Submitted by Jeff Moorbeck
(with permission from Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)




The first one came on May 13, 1951.



Don Rennicke, a 20-year-old Mequon farm boy, joined the local Land O'Lakes baseball team between
semesters at UW-Milwaukee and pitched his first no-hitter in a victory over Cedarburg. The latest
one happened last Monday. Bekah Rennicke, a sophomore on the Homestead High School softball team,
threw her first no-hitter in a 10-0 victory over Milwaukee Lutheran. It was one of a string of
three consecutive no-hitters tossed by three different Highlanders pitchers in North Shore
Conference play. "It was really exciting. A big thing for me and my family," Bekah said.
"My mom, my sister, my dad and my little brother all were there to see it."



Many victories, no-hitters and championships have come during the 57 years between Don and Bekah,
at every level from Little League to Triple-A ball. Not to mention a whole lot of Rennickes.
Mequon's first family of baseball might also be the area's. And they're not finished. The roots of
the Rennicke family tree are Don and Betty Ann, whose three sons played on state tournament teams
at Homestead - each of them coached by Don, who led the Highlanders' program from 1969 to 1978.
Scott was an all-state third baseman and team captain who led Homestead to its first state tournament
appearance in his senior year of 1972. Randy was an all-state pitcher who went 17-0 and threw five
no-hitters as a senior in 1974 - including a 12-strikeout, no-hit performance in the '74 state
championship game, a 7-0 victory over New Holstein. "That game got two-thirds of the front page in
The Milwaukee Journal. Three big pictures, all kinds of publicity," Don Rennicke said.
"I got telegrams from all over."



Dean was an all-state pitcher who also went 17-0 with two no-hitters as a senior in 1978 and led
the Highlanders to a 5-2 victory over Ashland in the '78 state final. "When (Randy and Dean)
pitched, I could have gone to sleep on the bench. They were that good," Don Rennicke said.
Both Randy and Dean pitched for three years at the University of Wisconsin before being drafted,
Randy by the California Angels and Dean by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Both rose to the Triple-A level
before being released. When their playing careers ended, they both returned home. Dean spent 15 years
in the Milwaukee Brewers' front office, rising to the position of vice president of tickets and
advertising. In the meantime, the Rennicke family tree began to sprout new branches with strong arms.
"Mom and Dad have 13 grandkids, just about all of whom played ball," Randy said. Scott, a Milwaukee
dentist, and his wife, Jean, a former Highlanders cheerleader, sent three children through Homestead.
Andy was the quarterback of the Highlanders' 1999 state championship football team and played baseball
before going on to pitch and play football at Wisconsin Lutheran College. Tim pitched for the Highlanders,
but daughter Shannon didn't participate in softball. Then there's Randy, who 26 years ago married
the former Judy Vandertie, daughter of late Arrowhead High School athletic director Al Vandertie.
"She won 13 letters in high school, including one for scorekeeping for the baseball team," Randy said.
In that role, Judy was in attendance when Randy pitched a perfect game against Arrowhead as a junior.
"How could you ever figure out that 10 years later we'd get married?" Randy said. The couple has
five children, and they're all ballplayers. "We didn't force it on them, but it's been a passion
for the family," Randy said. Sarah, 22, was a softball star at Homestead (yes, she threw a no-hitter
there) who went on to become the all-time victory and home run leader at Concordia University,
graduating in 2007. Randy Jr., 21, was an all-conference football and baseball MVP at Homestead
who just wrapped up his junior season as a pitcher at Concordia. Jordan, 19, is a former all-state
middle linebacker at Homestead and one of four Rennickes to have played on state championship
football teams. He's currently a catcher at Viterbo University in La Crosse and had a 4.0 grade
point average in the first semester. "I feel like the black sheep in the family, playing catcher,"
Jordan said. "But I know how pitchers think."



And then there are Bekah, 16, and 9-year-old Charlie, who's starting youth baseball this summer
after spending hundreds of happy hours watching his siblings play. Now, waiting in the on-deck
circle are Dean and Margaret Rennicke's three children: Benjamin, 14, Elizabeth, 13, and Abby, 10.
Each is already playing ball, with Benjamin due to start high school in the fall - not at
Homestead, but at Living Word Lutheran. No matter, the stands will be full of Rennickes at those
games, too. "Our family loves watching baseball and softball, and we especially love playing it,"
Bekah said. "My family always helps me before a big game, especially my dad. He's been through it.
And my sister reminds me to have confidence. It's really nice to have them there."



"We used to say, 'When you see one Rennicke, you see seven,' " Randy said. "That had to change
because we've got kids playing all around now. We try to have one parent at every game, and my mom
and dad come all the time, too." "I still think like a 12-year-old when I'm watching my grandkids
play," Don said. "I get nervous, I wring my hands, I'm sweating. It's so exciting."Of course they do.
Homestead's baseball field, after all, is named Rennicke Field in honor of Don. "Occasionally,
someone will notice and say, 'Oh, that's named after your grandpa, huh?' " Bekah said, "and I'll
say 'Yup,' and I'm so proud." "I'm so lucky. I have such unbelievable pride in my family," Don said.
But that's not the only Rennicke Field in Mequon. "Years ago, I dug five trees out from our
backyard and put up a Wiffleball field. It's legendary," Randy said. Randy cuts the grass at three
different levels - "my wife won't let me skin the infield," he says - and has built a small scoreboard
at which historical records of the epic Rennicke battles are kept. "That field has seen games
involving 2-year-olds up to college kids. Who doesn't like to play Wiffleball?" Anyone with the
last name of Rennicke does, that's for sure.




Published with permission of Journal Sentinel prep editor Art Kabelowsky