Green Bay News

MADISON (AP) – A driver trapped following an interstate crash in Madison died when the vehicle became engulfed in flames.

Police say the driver hit a bridge support pillar on I-90/94 Thursday night. Officials say two bystanders, including a Cottage Grove firefighter, tried to help the driver, but the vehicle became consumed by fire. One of the bystanders was taken to the hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.

RIDGELAND (AP) – A northwestern Wisconsin poultry processor is recalling more than 2,000 pounds of chicken over concerns it may have been contaminated with an industrial disinfectant.

The Wisconsin State Journal reports the disinfectant is not approved for use in poultry processing.

The recall covers roughly 2,191 pounds of whole and cut chicken and 21 pounds of turkey pieces produced by Ridgeland-based AA Poultry Processing LLC between May 4 and May 11. The company’s recall was announced Thursday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.

Products in the recall have the establishment number “P-45525″ inside the USDA inspection mark on the label. The USDA says the agency and the company haven’t received any reports of allergic reactions from the meat.

STURTEVANT (AP) – Police in Sturtevant say a man was more than four times over the legal limit when he was arrested for his tenth drunken driving offense.

Fifty-six-year-old Jones Decorah is being held on $10,000 cash bond set Thursday in Racine County Circuit Court. Police arrested Decorah Wednesday following a hit-and-run accident in the parking lot of a food and liquor market. Authorities say Decorah had a blood alcohol content of .380.

The Journal Times reports the Wisconsin Dells man is charged with drunken driving, resisting an officer, bail jumping and driving with a revoked license. Court records do not list a defense attorney.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
2 to 3 cups diced cooked chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
2 cups fresh spinach
1 to 2 sliced apples
8 whole wheat pita pockets

Directions:

Whisk together first three ingredients. Mix in chicken and stir to coat. Season with a little salt and pepper. Place a some spinach in each pita pocket. Fill pockets with about 1/4 cup of the chicken salad. Place a few slices of apple in each pocket.

Smoked salmon filets

4 -8 Ounce salmon filets
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup brown sugar
½ cup apple juice
¼ ounce roughly chopped ginger
½ cup diced onion
1 large zip lock bag
2 cups wood chips ( soaked in water)
1-12x12peice of aluminum foil
Mix soy sauce brown sugar, apple juice,ginger,onion and brown sugar together place in the zip lock bag with the salmon and let marinate over night
Using a indirect heat place salmon on foil and put the wood chips on the hot side close the lid cook 25 to 30 minute

Grilled veggies
A mixture of eggplant, zucchini, red bell pepper , red onion cut a ¼ inch thick
1 table spoon of Greek or Italian spice blend
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Fresh cracked pepper
2 tablespoon s olive oil
Toss the ingredients together and place on hot grill
Grill 1 to 2 minutes per side

Mustard seed grilled chicken sandwich

4- 6 to 7 ounce chicken breasts
I small jar of sun dried tomatoes in olive oil ground to a paste
4 tablespoon pine nuts
½ cup shredded parmesan
4- 6 inch hoagies

Brush chicken breasts lightly with olive oil season with salt and pepper, place on the grill cook about 5 to 6 minutes per side brush with the sun dried tomato mixture, place parmesan on each chicken breast and let melt toast hoagies, assemble sandwiches and sprinkle with the pine nuts.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) – As federal investigators try to find out why an Amtrak train that crashed in Philadelphia sped up in the last minute before it derailed, Amtrak’s top official said the railroad takes full responsibility for the deadly wreck.

Joseph Boardman, Amtrak president and CEO, said in a letter on Amtrak’s official blog Thursday that it is cooperating fully in an investigation into the accident that killed eight people and injured more than 200 this week.

“With truly heavy hearts, we mourn those who died. Their loss leaves holes in the lives of their families and communities,” Boardman wrote. “Amtrak takes full responsibility and deeply apologizes for our role in this tragic event.”

He said the railroad’s goal is “to fully understand what happened and how we can prevent a similar tragedy from occurring in the future.”

Meanwhile, the National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday that in the last minute or so before the derailment, the Washington-to-New York train sped up from 70 mph until it reached more than 100 mph at a sharp bend where the maximum speed is supposed to be 50 mph.

Board member Robert Sumwalt said it’s unclear whether the speed was increased manually by engineer Brandon Bostian.

So far, investigators have found no problems with the track, the signals or the locomotive, and the train was running on time, Sumwalt said.

Bostian refused to talk to police on Wednesday, authorities said. But on Thursday, Sumwalt said that Bostian had agreed to be interviewed by the NTSB in the next few days.

Separately, the Philadelphia district attorney’s office said it is investigating and will decide whether to bring charges.

Bostian’s lawyer, Robert Goggin, told ABC News that his client suffered a concussion in the wreck, needed 15 staples in his head and has “absolutely no recollection whatsoever” of the crash. Goggin also said Bostian had not been using his cellphone, drinking or using drugs.

“He remembers coming into the curve. He remembers attempting to reduce speed and thereafter he was knocked out,” said Goggin. He said Bostian’s cellphone was off and stored in his bag before the accident, as required. Goggin said his client “cooperated fully” with police and told them “everything that he knew,” immediately consenting to a blood test and surrendering his cellphone.

As the death toll climbed on Thursday with the discovery of what was believed to be the last body in one of the mangled railcars, Mayor Michael Nutter again appeared to cast blame on Bostian, questioning why the train was going so fast.

“I don’t think that any commonsense, rational person would think that it was OK to travel at that level of speed knowing that there was a pretty significant restriction on how fast you could go through that turn,” Nutter said.

Bostian graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a bachelor’s in business administration and management in 2006, the university said. He became an Amtrak engineer in 2010, four years after landing a job as a conductor, according to his LinkedIn profile. He lives in New York City.

“I have nothing but good things to say about Brandon,” said Will Gust, who belonged to the Acacia fraternity with Bostian in college. “He is a very conscientious person, one of the most upstanding individuals that I know, just a really good quality person.”

Stefanie McGee, a friend of Bostian’s, is now city clerk in his hometown of Bartlett, Tennessee, a suburb of Memphis. She said he always wanted to be an engineer or a conductor.

“He would go on vacation and bring back subway maps,” she recalled Thursday. “He would go places with his family and he would talk about the trains instead of the places.”

Officials believe they have now accounted for all 243 passengers and crew members who were thought to have been aboard, Nutter said. Forty-three remained hospitalized Thursday, according to the mayor. Temple University Hospital said it had six patients in critical condition, all of whom were expected to pull through.

The first funeral of the eight people killed in the crash was to be held on Friday morning. Services for U.S. Naval Academy Midshipman Justin Zemser, 20, who was traveling home to New York City, will take place on Long Island.

Amtrak, meanwhile, said limited train service between Philadelphia and New York should resume on Monday, with full service by Tuesday. Amtrak carries 11.6 million passengers a year along the Northeast Corridor, which runs between Washington and Boston.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The legal fight over who is chief justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court is returning to a federal courtroom.

U.S. District Judge James Peterson scheduled a hearing Friday to hear arguments in the case. Longtime Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson is arguing that she can’t be removed as chief justice until her term ends in four years.

She says a constitutional amendment approved by voters last month giving justices the power to pick who is chief can’t be applied to her midterm. She wants the judge to block its implementation.

But four of the justices already voted to make Justice Patience Roggensack chief justice. They are asking the judge to dismiss Abrahamson’s lawsuit.

STURTEVANT, Wis. (AP) – Police in Sturtevant say a man was more than four times over the legal limit when he was arrested for his tenth drunken driving offense.

Fifty-six-year-old Jones Decorah is being held on $10,000 cash bond set Thursday in Racine County Circuit Court. Police arrested Decorah Wednesday following a hit-and-run accident in the parking lot of a food and liquor market. Authorities say Decorah had a blood alcohol content of .380.

The Journal Times reports the Wisconsin Dells man is charged with drunken driving, resisting an officer, bail jumping and driving with a revoked license. Court records do not list a defense attorney.

GREEN BAY- Green Bay Police are searching for an armed robbery suspect.

Officials say a masked man with a gun robbed The Grand Central Station convenience store on West Mason around 2 a.m. Friday.

Police say he got away with some cash.

No one was hurt.

Police say the man was wearing a gray and green hooded sweatshirt with a Halloween mask.

Anyone with information is asked to call Green Bay Police at (920) 448-3208.

GREEN BAY – Thousands of runners from across the world will be in Titletown this weekend for the 2015 Cellcom Green Bay marathon.

Sunday, runners will take off for the 26.2 mile marathon race at 7 a.m. The half marathon starts at 8 a.m.

The half marathon course will be the same as last year. The full marathon route will also stay relatively the same, but this year organizers have changed part of the course to go through the neighborhoods of East De Pere.

New medals will be waiting for the marathon and half marathon runners at the finish line. The medals are a part of a three-medal series. The three medals are designed to fit together and will unveil a final image on the back of the medal.

The 5K and children’s races take place Saturday.

Organizers say they could still use help from volunteers for the entire weekend.

This is the 16th year for the event.

FOX 11’s Pauleen Le spent the morning checking in on final preparations.

For more information on the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon, click here.

GREEN BAY- It will be partly sunny Friday with a high near 68.

Saturday will be partly sunny with an isolated shower in the afternoon with a high around 75.

Sunday will be even warmer and more humid with a high near 78.

Scattered showers and thunderstorms are likely. It looks more likely for the afternoon than the morning.

Some of these storms may be strong or severe late in the day.

Click here for Director of Meteorology Pete Petoniak’s full forecast.

Our team of meteorologists will be keeping an eye on the weather all weekend long.

RIDGELAND, Wis. (AP) – A northwestern Wisconsin poultry processor is recalling more than 2,000 pounds of chicken over concerns it may have been contaminated with an industrial disinfectant.

The Wisconsin State Journal reports the disinfectant is not approved for use in poultry processing.

The recall covers roughly 2,191 pounds of whole and cut chicken and 21 pounds of turkey pieces produced by Ridgeland-based AA Poultry Processing LLC between May 4 and May 11. The company’s recall was announced Thursday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.

Products in the recall have the establishment number “P-45525″ inside the USDA inspection mark on the label. The USDA says the agency and the company haven’t gotten any reports of allergic reactions from the meat.

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) – Nepalese rescuers on Friday found three bodies near the wreckage of a U.S. Marine helicopter that disappeared earlier this week while on a relief mission in the earthquake-hit Himalayan nation, officials said.

Nepal’s Defense Secretary Iswori Poudyal gave no details about the nationalities of the victims. The helicopter was carrying six Marines and two Nepalese army soldiers.

The wreckage was found near Gothali village in the district of Dolakha.

The U.S. Embassy in Nepal had no immediate comment Friday.

The discovery of the wreckage, first spotted by a Nepalese army helicopter Friday, followed days of intense search involving U.S. and Nepalese aircraft and even U.S. satellites.

The U.S. relief mission was deployed soon after a magnitude-7.8 quake hit April 25, killing more than 8,200 people. It was followed by another magnitude-7.3 quake on Tuesday that killed 117 people and injured 2,800.

The second quake was centered between Kathmandu and Mount Everest, and hit hardest in deeply rural parts of the Himalayan foothills, hammering many villages reached only by hiking trails and causing road-blocking landslides.

WAUPUN – One person is dead after an apartment building fire in Fond du Lac County.

Crews were called to the 900 block of W. Brown St. just before 10 p.m. Thursday night.

Authorities say heavy smoke was coming from a first floor apartment when firefighters arrived on scene.

The fire has been put out.

Officials say eight apartments were affected and 17 people were displaced.

The cause of the fire has not been determined.

FOX 11 has a crew at the scene and we’ll bring you more information as we learn it.

LAS VEGAS (AP) – B.B. King, whose scorching guitar licks and heartfelt vocals made him the idol of generations of musicians and fans while earning him the nickname King of the Blues, died late Thursday at home in Las Vegas. He as 89.

His attorney, Brent Bryson, told The Associated Press that King died peacefully in his sleep at 9:40 p.m. PDT.

Bryson said funeral arrangements were being made.

Although he had continued to perform well into his 80s, the 15-time Grammy winner suffered from diabetes and had been in declining health during the past year. He collapsed during a concert in Chicago last October, later blaming dehydration and exhaustion. He had been in hospice care at his Las Vegas home.

For most of a career spanning nearly 70 years, Riley B. King was not only the undisputed king of the blues but a mentor to scores of guitarists, who included Eric Clapton, Otis Rush, Buddy Guy, Jimi Hendrix, John Mayall and Keith Richards. He recorded more than 50 albums and toured the world well into his 80s, often performing 250 or more concerts a year.

King played a Gibson guitar he affectionately called Lucille with a style that included beautifully crafted single-string runs punctuated by loud chords, subtle vibratos and bent notes.

The result could bring chills to an audience, no more so than when King used it to full effect on his signature song, “The Thrill is Gone.” He would make his guitar shout and cry in anguish as he told the tale of forsaken love, then end with a guttural shouting of the final lines: “Now that it’s all over, all I can do is wish you well.”

His style was unusual. King didn’t like to sing and play at the same time, so he developed a call-and-response between him and Lucille.

“Sometimes I just think that there are more things to be said, to make the audience understand what I’m trying to do more,” King told The Associated Press in 2006. “When I’m singing, I don’t want you to just hear the melody. I want you to relive the story, because most of the songs have pretty good storytelling.”

A preacher uncle taught him to play, and he honed his technique in abject poverty in the Mississippi Delta, the birthplace of the blues.

“I’ve always tried to defend the idea that the blues doesn’t have to be sung by a person who comes from Mississippi, as I did,” he said in the 1988 book “Off the Record: An Oral History of Popular Music.”

“People all over the world have problems,” he said. “And as long as people have problems, the blues can never die.”

Fellow travelers who took King up on that theory included Clapton, the British-born blues-rocker who collaborated with him on “Riding With the King,” a best-seller that won a Grammy in 2000 for best traditional blues album.

Still, the Delta’s influence was undeniable. King began picking cotton on tenant farms around Indianola, Mississippi, before he was a teenager, being paid as little as 35 cents for every 100 pounds, and was still working off sharecropping debts after he got out of the Army during World War Two.

“He goes back far enough to remember the sound of field hollers and the cornerstone blues figures, like Charley Patton and Robert Johnson,” ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons once told Rolling Stone magazine.

King got his start in radio with a gospel quartet in Mississippi, but soon moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where a job as a disc jockey at WDIA gave him access to a wide range of recordings. He studied the great blues and jazz guitarists, including Django Reinhardt and T-Bone Walker, and played live music a few minutes each day as the “Beale Street Blues Boy,” later shortened to B.B.

Through his broadcasts and live performances, he quickly built up a following in the black community, and recorded his first R&B hit, “Three O’Clock Blues,” in 1951.

He began to break through to white audiences, particularly young rock fans, in the 1960s with albums like “Live at the Regal,” which would later be declared a historic sound recording worthy of preservation by the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry.

He further expanded his audience with a 1968 appearance at the Newport Folk Festival and when he opened shows for the Rolling Stones in 1969.

King was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1984, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 and received the Songwriters Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award in 1990. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush, gave a guitar to Pope John Paul II and had President Barack Obama sing along to his “Sweet Home Chicago.”

Other Grammys included best male rhythm ‘n’ blues performance in 1971 for “The Thrill Is Gone,” best ethnic or traditional recording in 1982 for “There Must Be a Better World Somewhere” and best traditional blues recording or album several times. His final Grammy came in 2009 for best blues album for “One Kind Favor.”

Through it all, King modestly insisted he was simply maintaining a tradition.

“I’m just one who carried the baton because it was started long before me,” he told the AP in 2008.

Born Riley B. King on Sept. 16, 1925, on a tenant farm near Itta Bena, Mississippi, King was raised by his grandmother after his parents separated and his mother died. He worked as a sharecropper for five years in Kilmichael, an even smaller town, until his father found him and took him back to Indianola.

“I was a regular hand when I was 7. I picked cotton. I drove tractors. Children grew up not thinking that this is what they must do. We thought this was the thing to do to help your family,” he said.

When the weather was bad and he couldn’t work in the cotton fields, he walked 10 miles to a one-room school before dropping out in the 10th grade.

After he broke through as a musician, it appeared King might never stop performing. When he wasn’t recording, he toured the world relentlessly, playing 342 one-nighters in 1956. In 1989, he spent 300 days on the road. After he turned 80, he vowed he would cut back, and he did, somewhat, to about 100 shows a year.

He had 15 biological and adopted children. Family members say 11 survive.

APPLETON – The food truck craze in revving up in Northeast Wisconsin.

Thursday night hundreds turned out to a food truck rally at Pierce Park in Appleton, but that’s not the only community seeing interest in this movement.

Every food truck in Appleton’s Pierce Park had a long line Thursday.

“About 25 minutes now. That’s okay, it’s barbecue, it’s low and slow! So you gotta give it time,” said David Markman as he waited in line.

“This truck parks down by our house every so often. We’ve driven by it a couple times and never stopped at it. So we thought we’d comeout and give it a try!” exclaimed Stephanie Markman.

The owners of Hawg Tyed Barbecue organized this food truck rally.

“We just pretty much called up some food trucks. There’s not a whole lot of them around. So we just got who could come and we’re here!” explained pit master Matt Schmalzer.

“It’s kind of interesting how this seems to be a big thing other places in the country. So it’s kinda neat that it’s happening here,” said David Markman.

Appleton isn’t the only city getting in on the food truck craze. Green Bay recently had a food truck rally of its own.

“The current young professionals group in Green Bay recently hosted a food truck Friday and it was extremely well-attended. We had over 3,000 people,” explained Tara Gokey, the executive director of On Broadway Inc.

“We started planing this before the one in Green Bay happened. After they got such a big turnout then we realized ours was gonna be big,” explained Schmalzer.

So why is the food truck movement becoming so popular?

“Part of it, I think, is the social aspect. Everyone’s out here, talking, migling. You know, it’s gonna be a family-owned, small business,” Schmalzer told FOX 11.

“Just the concept of a whole restaurant in the back of a truck and how much they can accomplish in such a small place,” added Stephanie Markman.

Owning a food truck has its benefits too.

“We’re not tethered to one spot. You know, if things aren’t going well in one place, you can move around. We don’t have the overhead a restaurant has,” Schmalzer told us.

And while food trucks have had a following in cities like LA and New York for years, attendees told FOX 11 they’re happy to see them closer to home.

“I think it’s great. I think as things trickle down through the bigger cities it comes to us. We have a smaller community than some of those bigger cities, but some of the perks, like food trucks!” exclaimed Stephanie Markman.

Organizers of Appleton’s rally said they plan to do it again.

Also, On Broadway in Green Bay will host 8 Food Truck Fridays between June and September.

GREEN BAY – After digging through documents, FOX 11 found few Wisconsin municipalities have a personal conduct policy for its elected officials.

As FOX 11 first reported Wednesday night, Green Bay’s city council is considering a policy for its members.

It’s no secret there has been an ongoing rift between Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt and Alderman Guy Zima. They’ve been accusing each other of misconduct for years.
Schmitt and Zima even disagree on whether a personal conduct policy is needed.

Schmitt asked for a review of Zima, accusing him of swearing at and flipping off a constituent just after an April 8th meeting. Part of the exchange can be heard on a video recording.

Zima says he did nothing wrong and his behavior isn’t worthy of punishment.

“I challenge you to find some other council bodies that have standards of how people should act when they’re outside of a meeting. It’s ridiculous,” said Zima.

FOX 11 checked with the League of Wisconsin Municipalities. It was able to provide us three Wisconsin local governments that have conduct rules for its elected officials: Milwaukee County, the city of New Richmond, and the Town of Windsor.

“When you’re elected to represent your constituents, I believe you have to have a certain level of professionalism,” said Bob Wipperfurth, the chairman of Windsor.

Windsor passed an ordinance for decorum and procedure in 2008. Parts of the full-page ordinance explain how public officials must cooperate, not disrupt or interrupt. It says members should treat all people with courtesy and respect.

Wipperfurth says the rules are to be followed in and out of meetings.

“We did have an issue with somebody swearing, pointing fingers at constituents, so that was really again the incentive behind it, but it has improved greatly since we enacted the code of conduct,” said Wipperfurth.

Schmitt is facing his own accusations. Alderman Tim DeWane says Schmitt bullied a committee member into a vote. Schmitt denies the claims, and is for a personal conduct policy.

“The council needs to come up with something where its either a fine of $500 for that type of behavior or suspension for a month from the city council,” said Schmitt.
FOX 11 did call Alderman Zima to get his reaction to the other communities’ conduct policies. However, we have yet to hear back.

Zima is also on the Brown County Board. Back in 1998, a supervisor proposed a personal conduct policy, also because of Zima. However, it did not pass.

The city council is expected to discuss this issue at its meeting next Tuesday.

West De Pere’s Jennifer Timm smacked a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to propel West De Pere past Marinette, 3-2, in Bay Conference softball Thursday.

GREEN BAY – Moving and can’t take your pet with you?

There’s a new way to connect pets to loving homes in the Green Bay area.

The Bay Area Humane Society says it is sponsoring a way for pet owners to connect directly to those looking for a pet.

It’s a common problem seen by the Bay Area Humane Society staff—Pet owners have to surrender their animals, and need to find a new home quickly.

“Often times, people fall ill and you just can’t give them care. Or people get a new job and they feel they just don’t have the time for the animal like you did in the past but you still want to be able to find a decent home for the animal,” said Lori Nachtey with the Bay Area Humane Society.

But now the humane society says it has a solution: An owner-to-owner re-homing web page. Here’s how it works. The Humane Society requires an online or in-person application process for people looking to re-home their pets. Staff will review those applications before posting them on the web site.

“This way, we can monitor it and we can see the animals,” said Nachtey.

Then, the current owner and prospective owner will take it from there.

“They don’t need to come in to the shelter,” said Nachtey.

Right now, current owners will be able to charge a fee for their pets, but say they will continuously evaluate that option.

The humane society says it has a limited amount of room for animals it already has here. It hopes the new program will alleviate over-crowding and cut down on strays.

“We have a lot of animals here and it can be stressful. They’re put into a kennel. They’re not in a home with people around and constant interaction and room to roam around. We do the best that we can to make animals comfortable here,” said Nachtey.

So for these furry little ones looking for a new friend, going straight to your home might be the best choice.

The humane society says its re-homing site is up and running, but no animals are currently listed.

Click here to visit the re-homing page.

SUAMICO — Bailey Smaney remembers last year, when an arm injury sidelined her for a period of time.

Even though she returned for the end of the season, the pitcher wasn’t the same due to the layoff.

This year, Smaney was focused on being her best, being that it is her senior year, and her best could translate into the Bay Port softball team having a special season.

So far, so good.

Smaney has been stingy in the circle and has the Pirates on pace to win the Fox River Classic Conference title. The UW-Green Bay commit has done it her way, with her four-pitch repertoire and her laser-like focus that has become a target for jokes by her team.

“I like think a lot and worry about the batters, not the stuff going on around me,” Smaney said in regards to her focus while pitching. “I’m like set in my own zone and don’t really realize what’s going on around me sometimes.”

Coach Jenna Woepse and teammates have sort of made a game of it trying to force a smile out of Smaney while pitching. The “gamer” she is, it’s a victory when it happens.

“It’s a joke we have going on with team, ‘We’ve made Bailey smile three games in a row,’” Woepse said. “She’s a happy girl off the field but on the field she acts ticked off when she’s on the mound.”

Woepse is right on. Talking with Smaney about her season, she smiles when talking about a big home run she gave up, which points to her being able to bounce back from adversity.

Smaney can do that because she knows more than likely she’s getting the next batter. The senior is a unique player in that she’s a power pitcher but a highly effective slap-hitter who is able to place the ball wherever she needs to.

She’s a threat anytime on the field, offense and defense, and it’s just how she wanted it to be during her senior season.

“I think for me, personally, I want to have a good season because I missed my whole last year,” Smaney said. “But as a team we started strong and want to keep it up.”

Bay Port (15-2, 13-1) looks like it will be a factor in the postseason after not even getting out of regionals last season. Smaney’s health has Woepse confident a run can be made.

“I have to be honest, I’m excited, but we tell the girls all the time we still have a couple important games we have to win now,” Woepse said. “We’re not looking too far ahead.”

No team ever looks too far ahead, but Smaney is thinking about a possible state tournament appearance.

“It would be a dream come true,” she said. “We’ve been thinking of it. As a freshman, they went to the sectional final. I got a taste of it, I ran bases, so that’s kind of like a dream there, so close. I want to do that my senior year.”

With Smaney healthy and focused, Bay Port has a reason to believe.

Follow Doug Ritchay on Twitter @dougritchay