Green Bay Preble 4, Middleton 2

Green Bay Preble (24-5) advances to the Division 1 semifinals with a 4-2 victory over Middleton (22-6) in the semifinals Tuesday morning at Neuroscience Group Field in Grand Chute.

The Hornets scored first with two runs in the third inning. Jayden Adrians doubled in Kris Kastberg, who had walked. Griffin Summers singled in Adrians with two outs for the second run of the inning. Preble added a run in the fifth. Jarrett Scheelk hit a sacrifice fly to score Zach Champine, who singled to lead off the inning.

Middleton scored in the fifth inning to narrow its deficit to 3-1. Brennan Schmitt doubled to lead off the inning and advanced to third on a single and scored on a sacrifice fly by Nolan Kelliher. A run-scoring single by pinch-hitter Zach Shipley to score Drew Finley Haag brought the Cardinals to within one at 3-2.

The Hornets added insurance with a run in the seventh on a Caleb Schoenholtz single that scored Ryan Dougherty, who singled earlier in the frame. 

The Cardinals had the tying run at the plate in the bottom of the seventh, but the Hornets turned a double play to end the game.

Dougherty collected three hits to lead the Hornets’ offense, and Adrians and Summers each had a pair of hits. Schoenholtz was credited with the complete-game victory, yielding four hits and striking out one.

Finley Haag, Shipley, Shmitt and Nolan Kouba accounted for the four Middleton hits. Finley Hagg was charged with the loss on the mound for the Cardinals.

Burlington 5, Janesville Craig 3

Burlington (23-5) ended the quest of Janesville Craig (26-3) to win a second straight title by downing the Cougars 5-3 in the Division 1 quarterfinals Tuesday at Neuroscience Group Field in Grand Chute.

The Cougars jumped out to a 3-0 in the first inning aided by four singles and a steal of home. Jacob Campbell and Luke Malmanger each had RBI hits, and Chase Nyborg stole home.

The Demons scored in the second inning on an RBI double by Cal Tully, who was thrown out trying to stretch it to a triple. They added three more runs in the third inning on five hits. The big hit came off the bat of Aaron Mutter, a two-run single. Dale Damon added an RBI single in the inning. Burlington added a run in the sixth inning on a Cougars’ throwing error.

Burlington collected 13 hits in the game, led by Damon with three. Zach Campbell, Tanner Strommen and Tully each had two hits. Jacob Lindemann pitched a complete game for the victory. He surrendered seven hits and struck out six.

Malmanger led the Cougars with a pair of hits and an RBI. Evan Spry was charged with the loss, going three innings and surrendering eight hits and four runs.


Kimberly 4, Eau Claire 0

One inning propelled Kimberly (24-4) to the Division 1 semifinals with a 4-0 win over Eau Claire North in a pitchers’ duel at Neuroscience Group Field in Grand Chute.

The Papermakers remained hitless through four innings. They scored the only four runs of the game in the bottom of the sixth. Zach and Ryan Carney drew back-to-back walks with two outs in the inning. Ben Carew provided a clutch hit to drive in Zach Carney. Carew stole second and was knocked in on a two-run single by Steven Jacobson. The final run scored on a Huskies’ throwing error.

Kimberly recorded just three hits in the game. Tanner Haessly tossed a complete-game shutout with three strikes. He scattered five hits and didn’t allow a runner to advance past second base.

John Bickle had two hits for the Huskies. Zac Stange, Cal Sauro and Tanner Halvorson each had singles to account for the Eau Claire North hits. Halvorson was saddled with the loss despite a strong performance on the mound. He allowed three hits and struck out six Papermakers.


Arrowhead 6 , Sun Prairie 1

In its first return to the State Spring Baseball Tournament since 1957, Arrowhead (28-2) defeats Sun Prairie (23-4) 6-1 in the Division 1 quarterfinals Tuesday afternoon at Neuroscience Group Field in Grand Chute.

Arrowhead loaded the bases with nobody out in the second inning trailing 1-0. After a shallow flyout failed to plate a run, Ryan Schmitt singled to score Jonathan Duranso. After a force out cut down the runner at the plate, Dominic Clementi delivered an RBI single. Jeff Holtz delivered the big blow of the inning with a bases-clearing double.

The Warhawks tacked on a run in the sixth inning when Nick Bastien scored on a wild pitch after he doubled, and then advanced to third on an errant throw on a failed pick-off play.

The lone Cardinals’ run came in the second inning on an RBI double by JP Curran to score Justus Benson who had singled.

The Warhawks received a stellar pitching performance from Schmitt. He tossed a complete game, yielding one run on four hits while striking out seven. Jeff Becker had a pair of hits, both singles, for Arrowhead. 

Ben Hauser was charged with the loss for the Cardinals, yielding six runs on eight hits with one strikeout. Four different players had a hit for Sun Prairie.

The Warhawks made seven appearances in the State Summer Baseball Tournament between 1973 and 2009. They won two State titles and finished runner-up on three occasions.