Milwaukee, WI
Milwaukee man charged with arson, following 15 fires to homes and garbage bins
A 35-year-old Milwaukee man has been charged with arson following a spree where 15 fires were set in one morning, including to occupied residences and garbage bins near structures.
Breonteze S. Little was charged Monday by the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office.
Several residents were displaced or have to consider moving due to the fires. No one was injured in the fires, but one firefighter suffered minor injuries fighting a blaze.
Little was charged with one count of arson and bail jumping, both felonies. The charge stems from a fire in the 4500 block of West Lisbon Avenue. Police said the other fires are still under investigation.
According to a criminal complaint:
New owners took over the former Ralph’s Coffee Bar at 4538 W. Lisbon Ave. in April and had been working on renovations. Shortly after 7:30 a.m. on June 18, one of the owners spotted a fire from paper towels burning in the foyer entrance beneath the mail slot. He said the fire was just beginning to catch the carpet underneath it.
Contractors for the renovations put out the fire and a fire scene examination was conducted by Milwaukee police. The detective said the mail slot exhibited signs of fire-related damages with sections of the carpeting being melted or charred.
The detective determined the fire was set intentionally by igniting paper towels soaked in combustibles and dropping it in the mail slot.
Police gathered surveillance footage from the surrounding neighborhood and used facial recognition software to identify Little.
Police said Little went to District Three police station earlier that morning to report a child custody issue involving his child’s mother and was wearing the same clothes.
Little has multiple prior felony convictions and was currently out on $1,000 bail after being charged earlier this year with possession of a firearm as a felon. He showed up to a hearing at the Milwaukee County Courthouse on Thursday and was arrested on suspicion of arson.
In the morning of June 18, the Milwaukee Fire Department put out 15 fires in the area of North 49th Street and West Lisbon Avenue, then later near North Ninth and West Hadley streets.
Milwaukee Fire Chief Aaron Lipski said at a press conference that four houses were burned, two of which were occupied.
One resident, Mary Spadafora, told the Journal Sentinel that she’d likely sell her home. “If it’s salvageable, I’ll try and fix it, but I’m probably going to sell it,” she said. “I probably don’t feel comfortable living here anymore.” Spadafora recently finished repairing the home following a fire last year.
Prosecutors said Little set fires to dwellings and garbage bins near structures or in alleys. In most cases, he was captured on video wearing the same clothing, prosecutors said. He does not yet have a permanent attorney listed.
Milwaukee, WI
Milwaukee Panthers Putting Together a Great Run in the NCAA Tournament – World Baseball Network
The Milwaukee Panthers are in the driver’s seat in the NCAA Tournament’s Auburn regional. The Panthers have two wins over the Auburn Tigers and UCF Knights and made it to the regional final.
The Panthers are looking to make it to their first super regional in program history.
From a rocky start to a red-hot Horizon League Tournament run
Milwaukee did not have a smooth start to the 2026 college baseball season. The Panthers were 5-22 overall on April 3 and had an uphill battle to climb to end the season.
From April 3 to the end of the regular season, Milwaukee went 17-9. However, they still had a below-average overall record of 22-31. The Panthers needed to win the Horizon League Tournament to make it into the NCAA Tournament as an automatic bid.
The Panthers posted a solid conference record of 14-10 in 2026. This gave them the number two seed in the Horizon League Tournament, which was played at Nischwitz Stadium in Dayton, Ohio.
Milwaukee defeated Northern Kentucky and the tournament host, Wright State, twice to win the tournament title. They outscored their opponents 23-7 across those three games. The 2026 Horizon League Tournament title is the first conference tournament title for the Panthers since 2010.
Milwaukee’s wins over Auburn and UCF
An automatic bid placed Milwaukee as the fourth seed in the Auburn regional. The Panthers faced off against the Tigers on Friday, May 29.
Milwaukee got off to a huge, early lead on Auburn. Heading into the bottom of the fourth inning, the Panthers had a 10-0 lead on the Tigers. Milwaukee would go on to win 13-8.
Joey Spence, John Hadley VI, and Grant Ross led Milwaukee offensively with three hits apiece. Spence had two doubles in the game and an RBI. Hadley VI had a double and a triple against Auburn.
Charlie Marion and Bradyn Horn both had three-run home runs early on in the game that were huge for the Panthers. Those home runs allowed them to gain a big 10-0 lead early.
The magic did not stop on Friday for Milwaukee. On Saturday, May 30, the Panthers defeated the UCF Knights in the “1-0” game by a score of 13-6.
Ross continued his big performance in the regional. After a three-hit game against Auburn, the Milwaukee third baseman hit a home run and a double against UCF. He finished the game with two hits, three RBIs, and five runs scored.
Marion finished with a multi-hit game against the Knights. Milwaukee’s center fielder, Dylan O’Connell, had two doubles in the game that led to four RBIs.
Up next for Milwaukee
The Milwaukee Panthers will play the winner of the game between Auburn and UCF in the Auburn regional final on Sunday, May 31.
The Auburn-UCF elimination game is at 3 p.m. ET at Plainsman Park, and the game can be watched on ESPN2. Milwaukee’s game against the winner will be at 8 p.m. ET. That game will be on ESPN+.
WBN NCAA: https://worldbaseball.com/league/ncaa/
PHOTO: Via Dominic Kibler on Instagram (@dominic.kibler)
How will Auburn baseball approach pitching for rest of NCAA regional?
What’s Auburn baseball’s strategy on the mound after its upset loss to 4-seed Milwaukee? Here’s what Butch Thompson said.
Milwaukee proved its offensive outburst in the Auburn Regional opener was no fluke, though UCF’s pitchers certainly aided the Panthers’ efforts on May 30.
The Horizon League champs tagged the Knights for five extra-base hits and capitalized on five walks in the first three innings to cruise for a 13-6 victory at Plainsman Park. Milwaukee (27-31) sits in the driver’s seat to become just the 10th regional No. 4 seed to advance to supers in NCAA baseball tournament history.
UCF (32-22) will meet Auburn (39-20) at 3 p.m. Sunday in an elimination game. The winner will turn around and face Milwaukee at 8, needing to upend the Panthers twice.
Milwaukee scored the game’s first nine runs to win for the 22nd time in their last 30 games. They jumped out to a 10-0 lead the day before to stun Auburn.
Andrew Williamson demolished his fourth home run of the regional to lead off the sixth inning, a 443-foot blast with an exit velocity of 110 mph off the bat. Evan Jones gave the Knights a chance at an improbable comeback with a career-high 4⅓ innings of two-run relief.
Here are three takeaways from an untimely upset that puts the Knights on the brink of elimination.
UCF had no answers for the top of Milwaukee’s order
Milwaukee’s big bats at the top of the lineup set the tone and proved to be near-impossible outs for UCF’s pitchers.
Panthers leadoff hitter Grant Ross reached base in each of his five plate appearances, including an unorthodox solo home run deflected off the head of UCF center fielder De’Amez Ross — reminiscent of an infamous 1993 José Canseco blooper in Cleveland.
“We’re just gritty, man. We’re grinding it out,” Grant Ross told the ESPN+ broadcast crew after the game. “We knew we had the talent all along. It’s just clicking.”
Charlie Marion singled twice, walked twice, was hit by a pitch and scored twice. Dylan O’Connell smacked doubles in his first two at-bats and drove in four runs.
The Panthers chased Mateo Gray after 1⅓ innings. He found the strike zone on just 13 of his 27 pitches, allowing three hits and three earned runs. UCF burned through five of its bullpen arms, a potentially problematic situation for the rest of the weekend.
Home plate umpire exits after taking foul tip off mask
Play was halted for 20 minutes in the second inning when home plate umpire Blake Felix absorbed a foul ball off the face mask — a fastball thrown by Milwaukee starter Aric Ehmke that UCF catcher Zak Skinner tipped.
Felix was visibly shaken up, and he met with the on-site athletic training staff before heading into the dugout. He underwent testing for a concussion and did not return, replaced behind the plate by second base umpire Travis Carlson.
Alan Gorewitz filled the void at second base for the remainder of the evening.
UCF faces elimination against No. 4 national seed Auburn
The Knights will need to knock out the fourth-ranked team in the country to keep hope of a first trip to supers alive.
Auburn rebounded to eliminate NC State in a 17-13 slugfest in earlier action Saturday. Five Tigers had multi-hit games; Ethin Bingaman and Cade Belyeu each homered twice, and Chase Fralick drove in six RBIs.
UCF has a 5-6 all-time record against the Tigers, though it swept a three-game series at Plainsman Park during the abbreviated 2020 season.
Auburn’s pitching staff has allowed 26 runs through two regional games. During the regular season, the Tigers ranked fourth in Division I with a 3.45 ERA.
Jeremy Peña of the Houston Astros slides into home against the Milwaukee Brewers on May 30. (Photo by Houston Astros/Getty Images)
HOUSTON – Christian Walker hit a three-run homer and Jeremy Peña had a home run among his three hits to help the Houston Astros roll to a 9-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday.
By the numbers:
Peña’s two-run shot made it 3-1 in the second and the Astros added three runs in the fifth to pull away after the Brewers got within 1. Walker’s shot to the seats in right field made it 9-2 with two outs in the eighth.
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It’s the seventh win in nine games for the Astros and snaps Milwaukee’s four-game winning streak.
Houston starter Peter Lambert (4-4) allowed five hits and two runs with three walks in five innings for the win.
Milwaukee’s Brandon Sproat (1-4) permitted six hits and five runs in 4 1/3 innings.
William Contreras gave the Brewers an early lead with a two-out RBI double in the first.
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Cam Smith was on second base with one out in the second when he scored on a single by Jake Meyers to tie it.
The home run by Peña came with two outs in the inning to put the Astros on top 3-1.
Garrett Mitchell walked to start the fifth and moved to second on a wild pitch by Lambert with one out. Christian Yelich walked with two outs before the Brewers cut the lead to 3-2 on an RBI single by Jackson Chourio.
The Astros had runners on first and third with one out in the fifth after Sproat hit Walker with a pitch. Sproat was replaced by Carlos Rodriguez and Taylor Trammell hit an infield RBI single to make it 4-2.
Isaac Paredes then doubled to left field to score two more and put the Astros up 6-2.
What’s next:
Houston RHP Tatsuya Imai (2-2, 6.17 ERA), who was the starter in a combined no-hitter his last time out, starts in the series finale Sunday against RHP Jacob Misiorowski (5-2, 1.83).
The Source: The Associated Press provided this report.
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