Rib Lake 6, Pepin/Alma 2
Rib Lake (20-4) defeated Pepin/Alma (18-8) 6-2 in the Division 4 semifinals Wednesday at Neuroscience Group Field to advance to the final.
The Redmen took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on an RBI triple by Noah Weinke. They added an unearned run in the third inning. Austin Ewan reached base on an infield error to start the inning. He advanced to second on a wild pitch and later scored on a Dalton Strebig single to up the Rib Lake lead to 2-0.
Weinke drove in another run on a single for the first score of a four-run fifth inning. The Redmen scored two runs on an RBI single by Zane Mencheski and an Eagles’ error on a throw to the plate. The final run of the inning crossed the plate on a Joe Scheithauer ground out.
The Eagles attempted a comeback with two runs in the sixth inning. Trevor Helt walked to start the inning and went to second on a Redmen error on a sacrifice attempt. Lance Johnson singled Helt home for the first run. Jarrett Pearson drove in the other run in the inning with a sacrifice fly.
Weinke pitched a complete game, giving up seven hits and two unearned runs while striking out six. He also helped his cause at the plate with a pair of hits and two RBIs. Strebig also chipped in with two hits, two runs and an RBI.
The Eagles collected seven hits in the game, including two from Logan Carroll, Lance Johnson and Tyler Meixner. Ben Mueller started on the mound for the Eagles and suffered the loss by giving up a run in two innings.
Ithaca 6, Green Bay N.E.W. Lutheran 2
Last year’s runner-up Ithaca (22-3) advances to the Division 4 title game following a 6-2 win over Green Bay N.E.W. Lutheran (13-8) in the semifinals Wednesday morning at Neuroscience Group Field in Grand Chute.
The Blazers took little time to grab the lead. Tanner Natzke reached base with a lead-off single in the top of the first inning. He scored two batters later on a triple to center field by Jed McClellan.
The Bulldogs grabbed a 2-1 advantage in the second inning. A walk and a pair of errors led to the first run followed by an RBI single from Joey Clary.
Ithaca added three runs in the third inning to build the lead to 5-1. After Caleb Olson walked to lead-off the inning, Ross Ghastin doubled to score the first run of the inning. After Cody Klossowski singled to put runners on the corners, the Bulldogs executed a double steal with Ghastin scoring on the play. Klossowski then came home on a fielding error.
A bases-loaded walk to Ryan Granger added another run for the Bulldogs in the fifth inning. The Blazers plated an unearned insurance run in the sixth inning. Brock Reisler reached on a fielder’s choice, advanced to second base on a passed ball and scored on a misplayed fly ball in the outfield.
Jacob Huebsch went the distance on the mound for the Bulldogs to record the victory. He allowed one earned run on three hits with 12 strikeouts. Four different Bulldogs had a one hit each, including Klossowski, who scored three times in the game.
Natzke accounted for two of the Blazers’ three hits in the game, including a triple. McClellan’s triple accounted for the other hit. The two triples by the Blazers tied a Division 4 State Tournament record for three-base hits in a game. Mitchell Lynch was charged with the loss on the mound for the Blazers. He worked into the fifth inning, surrendering four earned runs on four hits with one strikeout.