Day two of the State Spring Baseball Tournament featured the Divisions 2, 3 and 4 semifinals at Neuroscience Group Field in Grand Chute Wednesday.
Division 2
Ty Yewman turned in a dominating pitching performance to propel Notre Dame (20-10) into the Division 2 title game with an 8-1 triumph over River Valley.
Yewman struck out 17 batters, which ties for the second most in a Division 2 game in State Tournament history. He brought a perfect game into the fifth and yielded just three hits in the game. The only run surrendered came home on a bad-hop single by Cole Mahoney over the second baseman.
The Tritons opened the game with a run in each of the first two innings. Noah Wleczyk tripled home Sean Green for the first run, and Nick Martzhal doubled in Gage Garrity to give Notre Dame a two-run advantage. The Tritons piled on insurance runs with two in the sixth inning and four more in the seventh to clinch the victory.
Wleczyk went 2-for-2 with a double and a triple, and Martzhal drove in a pair of runs with two hits to lead the Tritons offense, which out-hit River Valley 10-3. Mahoney had two of the three Blackhawk hits.
Milwaukee Lutheran (18-13) rode the left arm of Nick Winter to the Division 2 championship game in a 1-0 blanking of West Salem (23-5) in the semifinals.
Winter tossed a one-hitter, an infield single to second by Ethan Severson in the fifth inning was the only hit he allowed. Severson was the only Panther to reach third base, but was stranded when Winter recorded one of his eight strikeouts to end the threat.
The only run of the game came on a two-out single to left center with two outs in the fifth inning by Christian Gerner. The soft fly ball popped out of the glove of a diving Bailey Valencia. It scored Trey Volkman from second base, who was pinch-running for designated hitter Sam Dekker who singled.
Division 3
Aquinas (27-3) advanced to the final in Division 3 with a convincing 11-3 win over Marathon in the semifinals.
The Blugolds jumped out to a 2-0 in the first inning sparked by a run-scoring triple by Alex Dee, who later scored on a sacrifice fly. They increased their lead to 4-0 with a pair of unearned runs in the fifth inning.
After Marathon scored a run in the bottom half of the fifth inning on an RBI single by Karter Underwood, Aquinas busted the game open in the sixth inning with seven runs on four to expand the lead to 11-1. The big blow was a two-run double by Dee.
The Red Raiders (23-6) avoided application of the 10-run rule in the bottom of the sixth by scoring twice. Both runs came on a Matt Braun double.
Dee led the Blugolds at the plate, going 3-for-3 and finishing a home run short of the cycle. He also drove in three runs and scored three times. Braun had three hits and a pair of RBI for Marathon, which out-hit Aquinas 9-7 in the game. Underwood and Landen Williamson chipped in with two hits apiece.
Alex Schulte pitched five innings to get credited with the win on the mound for the Blugolds. Dee pitched two scoreless innings in relief.
Last year’s Division 4 champion Lake Country Lutheran advances to the Division 3 title game this year with a 9-3 victory over Chequamegon in the semifinals.
The Lightning (27-2) took immediate command of the game with five runs in the top of the first inning. They clubbed six hits in the frame, including three doubles. The Screaming Eagles (21-7) got back in the game with three runs in the third inning highlighted by their only two hits, including a two-run double by Sam Lehman.
Every starter in the Lightnings’ batting order collected at least one hit in the game to power the 12-hit attack. TJ Hopkins had two hits and two RBI. Joe Lipsky and Jack Euclide also had two hits. Kyle Lewis struck out eight and yielded three unearned runs to post the complete game victory.
Division 4
Ithaca (23-3) took control of its Division 4 semifinal game versus Rib Lake (18-8) early, scoring six runs in the first inning and three in the second inning to cruise to a 9-0 win.
The first seven hitters reached base for the Bulldogs in the first inning with five hits, an error and a walk. Three Bulldog pitchers combined for a two-hit shutout. Nolan Clary, in relief of starter Jacob Huebsch, was credited with the win on the mound for Ithaca.
Aaron Kepler belted three hits including a double and an RBI. Caleb Olson also had three hits and a pair of RBI, and Clary contributed to the 12-hit attack with two hits. Jerry Reinhardt and Noah Weinke had the only hits for the Redmen.
Rio (22-4) moves into the Division 4 final by virtue of a 10-5 victory over Spring Valley (19-4) in the semifinals.
The Vikings withstood an early scoring spree, as the Cardinals scored two runs in both the first and second inning, and one in the third. Rio tallied three runs in the first inning ignited by three hits and two Spring Valley errors.
The Vikings took the lead for good by pushing across five runs in the third inning. With two outs and one run already scored in the inning, Jacob Black delivered a two-run single followed by a two-run double by Trajan Prochnow.
Rio added single runs in the fourth and sixth innings to account for the scoring. Both teams collected nine hits in the game. Prochnow had two hits and three RBI for Vikings. Zach Zeidler and Mekhi Haugen also had two hits. Jake Helmer had three hits to lead the Cardinals at the plate.
Trevor Kearney tossed a complete game with five strikeouts to notch the win for Rio.
TUESDAY RECAP
The 68th Annual State Spring Baseball Tournament began Tuesday with Division 1 quarterfinals and will conclude with the semifinals at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute, Wis.
It was pitching gem by Chase Nyborg that lifted Janesville Craig (28-1) to a 4-0 victory over Oconomowoc (21-8) and a berth in State final Thursday.
Nyborg surrendered just five hits and allowed just two runners to advance to second base en route to the shutout. The Cougars would score the only run they needed in the fourth inning when Nick Blomgren reached on an error to lead off the inning. Noah Berghammer pinch ran for Blomgren and later scored on a throwing error.
The Cougars added three runs in the fifth inning with the big hit coming off the bat of JT Smithback that scored two runs. Evan Spry also had an RBI single in the inning.
Janesville Craig made the most out of its three hits off Raccoons’ pitcher Sam Clayton. Ryan Wenzel had two of Oconomowoc’s five hits off Nyborg, including a double. Nyborg struck out seven without walking a batter.
Kimberly advances to the Division 1 finals Thursday with a 9-inning, 6-4 win over River Falls in the semifinal.
The game remained scoreless until the sixth inning when both teams tallied a run but squandered prime opportunities to score more. The Papermakers loaded the bases with one out, but could only score on a sacrifice fly by Steven Jacobson. The Wildcats had runners on second and third with one out in the bottom half of the inning and failed to capitalize further.
Both teams scored twice in the eighth. Kimberly scored on an error and an RBI single by Jacobson. Brian Grove doubled in a run for the Wildcats, and Jon Krueger singled him in to knot the score at 3-3.
Kimberly responded with three runs in the ninth, executing a suicide squeeze bunt by Griffin Hawley and adding runs on a fielder’s choice and a sacrifice fly. The Wildcats scored one run in their half of the inning, but they stranded runners on second and third to end the game.
Ethan Taggart pitched eight innings with seven strikeouts to earn the victory for Kimberly. Hawley and Ben Carew had two hits, and Jacobson drove in a pair of runs to lead the Papermaker offense. River Falls was led at the plate by Brian Grove, who followed a 4-for-4 performance in the quarterfinal with a 4-for-5 effort with three doubles and a pair of RBI. Logan Schmidt added three hits for the Wildcats.
Quarterfinals
Janesville Craig (27-1) erased a one-run deficit in the sixth inning with five runs and added two runs in the seventh to cruise to a 7-1 win over Baraboo (22-7) in its a Division 1 quarterfinal.
The Cougars took advantage of five Thunderbird walks coupled with three hits in the fifth inning. They tacked on two more runs in the seventh inning for added insurance. Baraboo loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh inning but were only able to push across one run.
Kevin Brandt collected three hits to lead the Cougars’ attack, including a pair of doubles and an RBI. Alex Marro drove in a pair of runs and was credited with the win, allowing one earned run and striking out six in 6 1/3 innings. Evan Spry came on in relief to close out the game.
Griffin Nicksic had a pair of hits for the Thunderbirds , and both Mason Mistele and T.J. Wagner each collected a hit and drove in a run.
Oconomowoc (21-7) received a sterling performance from pitcher Logan Wonn to post a 1-0 win in its quarterfinal victory over Bay Port (21-5).
Wonn allowed five hits and struck out three en route to the shut out. The Raccoons scored the only run of the game in the bottom of the first inning. After reach on an infield single and moving to second on a sacrifice bunt, Austin Meunier scored on a Zach Clayton single.
Meunier had two hits in the game as did Nick Lambert, who had the only extra-base hit of the game with a double.
Joe Baier had two of Bay Port’s five hits. The Pirates had the tying and go-ahead runs on first and second base, respectively, with two outs in the seventh inning, but Wonn got the final out with a routine grounder to the second baseman.
Kimberly (25-4) took advantage of three Kenosha Indian Trail (18-8) errors in the first inning to plate a pair of runs and go on to a 3-0 victory in the first Division 1 quarterfinal.
The Papermakers added an insurance run in the seventh, and Brice Swick made it stand up by hurling a five-hit shutout to record the win. Kimberly’s offense was held to four hits, including RBI singles by Ben Carew and Griffin Hawley.
River Falls (18-3) trounced Milwaukee Reagan (17-8) 10-0 in five innings in their Division 1 quarterfinal.
The Wildcats scored at least one run in every inning to build a 10-run cushion. Brian Grove led the 12-hit offensive barrage, going 4-for-4 with an inside-the-park home run and four RBI. Jon Krueger, Joe Halling and James Witt each contributed with two hits apiece.
Witt pitched five scoreless innings, yielding just two hits while striking out seven to get credit for the victory.