Lake Geneva BadgerÃÛèÖÊÓƵ Gavin Stewart, who hit two fly balls to the warning track against Milton in the WIAA Division 1 sectional semifinal early on Tuesday, trots around bases after hitting a home run the BadgerÃÛèÖÊÓƵ 8-2 sectional final victory later on Tuesday at Oregon High. Lake Geneva Badger advances to next weekÃÛèÖÊÓƵ state tournament by virtue of its pair of victories Tuesday in Oregon.
Lake Geneva BadgerÃÛèÖÊÓƵ Gavin Stewart, who hit two fly balls to the warning track against Milton in the WIAA Division 1 sectional semifinal early on Tuesday, trots around bases after hitting a home run the BadgerÃÛèÖÊÓƵ 8-2 sectional final victory later on Tuesday at Oregon High. Lake Geneva Badger advances to next weekÃÛèÖÊÓƵ state tournament by virtue of its pair of victories Tuesday in Oregon.
CALAHAN STEED/ADAMS PUBLISHING GROUP
OREGON — The Milton High baseball team had a goal of making it to the WIAA State Tournament when it arrived at Oregon High School for sectional play Tuesday morning.
That goal was erased by noon.
Badger High built a 5-0 lead after three innings and ended the Red Hawks’ season with a 5-2 victory in a WIAA Division 1 sectional semifinal game.
The Red Hawks, who had earned the sectionalÃÛèÖÊÓƵ No. 1 seed, finished with a 20-8 record.
Badger High (21-7), the No. 4 seed, kept their momentum going in the sectional final Thursday afternoon. The Lake Geneva school earned a trip to the WIAA Division 1 State Tournament by beating third-seeded Monona Grove 8-2.
Division 1 state tournament quarterfinal play begins Monday at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute.
The Badgers, who were co-championships of the Southern Lakes Conference, scored all their runs against Milton in the first three innings.
In the first inning, three singles produced the first Badger run. Two of those singles came with two outs.
The Red Hawks appeared ready to match that score or take the lead in their half of the first.
Senior Jake Cummins lined the first of his three singles to lead off the inning. The UW-Milwaukee advanced all the way to third on an errant throw with no outs. Two strikeouts and a ground out stranded Cummins at third.
“We just didn’t find a way get Jake in and tie it up,†Milton coach Kris Agnew said. “I think that would have done a lot for our momentum.
Junior Brendan KellarÃÛèÖÊÓƵ solo homer in the second inning, along with a single, three-base throwing error, a sacrifice fly and another single made it 4-0 after two innings. A walk and two singles in the third produced the fifth Badgers run.
“It came down to that second inning,†Agnew said. “Badger hit some balls really, really hard. Their No. 8 hitter put a nice swing on a first pitch fastball for a home run. They were tough outs all day.â€
The Red Hawks cut into the lead with a two-run third inning.
Gavin Cole and Cummins led off the bottom of the inning with singles. The runners advanced to third and second on a sacrifice bunt by Easton Agnew.
Jack Spielmann lined a single to centerfield to score Cole. Cummins went to third and scored on Carter ThompsonÃÛèÖÊÓƵ sacrifice fly to left.
Those were all the runs Milton managed off BadgerÃÛèÖÊÓƵ righthanded Riley Lussmyer, although the Red Hawks did have runners on in three of the remaining four innings.
A double play ended the Red Hawks’ fourth inning.
The Red Hawks’ best opportunity to rally came in the sixth inning. Spielmann and Thompson started the inning off with line singles. The threat fizzled on a foul out to the catcher and two swinging strikeouts. Lussmyer, who is headed to play for Millikin (Illinois) University, finished with eight strikeouts.
“Lussmyer is a competitive kid, and he threw the ball well today,†Agnew said.
MiltonÃÛèÖÊÓƵ ace, senior Trey Jones, came out of the game in the fourth inning after throwing 76 pitches. In a start against Badger on April 8, the 6-foot-2 lefthander had allowed just one hit in six innings in a 6-0 nonconference victory, one of his six on the season.
“It was to BadgerÃÛèÖÊÓƵ benefit that they had seen him,†Agnew said. “They had a pretty good plan for him today.â€
That ruined the plans the Red Hawks had of returning to the state tournament. Agnew is optimistic about the group of underclassmen that will return and proud of his team that overcame a bit of a rough start to the season.
“We were sitting 3-3 at the beginning of the year and really not knowing where we were going,†Agnew said. “Going 17-5 the rest of the season was good.
“We’re excited what we have coming back.â€
BADGER 5, MILTON 2
Badger 131 000 0-5 9 2
Milton 002 000 0—2 7 2
Leading hitters—Badger: Stewart 2x4, Kellar 2x4; Milton: Cummins 3x4. Spielmann 2x3. HR—Kellar (B).
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so)—Badger: Lussmyer (W), 7-7-2-2-1-8; Milton: T. Jones (L) 3 1/3-7-5-3-1-5, Schwarz 3 2/3-2-0-0-0-5.
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