Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com

Published - Saturday, July 05, 2008

We Say: Todd Sommerfeldt, Tribune sportswriter, on the Lansing-New Albin Kee baseball team

There is always an expectation to win baseball games at Lansing-New Albin Kee High School, but that comes with having a coach — Gene Schultz — who has won 1,558 games in 39 seasons. There are always distractions popping up when trying to continue such a winning tradition.

The Kee Hawks (35-3), who just completed an undefeated season in the Upper Iowa Conference, have succeeded this year with what could be considered an added distraction. The team has been followed by MTV cameras for its part in a documentary entitled “Big Games.” Kee has played in plenty of those, and their current experience and what it means in their lives will be shared with a national audience.

The next big game comes Tuesday in a Class 1A regional opener against Postville in Postville, Iowa. I have a feeling that there are bigger games to come for the state’s second-ranked 1A team after Tuesday.

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