A whole new world has opened up for the Kenosha Kingfish and the Kenosha baseball community. Last week's first annual Kenosha-Racine All-Star exhibition was the start of a change to the local baseball landscape, thanks to mostly to the investment of more than $2 million into Simmons Field, including a brand new turf field and state-of-the-art scoreboard. The all-stars were selected from all eight Kenosha County and nine Racine County high schools, and several weren't able to play due to other summer commitments.
But those who did play saw Racine come away with a 5-0 victory. Though the bats weren't clicking for the Kenosha County stars, several things stood out about the exhibition: The scoreboard wasn't kind and the Racine kids shut down the Kenosha bats, but none of that bothered Westosha Central's Bryce Backus, who just finished his senior season and career for the Falcons, who advanced to the WIAA State Baseball tournament earlier this month and won a quarterfinal game before falling in the semifinals to eventual Division 1 state champion De Pere. There were Most Valuable Players (MVP) for both squads, and Backus earned that prestigious award as the best of the best in the area.
Backus struck out five on the mound, went 1-for-2 at the plate and stole two bases. He's already grinding to prepare for this senior season, and this summer will involve a lot of disc golfing. The Falcons had their best record in school history this season thanks in part to the team chemistry.
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