. It just goes there, and then the movement alone just allows it to be unhittable, I feel like that's how I thrive," Rudolph said.
St. Thomas More reached the Division 2 state championship game in 2023, only to fall to Denmark in an 11-inning heartbreaker. Senior shortstop Brayden Alivo was on that team as a freshman and said the loss still drives him.
"I've been in the playoffs. I went to the state championship my freshman year. We lost in 11 innings to Denmark. It felt like we let people down. But this year we've got a new opportunity with new kids, and we're gonna get the job done hopefully," Alivo said.
Schultz said that 2023 loss has fueled the entire program.
"Anybody that saw that game. We lost a 3 to 2 heartbreaker in 11 innings to Denmark. Boy, everybody was chomping at the bit to get back there, especially Brayden, who was actually on the team as a freshman. It would be so much just to get back to Appleton and see what we can do," Schultz said.
The Cavaliers open regional play on June 3.
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