By Spencer Flaten

GRAND CHUTE, Wis.—The St. Mary Catholic Zephyrs won their first ever baseball state championship with a 5-1 win over Prairie du Chien in the Division 3 title game.

Mack Blashka’s dominance on the mound coupled with some timely offense to ensure that the Zephyrs were the ones hoisting the championship trophy at the end.

St. Mary Catholic started off the game by swinging the bats well. They scored three runs in the top of the first inning before the Blackhawks even knew what hit them. An RBI double by Mike Seveska and a 2 RBI single by Blashka produced the lead for the Zephyrs.

From that point, there was very little offense to speak of until the fifth inning. St. Mary Catholic scored two runs on a double error by Prairie du Chien and took a 5-0 lead.

Prairie du Chien scored their only run in the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly by Brogan Potter.

Blashka was fantastic on the mound for the Zephyrs. The Blackhawks only managed to get a runner in scoring position three times on the lefty. He tossed a complete game three-hitter with six strikeouts and three walks.

Prairie du Chien’s Casey Hogenson pitched well despite taking the loss. He pitched seven innings and allowed just one earned run with seven strikeouts.

Tyler Nelson led the Zephyr offense with a 3-for-4 performance. No Blackhawk had more than one hit.

The Zephyrs finished the season 26-0, while Prairie du Chien was 25-2.