(WIAA) GRAND CHUTE – Top-seeded New Berlin Eisenhower (24-5) scored a run in the bottom of the seventh inning for the walk-off win over third-seeded Seymour (26-4) in the Division 2 championship game.
After a leadoff walk, Sam Hirthe belted a game-winning double to left field, driving home Carter Hollenback.
New Berlin Eisenhower never trailed in the game. The Lions took a 4-0 lead in the third inning. With the bases loaded and no outs, they scored on a hit batter, and then Hirthe delivered the big blow with a two-run single. They added another run in the inning on a Thunder error.
Seymour knotted the score at 4-4 in the fourth inning. Micah Byers slugged a two-run double, and Colten Nieland tied the game with a two-run, two-out single. The game remained scoreless until Hirthe delivered the winning heroics.
Hirthe led the Lions offensively with two hits and three RBI. Hirthe also started on the mound for the Lions and was credited with the win, tossing six innings, giving up four runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts. Max Nemoir pitched a scoreless seventh inning in relief and was credited with the win. Brady Poch led the Thunder with a pair of hits and a run scored, and Nieland and Byers both drove in two runs. Brayden Banker yielded the run in the seventh to be saddled with the loss.
New Berlin Eisenhower earned the State title for the first time in the program’s history. The Lions’ one other State Tournament appearance came when they sponsored baseball in the summer. Seymour finished runner-up in its first experience at State.
Division 3
Top-seeded Kenosha St. Joseph Catholic (23-7) edged third-seeded Kewaunee (18-6) 3-2 in the championship game. The Lancers improved on last season’s runner-up finish to win the title.
The game was closely contested throughout. After Kewaunee scored first with an unearned run in the top half of the fourth inning, the Lancers tied the game in their half of the inning following a triple by Patrick Davidson, who scored on a base hit by Mason Ballard. The Storm regained the lead in the fifth inning after Toby Kunkel doubled and later scored on a sacrifice fly, but the Lancers scored to tie the game at 2-2 in the bottom half of the inning on a Kewaunee fielding error. Kenosha St. Joseph Catholic scored what proved to be the winning run in the sixth inning after two were out with three straight singles.
Zach Rizzo started and was credited with the win, hurling six innings and striking out six. He yielded two runs, one earned, on four hits. Dominic Santarelli tossed an inning of hitless relief to record the save. Seven different players accounted for the Lancers’ seven hits in the game. Waylon Delain suffered the loss in relief for the Storm; Brady Pribek started and went 3 1/3 innings and gave up one run on four hits. Connor Kilgore drove in a run with a single to lead the Storm offense.
It was the fifth time Kenosha St. Joseph Catholic has won a State championships in the program’s nine tourney appearances, and Kewaunee finishes runner-up its first experience in the State Tournament.
Division 1
Muskego (23-9), the seventh seed, overcame a seventh-inning deficit to win the Division 1 championship with a 5-4 walk-off victory over eighth-seeded Badger (23-8) in the final.
With the bases loaded on walks with one out, Danny Hauboldt was hit by a pitch to score the tying run, and then Carter Nicolato reached on a fielding error, which scored Ben Kuglitsch from third for the game-winner.
Division 4
Second-seeded Johnson Creek (24-6) plated three runs in the top of the first and never trailed in their 5-0 victory over top-seeded Pacelli (26-5) in the Division 4 championship game. After a walk to start the game, Tanner Herman belted a one-out triple to drive in the game’s first run. Zach Holland followed with an RBI triple and later scored on a fielder’s choice. The Bluejays added insurance runs in the third and fifth innings, and a pair of Bluejay pitchers held the Cardinals scoreless.
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