Top-10 Stories of 2018: No. 7 Waupun crowned D-2 champs in return to title game

Waupun welcomed themselves back Grand Chute, Wis. – after losing in the Division-2 title game back in 2017 – by earning the state championship this past spring. This time around, the Warriors had RHP Caden Bronkhorst to do the heavy lifting on the mound. The righty twirled six-plus shutout innings against a Jefferson team that scored 14 runs the day before.

Bronkhorst was bolstered on the mound by two separate RBI doubles from fellow junior Jak Lenz. His first double opened the game’s scoring and his second one padded the Warriors’ lead to 3-0, at the time. Waupun added one more run to take a 4-0 lead into the bottom of the seventh and overcame Jefferson’s too-little-too-late rally to clinch the championship.

It’s Waupun’s second WIAA title in their program’s history.

WAUPUN'S BRONKHORST SHUTS DOWN JEFFERSON FOR THE D-2 TITLE

(From 6/14/18) GRAND CHUTE, Wis. – It’s redemption for Waupun after finishing as runners-up in last year’s Division-2 title game. The Warriors were led by two excellent performances, one at the plate and one on the mound, to carry them across the finish line in their 4-0 win over Jefferson. The Warriors are now two-time State champs, winners for the first time since 2007.

Starter Caden Bronkhorst’s effort on the mound cannot be overstated. After shutting the door in his team’s win over Ellsworth yesterday, Bronkhorst threw six-plus shutout innings against Jefferson on Thursday, a team that scored 14 runs and tallied an 11-run inning just the day before in their semifinals game with Mosinee. Bronkhorst kept those powerful bats holstered, finishing his start without having allowed a run in 6.2 innings, and he gave up just four hits, two walks, and he struck out nine Eagles, too.

On offense, Waupun scored one in the first to give Bronkhorst some room to breathe early. Caleb Sauer slugged a two-out single into left to score lead-off man Jak Lenz from second. In the third, Lenz doubled to the right-center gap to plate Waupun’s second run of the game. And again in the fifth, Lenz ripped another double, this time over the head of Jefferson’s left fielder to score his team’s third run. The Warriors added another run in the inning on an error by the Eagles’ pitcher on a throw down to first.

Bronkhorst returned to the mound in the sixth and further dashed Jefferson’s hopes with a clean inning, setting the Eagles down in order. Then, in the seventh, the junior dialed into an extra gear and struck out the first two batters. Jefferson found some fight here, after Bronkhorst plunked the Eagles’ Nick Hauser with a pitch. A single and a walk followed to load the bases, forcing Bronkhorst to be relieved after reaching the pitch count restriction. Sophomore reliever Vaughn Williston took the mound and got the first batter he faced to fly out to left to clinch the D-2 title victory.

WI: Vaughn Williston comes in with the bases loaded, tying run at the plate, and gets a fly out to earn @WaupNation the D-2 State championship victory!

Starter Caden Bronkhorst was dominant in his 6.2 innings of work to guide the Warriors to the win. pic.twitter.com/6k3Q7IEz6Z

— PBR Wisconsin (@PBRWisconsin) June 14, 2018

The loss ends a hugely successful season for Jefferson, a team that won 19 games and was co-champ of the Rock Valley Conference. The Eagles still have plenty of reasons to be immensely proud of what they accomplished this spring.

For Waupun, it’s a satisfying conclusion for a great number of seniors in their dugout, like Brenden Bille, Sauer, Lenz, and Bryce Burmania, among others. But, you can expect Waupun to be in the running for a third straight State berth in 2019, seeing as a number of the key contributors on this year’s team, like sophomores Baron and Jarrett Buchholz, as well as today’s starter and winner, the junior Bronkhorst, will return to defend their crown.