While the groundhog gets a lot of credit for predicting spring, the true harbinger of the spring season is when baseball meets bat. The major league teams are all in spring camps in either the Cactus League or the Grapefruit League with exhibition games now underway. Colleges and universities have, or will soon, get their competitive seasons underway. Menomonie High School graduates Brigs Richartz and Treysen Witt are playing at the college level, with Richartz playing at the University of St. Thomas and Witt staying in Menomonie, pitching for UW-Stout.

Brigs Richartz, a 2021 graduate of Menomonie High School, is a senior outfielder on the University of St. Thomas baseball team, and is coming off a first-team all-Summit League season.

Richartz started for the NCAA Division I Tommies since his freshman year and has now started in all 138 games, predominately in the outfield, since arriving in St. Paul. Richartz earned first team All-Summit League honors last season, a year he led the Tommies with 63 hits and 13 doubles and finished the season with a career-high batting average of .337. Richartz rapped out six home runs, tallied an OPS of .927, drawing 17 walks and 98 total bases.

In addition, Richartz, a business operations and supply chain major, was named to the CSC Academic All-District team as a sophomore and junior.

During his sophomore season, Richartz hit for the cycle – the first time for the Tommies since 1996 – April 7, 2023, at Northern Colorado. Richartz was named a Summit League Peak Performer of the Week for 2023 after a series at New Mexico State University, leading the Tommies hitting .588 with 10 hits, eight RBI, eight runs, four extra-base hits, and three stolen bases. The performer of the week honors were the second for Richartz who first claimed a Summit League player of week during his freshman season. 

While at Menomonie High School, Richartz was a Wisconsin honorable mention all-state selection, the District 1 Player of the Year and the Big Rivers Conference Player of the Year as a senior in 2021. Richartz was selected to play in Wisconsin state high school all-star game in July 2021.

The Tommies got their 2025 season underway by splitting four games at New Mexico State University, Feb. 14-17. The team was scheduled to play at Murray State in Kentucky last weekend, but a snowstorm knocked that series off the schedule. The Tommies are scheduled to head to Texas Feb. 28-March 2 to face host Tarleton State. St. Thomas is scheduled to play the University of Minnesota at US Bank Stadium, Wednesday, March 19. Their home opener is scheduled for March 28-30 when they host Oral Roberts University at Koch Stadium.

Treysen Witt is a sophomore pitcher for the UW-Stout baseball team and is expected to see a good deal of action this season.

Witt last season appeared in eight games, starting three games, pitching 24 innings while striking out 20 batters, recording a WHIP of 1.42 and held opposing batters to a batting average under .260. Witt pitched five scoreless innings against MCLA on March 14.

A 2023 graduate of Menomonie High School, Witt was a three-year starter and two-time All-Big Rivers Conference selection, earning first team honors as a senior.  In 2023, Witt helped lead the Mustangs to their best baseball season since 2009, sweeping No. 14  River Falls and No. 8 Hudson. Witt also played football at Menomonie, including as a member of the 2021 state quarterfinalists and conference champions.

The Blue Devils get their season underway March 8-9 when they are scheduled to play three games over the two days in Decatur, Ill. UW-Stout will play their first 26 games on the road, either at neutral sites or as the visiting team. Stout’s first home doubleheader is Friday, April 18 when they UW-Platteville. In a return to the past, the Blue Devils are planning to play the majority of their home games at Wakanda Park. Stout is scheduled to play their final 14 games in Menomonie.