With winter sports officially in the books, the spring sports season is rapidly approaching. In fact, practice for the upcoming spring seasons officially began March 10. Detailed team previews are in the works, but here’s an early look at area athletics as student-athletes and coaches look to navigate the uncertain early spring weather.

Munising

Munising will offer four varsity-level sports this spring.

Softball will once again be coached by Casey Ford. The program is still in its early stages, but the Mustangs did see much improvement last year and they hope to take another step this year.

They are scheduled to open the season with a road doubleheader at Manistique on April 22. Their home opener is scheduled for May 1 against Newberry.

The boys and girls golf teams will be guided by veteran coach Bette Immel. They hope to begin their season April 21 at Gladstone. Both the boys and girls teams took fifth at last year’s U.P. finals.

Corinne Hoffman is back to coach the boys tennis team. They’ll open the season April 28 at Marquette. Last spring, the Mustangs took fourth as a team and Carson Kienitz was an individual state champion.

Lastly, the Munising track and field teams will be led by head coach Matt Mattson. Their boys team took second place at last year’s U.P. finals and had multiple individual U.P. champions. The girls team took seventh at the U.P. finals. They are set to open the season April 25 at Manistique.

Superior Central

Superior Central baseball welcomes back head coach Greg Mannisto for another season. The Cougars hope to begin the year April 8 at Marquette. Their home opener is set for April 18 against Negaunee. They co-op with Munising and Rock Mid Pen for this sport.

The softball team will have Rich Swajanen back as coach. The team has already seen action at the Spring Swing at the Superior Dome in Marquette, and they’ll officially begin the season April 15 at Carney-Nadeau. Their home opener is set for April 17 with Gwinn. The Cougars won more than 20 games last year and should be solid again this spring. They co-op in this sport with Rock Mid Pen.

As for Superior Central’s track and field teams, they’ll be guided by head coach Todd Spranger. They will have their season-opening meet April 8 in Marquette. They had a small roster last year but hope to build on numbers and success this season.