St. Mary Catholic 6, Unity 5
St. Mary Catholic (25-0) ran its way to the title game, defeating Unity (22-5), 6-5, in the Division 3 semifinals at Neuroscience Group Field Wednesday afternoon.
The Zephyrs stole seven bases, which ranks second-most in a game in Division 3 State Tournament history. Both Tyler Nelson and Christian Jack tied the Division 3 individual mark for stolen bases in a State Tournament game with three apiece.
The Zephyrs manufactured a run in the first inning to take the lead. Tyler Nelson led off the inning with a single. He stole second and went to third on a passed ball. With one out, Unity’s Nate Heimstead unleashed a wild pitch that struck out the batter but allowed Nelson to score from third.
Unity scored two runs in the second inning on an RBI single by Cody Ince and on a wild pitch, allowing Wyatt Stenberg, who reached base on a fielder’s choice, to race home from third. They tacked on three more runs in the third inning to take a 5-1 lead. The big blow was delivered when Stenberg hit a bases-clearing double to left-center field.
St. Mary Catholic got back to even with four runs in the bottom of the third, aided by four hits and four stolen bases. Nelson scored the first run after an errant throw. Caleb Davidson followed with a two-out, two-run single to center, and Mack Blashka knocked in the fourth run of the inning with a single.
The Zyphyrs regained the lead for good in the fourth inning with a single tally. Nelson reached base, stole second and scored an unearned run on a single by Jack.
Nelson had two hits and three runs scored in the game to ignite the Zyphyrs’ offense. Jack added two hits, a run scored and an RBI. Davidson tossed a complete game to post the victory. He yielded two earned runs on seven hits with three strikeouts.
Brett Nelson had two hits and scored twice for the Eagles. Heimstead collected a pair of hits at the plate and was charged with the loss on the mound. He pitched four innings and gave up four earned runs while striking out three.
Prairie du Chien 2, Markesan 0
Prairie du Chien (25-1) blanked Markesan (24-1), 2-0, in the Division 3 semifinals Wednesday afternoon at Neuroscience Group Field to advance to the final Thursday.
Chas Sagedahl turned in a dominating performance on the hill for the Blackhawks. He scattered four hits and struck out 11 batters during the shutout.
Prairie du Chien drew first blood in the second inning after Jack Wasechek belted a triple down the right field line. Jonathan Dyer delivered a two-out single to score Wasecheck and give the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead.
They added a run in the fourth inning on a two-out RBI single by Chad Mara to score Wasechek, who singled earlier in the inning.
The Blackhawks were in position to increase their lead in the bottom of the sixth. With the bases loaded and two outs, Wasechek hit a grounder headed for centerfield, but a diving stop by second baseman Ryan Walker and flip to second base forced out the runner and retired the side.
Wasechek led the Blackhawks’ offense with two hits, including a triple and two runs scored.
Hornets’ starter Kyle Krueger deserved a better fate. He pitched seven innings and surrendered two runs on eight hits with five strikeouts. He also led Markesan at the plate with a pair of hits. Walker and Cody Ryan accounted for the other two Hornets’ hits.