Prep Baseball Report

Preseason Power 25 Countdown: No. 21 Pewaukee


By Isaiah Glidden
PBR Wisconsin Staff

The Wisconsin high school baseball season kicks off on March 28, opening day for regular season action under WIAA regulations. Over the next week, leading up to opening day, we’ll be publishing our team previews ahead of the 2023 spring season, touching on programs spanning all state classifications, counting down through the official PBR Wisconsin Preseason Power 25 Rankings.


Perennially, we’ve submitted a Preseason Questionnaire to high school head coaches across the entire state. Their responses have been flooding in and we’re using the detailed insight they’ve provided in our team-by-team preseason analysis. We also utilized some of the information published inside the Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association's 2023 Yearbook, which is
available for purchase here.

Our 2023 preseason coverage continues today.

Team: Pewaukee
Preseason Rank: No. 21
2022 Record: 2
Conference: Woodland West
WIAA Division: 2
Head Coach: Adam Dobberstein & Marc Dobberstein

ROSTER PREVIEW

NAME POS. SCHOOL CLASS COMMITMENT
Logan Schill OF Pewaukee 2023 -
Josh Bunyer INF/OF Pewaukee 2023 -
Carson Dobberstein LHP Pewaukee 2023 Evangel University
Blake Hutter UTIL Pewaukee 2023 -
Ryan Sopha RHP/1B Pewaukee 2024 -
Tyler Wallace OF Pewaukee 2024 -
Karl Eidem INF Pewaukee 2024 -
Brooks Bigler RHP Pewaukee 2024 -
Greyson Zach RHP/SS Pewaukee 2025 -
Drew Dobberstein UTIL Pewaukee 2025 -
Owen Dobberstein RHP/1B Pewaukee 2025 -
Jackson Servais C Pewaukee 2025 -


KEY PLAYERS LOST

+ RHP/1B Logan Dobberstein (2022; Kansas State)
+ OF Carson Hansen (2022; Wisconsin-Milwaukee)
+ LHP/OF Nick Doubek (2022; Wisconsin-Oshkosh)
+ RHP/3B Luke Sopha (2022)
+ C/RHP Jack Sandvik (2022; Wisconsin-Eau Claire)

X-FACTOR

+ RHP/SS Greyson Zach (2025): With names like the aforementioned Dobberstein, Hansen, and Doubek now off at college, Zach will be counted on to step into a much larger role for the Pirates during his sophomore year. Last year, as just a freshman Zach earned some important experience on both sides of the ball for the Pirates. On the mound, he logged a 2-1 record throughout the season and offensively, he recorded a .381 batting average, too. This winter, Zach came out to the West Milwaukee Preseason ID, where he put together one of the top two-way performances of the entire event and he looks primed to be main contributor, on both sides of the ball for Pewaukee. While in Waukesha Zach showed off some massive jumps he has made on the mound as he ran his fastball up to 90 mph, with feel for both a curveball and changeup. Offensively, he took a loud round of BP, averaging a max EV of 91.8 mph and his highest coming off at 95.7 mph. Despite this being just his second year of varsity baseball, the No. 2 player in the state certainly has the talent to be one of the top performers not only in his area, but the entire state and has the chance to lead this team to its third consecutive state appearance. 

UNDERCLASSMEN TO WATCH

+ The aforementioned Zach is just one of the many sophomores expected to be staples throughout this Pirate lineup and pitching staff. With that being said, it is tough to pick just one ‘Underclassmen to Watch’ for Pewaukee as they will all need to fill some big shoes from last year's talented seniors, but they certainly have the chance to do so. RHP/OF Drew Dobberstein (2025) is one of them, and he is an athletic two-way prospect who has continuously performed well in front of our staff. Most recently at the West Milwaukee Preseason ID where he took and on-the-barrel round of BP and he is coming off of a freshman season in which he tallied a .295 batting average, too. We have also seen Dobberstein impress on the mound and he is expected to be a key piece of this Pirate rotation. RHP/3B Owen Dobberstein (2025) is another sophomore that will have a two-way role for Pewaukee and he too was at the West Milwaukee Preseason ID. There he put together a solid overall ‘pen and he is looking to build off of a freshman season in which he recorded a 3-0 record and he too is expected to be in the everyday lineup as well. Rounding out this talented sophomore class is C Jackson Servais (2025) who batted to an average of .259 as just a freshman last year. 

OUTLOOK

In 2022, Pewaukee’s senior class carried them all the way to a state tournament appearance for the second year in a row and now with them gone, this roster is looking quite different than in recent years. 

OF Josh Bunyer (2023), who earned second team all conference honors last year, and OF/2B Logan Schill (2023) will be two of the senior leaders on this squad. They will be looked to all season long to both contribute offensively, and they certainly have the talent to do so. Both Schill and Bunyer were key pieces for the Pirate lineup en route to their deep playoff run. Bunyer returns a .414 batting average from last year and as for Schill he logged a .371 batting average last season, and they both bring some major experience going into the 2023 season.

Besides the aforementioned sophomore class, there are a handful of juniors that will take over some big roles in this Pirate offense, OF Tyler Wallace (2024) and 2B Karl Eidem (2024) being two of them. Also, RHP/3B Ryan Sopha (2024) is another name who will step into a larger role, especially on the mound. Sopha is one of the few arms that does have varsity experience in this Pirate rotation as he logged a 4-2 record last year but his usage is set to rise considerably this season. Our staff saw Sopha most recently at the Madison Preseason ID and there he ran his fastball up to 85 mph, while also showing feel for both a slider and changeup.

Ryan Sopha (7/12/22)

Another arm that Pewaukee will rely on, whether it is out of the ‘pen or in a starting role is LHP Carson Dobberstein (2023; Evangel University commit) who will offer a left-handed role that is scarce throughout this pitching staff. 

BOTTOM LINE

The Pirates were carried by a 2022 class that led them two back-to-back state appearances and now with them gone, a number of unproven names will need to take on some large roles if they want to make yet another deep run in the playoffs. With a talented sophomore class and many other names scattered throughout other classes, the Pirates certainly have the talent to be a dominant team in the Woodland West, yet again. As the season progresses and as these new, young names gain more varsity experience, we could see them play even better than expected.

Make sure to follow @PBRWisconsin on Twitter for the most up-to-date coverage throughout the 2023 season.

Find more information on the 2023 Pirates below: 

+ Team Website
+ Team Schedule
+ Team Twitter

PRESEASON POWER 25 COUNTDOWN