Top-10 Stories of 2018: No. 4 Athens overcomes tragedy to earn back-to-back D-4 titles
December 26, 2018
Prior to their game against Pittsville in the WIAA Division-4 sectional semis, the Athens Fighting Bluejays were stricken with devastating news: teammate Tucker Westfall, a freshman in the squad, had died in a UTV accident. Westfall’s father, Dale, served as an assistant coach on the team and cousins Marshall and Connor Westfall, as well as Javon Penney, all lost a close relative that day, while the Bluejays lost a teammate.
Athens, a program seeking a return trip to state and back-to-back D-4 titles, had always been a tight-knit group. Their 2017 team earned their program a state title for the first time since 1982 and had vowed to get back to the top the following year. Tucker’s loss was a painful one. But the team decided to play for reasons beyond wins and losses. It appeared as if the Bluejays sought to use baseball as a momentary respite from the sorrow their community had to combat off the field.
The Bluejays did just that.
In the sectional doubleheader, Athens cruised to easy wins over Pittsville and Wausaukee and it earned them a second straight berth in the state tournament. In Grand Chute, Wis., Tucker’s cousins played vital roles, as they had all season, in their climb back to the top of the D-4 pile. Marshall Westfall and Penney combined to go 7-for-7 at the plate that day, helping the Bluejays win a wild 13-10 contest with Thorp.
Though, the community of Athens celebrated more than back-to-back state championships when the Bluejays lifted the D-4 trophy.
We’ve posted the game story from our coverage of the D-4 title game below.
ATHENS WINS BACK-TO-BACK D-4 STATE TITLES
| Athens | 13 |
| Thorp | 10 |
(From June 14, 2018) GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Athens Fighting Bluejays came into the 2018 season as the reigning D4 champs and the consensus favorite to repeat, losing only one senior off of last year’s squad. In fact, Athens was even ranked in our Preseason Power 25.
But this year’s title run was anything but a cake walk. The Fighting Bluejays had to do just that this postseason and fight through a ton of adversity, most notably the heartbreaking loss teammate Tucker Westfall in early June to a deadly UTV accident. On top of that nearly the entire squad was dealing with a bout of food poisoning in Appleton.
Despite the hurdles the climb, Coach Coker kept his Fighting Bluejays on track to win their second straight D4 title, 13-10 over Thorp.
The game itself was in the hands of Athens most of the way after a big six-run fourth inning that broke a 2-2 tie. Thorp continued to claw back and get themselves within striking distance, but costly defensive miscues kept letting Athens pull away.
For Athens, Marshall Westfall had the big day at the plate, going 4-for-4 with a triple, two RBI and two runs scored. Seth Coker drove in three on two hits, and Javon Penny had a perfect 3-for-3 day with two runs scored.
TOP STORIES OF 2018