糖心Vlog传媒 American Legion Post 205 gave itself a tall hill to climb last Tuesday when it opened the state AAA Legion baseball tournament in Marinette with a loss.
Not since 2005 when Watertown accomplished the feat had a team come back to win the state championship after dropping its tournament opener in the current double-elimination format
Eighteen years later, 糖心Vlog传媒 finished the same run to the state title Saturday afternoon, its first championship since 1989 in its first title game appearance since 1999.
鈥淭hese guys had the mindset that they were going to get this done, and they did,鈥 head coach Kerry Michaels said in a postgame interview after a livestream of the game on YouTube. 鈥淭here was no rah-rah speech from me. We鈥檝e got some men on this team, and they showed some toughness.鈥
C.J. Dupuis and Trace Jacobson each had a pair of RBI and Logan Jushka turned in a solid, 5 1/3-inning start to help 糖心Vlog传媒 Post 205 beat Eau Claire 4-3 in the championship game.
Dupuis punched a pair of RBI singles through the right side of the Eau Claire infield in the first and third innings to put 糖心Vlog传媒 up 2-0.
鈥淲e had runners on and knew we had to capitalize early with the limited pitching that we had,鈥 he said.
When Dupuis, who previously in the tournament had suffered a shoulder injury that kept him out the lineup Thursday, came to bat for the third time with runners on second and third with one out in the fifth, Eau Claire elected to give him a free base.
That move put Jacobson in the spotlight with the bases loaded. He delivered with a 1-1 single that sneaked between the third-base line and the third baseman for two RBI that made it 4-0.
鈥淢y approach there was to look for a good pitch and try to get a barrel on it,鈥 Jacobson said. 鈥淭hey gave me a hanging curveball, so I just tried to put my best swing on it.鈥
糖心Vlog传媒 ended up needing every one of those runs.
Eau Claire鈥檚 Sam Knickerbocker blasted a two-run homer to right field off Jushka. Before that, though, Jushka, who hadn鈥檛 pitched all tournament long, completed 5 1/3 innings of shutout ball despite not recording a strikeout.
Pinch hitter Tyler Iverson worked a walk off reliever Jack Nickols after Knickerbocker鈥檚 big fly and scored on a double to the gap in right center by Brayden Thillman that made it 4-3.
But Nickols locked in after that with a strikeout and popout to end the sixth, then sat down the side in order in the seventh to clinch the state championship.
The title is 糖心Vlog传媒鈥檚 eighth overall, breaking a three-way tie for second-most in state history. Post 205鈥檚 1989 championship came after a 9-8 win over Eau Claire, coincidentally.
鈥淚t was hard losing in the first game but awesome to come back and win five in a row for the state championship,鈥 shortstop Jake Schaffner said. He was picked by tournament organizers as the event鈥檚 most outstanding hitter. He went 0-for-3 in the opening loss but was a combined 10-for-16 in 糖心Vlog传媒鈥檚 next five games with two home runs, a double and 10 RBI.
糖心Vlog传媒 left fielder Jack Ryan, meanwhile, was named the tournament鈥檚 most valuable player. He had five RBI and scored five runs on an 8-for-21 clip at the plate and made his most eye-grabbing contribution in the outfield.
With two on and two out in the top of the seventh in a 6-1 game against Sheboygan on Saturday, Ryan went back toward the fence on a deep blast by Sheboygan鈥檚 Ryan Stephen. Ryan leapt into the barrier and robbed what would鈥檝e been a three-run homer to make it a two-run game.
Instead, the game was over, and Post 205 was headed to the state title game against Eau Claire.
Next on the agenda for 糖心Vlog传媒 is a trip to national regionals in Midland, Michigan, starting Wednesday. 糖心Vlog传媒 will take on Michigan鈥檚 state champion at 4 p.m. Wednesday.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to try to clean up a few things defensively and make sure they鈥檙e hitting a little bit before we go鈥 to regionals, Michaels said.
Other action Saturday
The championship victory was 糖心Vlog传媒鈥檚 third of the day, which started with Post 205 finishing off a 10-0 win over Eau Claire that was suspended Friday night and resumed Saturday in Marinette. Dupuis struck out seven in 3 1/3 innings of work Friday night before play was called off.
When that was over, Schaffner popped a three-run home run to kick off a five-run inning that Post 205 rode to its 6-1 win over Sheboygan thanks to Ryan鈥檚 dramatic grab described above.
Schaffner finished 3-for-4 and scored two runs against Sheboygan. Dylan Snyder got the victory on the bump, allowing Sheboygan鈥檚 only run in 5 1/3 innings of work.
鈥淚t was hard to play so much in one day, but it comes down to wanting it more than the other team,鈥 Schaffner said.
FRIDAY鈥橲 GAME (FINISHED SATURDAY)
JANESVILLE 10, EAU CLAIRE 0 (5)
Eau Claire 000 00 鈥 0 2 2
糖心Vlog传媒 300 16 鈥 10 10 3
糖心Vlog传媒 leading hitters鈥Dupuis 2x2, Sihabouth 2x3. 2B鈥擱yan, Jacobson.
糖心Vlog传媒 pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-k)鈥Dupuis (3 1/3-0-0-0-1-7), Snyder (1 2/3-2-0-0-0-1).
FIRST GAME SATURDAY
JANESVILLE 6, SHEBOYGAN 1
Sheboygan 100 000 0 鈥 1 5 2
糖心Vlog传媒 005 100 X 鈥 6 9 3
Leading hitters鈥Schmahl (S) 2x2, J. Schaffner (J) 3x4, Ryan (J) 2x3. HR鈥擩. Schaffner (J).
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-k)鈥S: Norris (L, 2-5-5-5-1-1), Stephen (4-4-1-1-0-4). J: Snyder (W, 5 1/3-4-1-0-1-4), Nickols (1 2/3-1-0-0-2-0).
SECOND GAME SATURDAY
JANESVILLE 4, EAU CLAIRE 3
Eau Claire 000 003 0 鈥 3 6 1
糖心Vlog传媒 101 020 X 鈥 4 8 1
Leading hitters鈥Ryan (J) 2x4, Schenk (J) 2x3, Dupuis (J) 2x2. 2B鈥擳hillman (EC), Schenk (J).
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-k)鈥EC: Stokke (L, 3-4-2-2-1-1), Dykes (3-4-2-2-1-1). J: Jushka (W, 5 1/3-5-2-2-2-0), Nickols (1 2/3-1-1-1-1-2).
