The WIAA baseball tournament will resume today with sectional play that will determine berths to next week’s state tournament in Grand Chute.
Division 4
The Reedsville Panthers are in Pecatonica today (Tuesday), where they play Green Lake/Princeton in a WIAA Division Four sectional semifinal at 11:00 a.m.
Reedsville finished in a tie for second place with Manitowoc Lutheran in the Big East North (7-3), and they come into today’s game with an overall record of 16- 6. They’ve gotten hot at the right time, having won six straight and nine of their last ten, having defeated Hilbert 1-0 and Central Wisconsin Christian of Waupun by a score of 8-1 to capture a regional title.
Head Coach Luke Ubersox’s team features a prolific offense that sports a .338 batting average and an op (on base plus slugging) of .900 and they spread the wealth around. They have six players with 10 or more runs batted in led by senior Nathan Christensen with 23 RBIs. He also leads the Panthers in batting average (.457) OPS (1.188), total bases (50) and his tied with junior Javen Matznick for the team lead in home runs (3). Matznick has also been a menace on the base paths having stolen a club leading 26.
The pitching staff is deep with seven dependable arms, but they’ve been hurt at times with the base on balls. They’ve walked 69 batters collectively as a team or an average of a little more than three a game, which has improved as the year has gone on.
Green Lake/Princeton has an overall record of 14 and 9 and much like Reedsville, they’ve saved their best ball for the right time of the year. After starting the year 4-6, they’ve won 4 straight and 8 of their last ten games including regional victories over Green Bay NEW Lutheran/ Providence Academy (11-3) and Lourdes Academy of Oshkosh (11-4).
Sophomore Drake Westfield has had an outstanding year for the Tigersharks. He leads the club in batting average (.463), base hits (31), runs scored (33), stolen bases (18) and fielding percentage (.960). Westfield is also the staff ace sporting a 7-0 record with a sparkling ERA of 0.48 and WHIP (walks plus hits divided by innings pitched) of 0.67. There is a good supporting cast around him, but if you can keep Westfield at bay there’s a fighting chance for teams to be victorious against the Tigersharks.
The winner will face either Barneveld or Palmyra/Eagle for the sectional title and a berth in next week’s state tournament at approximately 4:00 p.m. this afternoon.
Division 3
The Brillion Lions and Kewaunee Storm meet this afternoon in a WIAA Division Three baseball Sectional semifinal in Crivitz.
The Lions began the season 1-2 before ripping off 19 consecutive victories before losing back-to-back games to Kiel, which determined the EWC title. They’ve bounced back to win three straight, including regional victories over Algoma and Bonduel.
Senior Joe Shimek has been outstanding for the Lions as he spearheads a very balanced offensive attack. He leads the team in batting average (.500), OPS (1.259), runs scored (48), stolen bases (28) and is tied with senior Chase Braun for the team lead in hits with 40. (Joe) Shimek is second to senior Landon Mathes (1.12) in ERA (1.39) while a supporting cast of Heath and Hayden Cousin, James Shimek, Aiden Reinke, along McCormick Zutz among others have made Brillion a formidable foe on the diamond this spring.
As great as this season has been, the Lions will have to be at the top of their game this afternoon as they tangle with the undefeated and top-ranked Division Three team in the state in the Kewaunee Storm.
The 28-0 Storm ran away with the Packerland Conference title and sport about a complete roster in the state regardless of division. If there are two players that are so- standouts seniors, Wayne Delain and Brett Paulsen might be them. They both load up the stay sheet in several categories, as do Connor Kilgore, Dane Harrell, Diesel Bosdeck, Michael Van Ess, Calvin Van Kolmorgren, and we could go on and on. There just isn’t a weak spot on this Storm team, who’s looking to return to state after falling short of their goal last year, losing in the Division Three state title game to Kenosha, St, Joesph by a score of 3-2.
The first pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m., with the winner to face either Stratford or Marathon for the sectional title and a trip to state at approximately 4 p.m. this afternoon.
Also in Division Three, Cedar Grove-Belgium meets Living Word Lutheran of Jackson in Horicon.
Divison 1
Bruce Steinbecker Field in Manitowoc will be the site of a WIAA Division One baseball sectional tournament today.
The first semifinal pits undefeated Germantown, which eliminated Lincoln in the regional final last Thursday, against Fond Du Lac at 10 a.m., with the second game pitting Neenah against West Bend West at 1:00 p.m.
The Winners meet for the sectional title and a trip to state at approximately 4 p.m. this afternoon.
Other Division One sectional games have Bay Port battling West De Pere and Kimberly playing Kaukauna.
Both games will be held in Kimberly.
