For this post, a brief introduction is warranted.
My 2026 posts thus far have covered amateur baseball in southcentral and southeastern Wisconsin. That includes the Rock River League (RRL), Land O’ Lakes (LOL), and Home Talent League (HTL).
I think most people have some familiarity with the Northwoods League. It is a summer collegiate league with nine Wisconsin teams that span from Kenosha to Eau Claire.
But, there is another lesser known summer collegiate league called the Dairyland Collegiate League (DCL). The DCL is comprised of eight teams that play at ballparks in the Janesville-Madison-Waukesha triangle. I don’t think I am mistaken by saying all games are free of charge.
Throughout this season I hope to introduce you to other teams through my photography. Visit the DCL website to see where teams may be playing in your area. For now, I’ll offer a quick look at the newly formed Madison Hoots, who hosted the Waukesha Foxes at Waterloo’s Fireman’s park. Tuesday, June 2nd was the league’s opening night.
In the end, the Hoots fended off a ninth inning comeback attempt and won the game 8-7.
Pitching was pretty evenly matched. Both pitching staffs gave up six singles and a pair of extra base hits. The Foxes had a double (Brock Goral) and homer run (Darian Pretorius) while the Hoots had a pair of doubles (Maxwell Haddad, Seth Myers). Walk and strikeout totals were roughly on par with one another. The Waukesha club had a little more trouble in the field. They coughed up 5 errors while the Hoots had just two.
The Foxes got things started quickly in the top of the first when their second batter, Pretorius hit a homer to left. THe Foxes added another run in the 5th through a pair of singles and a couple miscues (error and HBP).
The Hoots countered with three runs in the bottom of the fifth. Through efficiency, they plated three runs on a single – walk – error, and another single. The sixth was a similar story for Madison. They got three more runs on a walk, HBP, walk, and a single. Walks will haunt a club.
After 6, the Hoots led the Foxes 6-2. Things got a little more interesting when Waukesha scored a pair in the top of the 7th, but the Hoots regained their score differential by scoring 2 runs in the bottom of the 8th and seemingly guaranteeing a victory. Waukesha made things interesting as they scored three runs before Seth Myers ended the threat with a strikeout.
Be sure to take a look at the aerial and field photo I provided. It shows unique features surrounding the ballfield that date back before the 1950s. I certainly wouldn’t want to chase down a deep flyball down the rightfield line.
- If your photo(s) appears on this page and you want it removed, ask me.
- Be sure to look at my “Terms and Conditions”. I strive to promote baseball across the state and offer liberal use of my photos for personal use and non-profit situations.
- To allow for faster page loading, the photos are not high resolution.
- If you are interested in a high resolution photo, ask me.
- I probably have many more photos from the game. If you are looking for photos of a particular player, ask me.
- I attend games per my schedule. Upon request, I can make myself available to shoot specific ballgames for a reasonable fee.
- I am always interested in adding to my Wisconsin baseball memorabilia collection – especially schedules, programs, photos, RPPC (real-photo) postcards, etc. Other unique items are of interest too, especially pre-1970.
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