When the local high school athletic programs are good, a busy spring season gets a whole lot busier for the Kenosha News sports staff.

It’s felt like the busiest spring in my decade at the News, so it’s no coincidence then that programs in the county, top to bottom, are experiencing an unprecedented level of success.

A dive through the archives and the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Web site came up empty in trying to find the last time county schools participated in the State Tournament of all six of the offered spring sports. Until I find evidence to the contrary, I believe it’s the first time since the expansion of girls sports within the WIAA in 1976 that it has happened.

It’s been 18 seasons since county schools occupied spots in the baseball, softball and soccer tournaments during the same year. In 1991, Wilmot (baseball), Central (softball) and Tremper (soccer) turned the trifecta.

This morning, Bradford will become the first county softball squad to compete at State since 1997 when Central lost in the first round. The top-ranked Red Devils begin their quest to become the first State champions from the county since Wilmot won the Class B title in 1990.

This afternoon, the Bradford soccer team makes its third consecutive trip to State and the county’s ninth straight State appearance. The Red Devils are 1-2 in their last two trips.

The Wilmot (Division-1) and St. Joseph (Division-3) baseball teams have a solid shot of adding to the county’s recent success at State. Wilmot could become the county’s third different school in the last seven seasons to collect a D-1 title — joining Central (2002) and Bradford (2008). The Lancers have two recent titles to their credit (2005 in D-2, 2006 in D-3) and it wouldn’t be a shock to see a third.

But wait, there’s more.

On Friday, the Tremper tennis squad looks to get out of the quarterfinals of State with a match against DePere.

The St. Joseph golf squad finished third in Division-3 when State wrapped up on Tuesday.

At last week’s track and field championships, the county was well-represented with Bradford claiming a D-1 sectional crown leading into State to give the school three sectional crowns this spring. n You won, but: If you’re the Los Angeles Lakers, you’ve got to be ecstatic after the Game 3 loss in Orlando. Sure the Magic won … but: Orlando shot 62 percent (which won’t happen again) and played as well as it could play on defense the final three quarters (which won’t happen again) and still needed overtime to beat the Lakers by four points. n Book it (16-11): The Cubs’ nine-game road trip was shortened to eight games because of a rainout in Atlanta last week. After Wednesday’s loss, the Cubs are 4-3 with one game left. An above .500 trip is still a possibility, but can’t be counted as of yet.

This week, the Lakers will win the NBA championship in either five or six games.

Mike Larsen is a sports writer for the News. E-mail him at mlarsen@kenoshanews.com