Prep Baseball Report

D2 Semifinals: Jefferson wins in 5; Waupun earns hard-fought win


By Steve Nielsen and Andy Sroka
Wisconsin Staff

This evening in the Division-2 semifinals, Mosinee played Jefferson in game one while Ellsworth battled Power 25-ranked Waupun in the day’s final match-up. After Mosinee scored the first run in the top of the first inning, Jefferson rattled off the next 14 runs, including an 11-run third inning to effectively put the game away. Waupun is making its return to the title game, where they finished as the runners-up last spring. They downed Ellsworth, 6-3, after taking advantage of some Panthers misplays.

Thursday’s D-2 title game is slated to start at 3 p.m., right back at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium, following the conclusion of the D-3 championship.

Below you’ll find the game recaps for the two semifinal match-ups.

GAME ONE – Mosinee (15-6) vs. Jefferson (19-9)

Jefferson used an 11 run third inning to eliminated Mosinee 14-2 in five innings.

Ian Drays had the big day for the Eagles, in three at bats the senior Bradley commit hit a ringing double to center, a single and finished off his day with a no doubt three-run homer to left, finishing with four RBI and three runs scored.

Evan Anfang also drove in four for Jefferson, including an inside the park home run in the first.

LHP Ryan Brost held Mosinee in check, scattering five hits, one earned run and striking out five. Jefferson advances to tomorrow’s D2 title game, the last time the Eagles were they, they won it in 2014.

GAME TWO – Ellsworth (16-7) vs. Waupun (24-2)

It wasn’t Brendan Bille’s finest work, but Waupun’s No. 1 battled all game long and hung in there long enough for the Warriors to take advantage of some defensive miscues from Ellsworth.

Down 3-1 in the bottom of the fourth, Waupun came all the way back to take the lead in the half inning. Errors put Waupun’s first to batters on base and a shallow fly ball to shallow right-center off the bat of Keegan Hartgerink fell in between the converging center and left fielders and the second baseman to score the Warriors’ second run. With runners on second and third, Brayden Sanders smashed a two-out, two-run single into left that gave Waupun the lead, 4-3.

In the sixth, Bradyn VandeZande lined a pinch-hit, two-out, two-run single into right-center to pad his team’s lead, upping it to 6-3, allowing his team’s starter to exhale a bit.

Bille did not allow a hit in his remaining 2.1 innings of work, giving way to reliever Caden Bronkhorst after reaching pitch count limitations. Bronkhorst needed to just get two outs after inheriting a runner on first with one out. He struck out the first batter he faced and got Ellsworth’s best bat, Ryan McGregor, to pop out to the shortstop to clinch a spot in the D-2 State championship game for the second consecutive year.

Waupun finished as runners-up last season after falling to West Salem, 8-6, but are looking to take out their revenge on a Jefferson team that impressed earlier in the day with its hefty bats. Waupun made three straight State tournaments from 2006 to 2008 and came away their program’s solitary State title in 2007. They’re hoping to add to that trophy case on Thursday.

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