Todd Frohwirth never made the playoffs during his Major League Baseball career.

Famous for his submarine-style delivery, the Milwaukee native spent parts of nine seasons as a relief pitcher in the big leagues from 1987-1996 -- mostly with the Philadelphia Phillies and Baltimore Orioles -- and had a relatively effective career. He appeared in 284 games and had a career 3.60 ERA, including a 1.87 over his 57 games in 1991.

"I loved basketball as a kid and I got cut in high school, so I never got my dream," Frohwirth said via conference call Sunday. "My passion was basketball and my job was baseball, but I always loved basketball more."

Now coach of the Whitefish Bay varsity girls basketball team, which will make an appearance in the WIAA State Tournament that begins Thursday at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Frohwirth will get his chance to glimpse the big time postseason stage in a completely different capacity.

The Blue Dukes enter the tournament with a 21-3 record and will face Mosinee (21-3) on Friday, approximately 20 minutes after the preceding 1:35 p.m. game between New London (20-4) and Monroe (21-3) concludes. One of those four teams will carry home the Division 2 title, with the championship game slated for Saturday.

Frohwirth still serves as a scout for the Orioles in the spring and summer and has served as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee pitching coach for seven years, but all that remains on hold while his basketball team's season extends into the final weekend.

"They know that I was (a big leaguer), but none of my kids love baseball or watch a lot of baseball in the summer," he said. "I brought it up once when I first got the job a few years ago, but that's all."

He apparently knows a thing or two about this sport as well, having led the squad to a shared title in the talent-heavy North Shore Conference for the first time in roughly two decades. Led by 6-foot-0 guard Katie Wysocky, her 21.9 points and borderline preposterous 16.8 rebounds per game, Bay won an overtime meeting with Pewaukee in the sectional semifinal March 3 before recording a 57-53 win over Wisconsin Lutheran in the sectional final March 4.

"We don't have a captain," Frohwirth said. "We have six seniors that just lead us and they're self-sufficient. It's very easy to coach this group on and off the court; I sit back and let them do their thing."

Certainly Wysocky is a major component, with team-leading numbers in assists (115), steals (82) and blocks (17) making her one of the most dangerous all-around threats in the area, if not the state. She shoots 59 percent from the floor and has made a full half of her three-point attempts (14-for-28).

Fellow senior Meghan Warner also averages close to a double-double with 15.2 points per game and 9.3 boards, and she joins a starting five that also includes senior Katie Schumaker, senior Katie Lanke and sophomore Lauren Gruber.

"I don't try anything fancy or new ... I just ask the girls how badly they want to compete," Frohwirth said. "Our sophomore class really responded to the types of things you need to compete (two years ago), going to summer camps and stuff like that. This group has earned what they deserve."

Division 2 capsules

Mosinee: defeated Rice Lake, 54-45, in sectional final, shooting 16-for-19 from free throw line in the fourth quarter ... second place in Cloverbelt Conference ... Indians have won 14 straight games entering state tournament ... led by twin sisters Carmen and Jamie Stankowski, with the former scoring 13.8 points per game and latter bringing in 11.9 ... Jamie also collects 8.3 rebounds per game and has 95 total assists, 96 steals and 36 blocked shots ... senior Jamie Kimball rebounded from ACL surgery to be team's third leading scorer at 11.5 ppg ... "It's the first time in about a year and a half that we've been fully healthy," coach Rory McKellips said. "Other starters have picked up playing different positions (during the season). We're pretty versatile because of the injuries early."

Monroe: defeated Lakeside Lutheran, 61-46, in sectional final. ... tied for first with Madison Edgewood in Badger Conference ... leading scorer Ellie Radke (18.7 ppg, 9.3 rpg) will play Division 1 basketball at Canisius next season, the first-ever Wisconsin player to join the Griffins' program ... Radke has Monroe school record for points in a season and also thrives in the pool, where she has won Division 2 100-yard freestyle event twice and took top-three finishes in the 100 and 50 free this season ... also competed in the high jump at last year's state meet... "Ellie's an amazing athlete and an outstanding individual," coach Kevin Keen said. "The kids look to her because she's got that state experience in other sports. She's been an amazing kid at Monroe and it's tough to see her leave." ... Cheesemakers carried undefeated seasons into playoffs before falling short of state both of previous two seasons, last year in sectional finals.

New London: defeated Appleton Xavier, 53-30, in sectional final ... third place in Bay Conference ... making first state appearance in school history ... did not graduate a player from 2004-'05 squad ... guard Tracy Palmer leads the team with 14.7 points per game. ... two of team's four losses came at hands of Division 1 state qualifier Ashwaubenon, and a third came to defending Division 1 state champions DePere. ... Palmer, Alyssa Birkholz, Michelle Hanschke and Andrea Fleace have started all 22 games for the Bulldogs this season ... "Tracy Palmer and Alyssa Birkholz have been playing with each other since third or fourth grade, and they went to state last year for softball, which helped tremendously to get them to think they could get someplace," coach Troy Krause said. "Over half of these girls were on the softball team. It's all the girls just wanting to get it done."

In Division 1, Milwaukee-area teams Waterford (20-4), Cedarburg (18-6) and Divine Savior Holy Angels (19-5) each qualified for the year-end event, with the latter pair meeting each other in the tournament opener on Thursday at 1:35 p.m. Waterford will meet perennial state tournament staple Janesville Parker (20-3) in the last game of the Thursday session, 20 minutes after a 6:35 p.m. contest between Marshfield (21-2) and Sheboygan North (22-2). The final pairing involves DeForest (22-1) and Ashwaubenon (19-5), who will meet 20 minutes after game one.