Summer baseball is officially discontinued by WIAA after the 2018 season

High school summer baseball in Wisconsin is officially dead.

The sport, which had been on the wane, was unanimously discontinued after the 2018 season by the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association in its board of control meeting. The circuit had been whittled down to fewer than 40 teams after a number of Milwaukee-area squads had pledged a switch to spring ball by 2019.

Wisconsin had been the only state to offer both a spring and summer season in baseball for varsity play. Iowa is the only state to play exclusively in the summer.

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Summer baseball staples such as Oak Creek, Brookfield Central, Homestead, Marquette, Menomonee Falls and Franklin were among those to announce a switch over the past six months. Others included Muskego, Greendale, West Allis Central, West Allis Hale, Brookfield East, Mukwonago and Kettle Moraine.

"The vote is not a surprise to me," said Scott Holler, the Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association vice president and head baseball coach at Oak Creek. In August, the Knights program became the first of many to commit to spring ball for 2019.

"There were still some schools out there that didn’t want the change, and that’s understandable. Change isn’t always easy, and there will be additional work and challenges involved for all of us. But it’s the right move, and our program is excited about it and I know many other programs are, as well."

Issues such as umpire and field availability have held some programs back from making the jump.

The slow trickle of teams began four years ago when Arrowhead, Catholic Memorial and Slinger announced they would move to spring ball. The eight-team summer tournament in Stevens Point was relocated to Kapco Park in Mequon as a four-team showcase beginning in 2012.