This story is sponsored by Forward Financial Bank
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
A number of former local high school athletes have moved on to the next level and are playing sports collegiately across the country.
Periodically, MarshfieldAreaSports.com will publish a College Sports Roundup updating readers of some of those local athletes’ exploits at the collegiate level.
This is the third of three reports on area high school graduates that either recently finished their winter sport, or are just starting their spring sport in college.
Baierl starts for Francisan women’s basketball
Abby Baierl, a 2016 graduate of Marshfield Columbus Catholic High School, recently completed her freshman season on the Franciscan University women’s basketball team.
Baierl started 22 of 24 games this past season for the Lady Barons, scoring 11.3 points per game. She shot 37.4 percent from 3-point range (45 of 128) and also chipped in 5.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game.
Baierl scored in double figures 13 times, including a season-high 28 in a win at Penn State-Altoona on Feb. 1.
Franciscan, located in Steubenville, Ohio, is an NCAA Division III school. The Lady Barons finished the season 3-21 overall and 3-15 in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference.
Fravert sees increased time at Oshkosh
Adam Fravert, a 2016 Marshfield High School graduate, recently completed his freshman season on the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh men’s basketball team.
The former all-Wisconsin Valley Conference player played in 21 of the Titans’ 28 games this season, all in a reserve role, averaging 10.5 minutes, 2.1 points and 2.2 rebounds per game.
Oshkosh finished the season with a 17-11 record, including a 9-5 mark in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
The Titans lost 60-59 to UW-River Falls in the WIAC Tournament championship game on Feb. 25, and dropped its opener in the NCAA Division III Tournament to Hope College 87-85 on March 3.
Fravert came off the bench and played 16 minutes in the loss to Hope, scoring two points. He also had two rebounds and three assists.
Fravert had a season-high 13 points in a win at UW-Whitewater on Feb. 15, and was a perfect 3-for-3 shooting and scored seven points in the tournament game loss to River Falls.
Hutchison running 200 at Winona
Alexandra Hutchison, a freshman on the Winona State (Minn.) University women’s track and field team, and a 2016 graduate of Marshfield Columbus Catholic High School, has been running in the 200 meters for the Warriors this spring.
Hutchison won the 200 in 25.85 seconds at the Wisconsin Shell Shocker on Feb. 17 in Madison, where Winona State, and NCAA Division II school, defeated numerous Division I programs and finished second overall in the team standings behind just host Wisconsin.
In her most recent event, Hutchison finished 15th in the preliminaries and did not qualify for the 200 finals at the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Indoor Meet at Minnesota State in Mankato on Feb. 25. She ran the event in 25.81 seconds.
Winona State begins its outdoor season Saturday at the Early Birdinal at crosstown Saint Mary’s University in Winona.
Pilz pitching at Stout
Bobby Pilz, a 2016 graduate of Spencer High School, is a freshman on the UW-Stout baseball team.
Pilz has pitched a total of three innings in three games for the Blue Devils (3-10) this season. He has allowed seven runs, five hits and seven walks, striking out one.
Stout plays a nonconference doubleheader at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn., on Thursday and opens its WIAC season with doubleheaders at home against UW-Platteville on April 8-9.