EVANSVILLE — The Cheesemakers saw their baseball season come to an end May 23 with a 2-0 loss to Evansville in the first round of the WIAA Division 2 regional playoffs.
Monroe senior Max Lange had a solid outing on the mound, going 5.2 innings on 102 pitches and scattering 10 baserunners. He also struck out five. Jared Cline got the final out for Monroe on just two pitches.
The bottom of the order came through first for the Blue Devils, with their nine-hitter Ryan Borchardt scoring on a single to right by leadoff man Carson Hill in the bottom of the third inning. Evansville’s only other run came in the bottom of the sixth when five-hitter Aaron Anderson launched a solo home run to lead off the frame.
Blue Devils hurdler Ethan France went 5.1 innings, allowing three hits and four walks with seven strikeouts. Tyr Severson allowed two runners in 1.2 innings of work to get the save.
At the plate, Tyler Matley, Dagan Rach, Lange and Payton Stauffacher all collected a hit, with Stauffacher launching a double and adding a walk.
WIAA Division 3 Playoffs, May 23
New Glarus 13, Brodhead-Juda 8
BRODHEAD — It took 11 innings, but the Glarner Knights were able to avenge an early-season loss to the Cardinals and keep their hopes alive.
Neither starting pitcher reached the fourth inning, and the story of the game was in the relief pitching game.
New Glarus starter Ben Melvin was pulled after just one inning of work, allowing six runs (five earned) on five hits and a walk. Peyton Mendleski then came on and went six innings, allowing one unearned run to score while scattering six hits and three walks. Mendleski also hit a batter, balked and threw a wild pitch.
Carter Siegenthaler tossed the final four frames of relief with seven strikeouts for the Knights in the extra-inning affair, scattering seven baserunners while allowing a single run.
Brodhead-Juda starter Quinton Kammerer pitched three innings and allowed seven hits, five walks and five earned runs. Andrew Brockwell then went five innings, allowing just two runs (one earned) with eight strikeouts, three walks and four hits. Conner Green took the mound in the ninth and cruised at first, tossing a pair of scoreless innings.
But in the top of the 11th, the wheels fell off for Green and the Cardinals.
New Glarus sent 10 batters to the plate and scored six runs — four earned — on just two hits. But the Knights also walked five times in the frame and had another runner reach on a dropped third strike.
In the bottom of the 11th, Brodhead-Juda could only get one run back.
Connor Siegenthaler was 4 for 6 with a walk and four RBIs for New Glarus. Darris Schuett and Mendleski each had three hits, and Cooper Dreyfus had a hit, two walks and scored three runs.
Green and Kammerer had three hits apiece for the Cardinals, while Brockwell and Payton Johnson both had a pair of hits.
Brodhead-Juda led 6-4 after the second, but the Knights scored one run in the fourth, fifth and sixth to tie it at 7 and force extra innings.
WIAA Division 4 playoffs, May 23
Pecatonica 5, Darlington 1
BLANCHARDVILLE — The Vikings used a 3-run fifth inning to hold off an upset bid by the Redbirds in the opening round of the regional playoffs.
Colton Schraepfer was 3 for 4 with two doubles, two steals and three runs scored for Pecatonica. Schraepfer led off the bottom of the first with a double to left, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a Lane Busser groundout.
Hunter Enloe singled to leadoff the bottom of the fifth, and Schraepfer doubled to left again to put two ducks on the pond. With one out, Carter Ruegsegger doubled to center to drive in both baserunners. Ruegsegger’s courtesy runner, Kegun Brunker, scored when a ball was misplayed off the bat of Zander Brunker.
The Vikings got an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth as Schraepfer reached second on an error, stole third and came around to score on a Busser single.
On the mound, Ruegsegger was dazzling, tossing a complete game with 12 strikeouts, four hits and two walks.
“Carter was the story of the game,” Pecatonica coach Jim Strommen said. “Throwing a 4-hitter and getting that big 2-run double with the game tied at 4 in the fifth — that was huge.”
Preston Banfield started for Darlington, lasting 4.2 innings and allowing four runs on eight hits and a walk. Barry Schliem tossed the final 1.1 innings for the Redbirds. Nick Andrae had two hits for Darlington.
Pecatonica advances to the regional semifinal slated for May 28 at Shullsburg-Benton. The Miners swept the Vikings in a doubleheader May 10.
Southwestern 6, Argyle 5
HAZEL GREEN — In a game filled with errors, the host Wildcats came out on top, ending Argyle’s season with the bases loaded.
Southwestern took a 3-0 lead in the third inning, but the Orioles tied it at 3 in the top of the fifth. The Wildcats added another run in the bottom of the fifth to re-take the lead, only for Argyle again to pull even in the top of the sixth.
In the bottom of the six, the Wildcats plated two runs to take a 6-4 advantage.
With one out in the top of the seventh, Mitchell Flannery walked, but he was called out on a Mason Waage fielder’s choice. Down to their final out of the season, the Orioles got a single from Gavin Johnson and BJ Penniston was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Clay Ritschard then walked to bring in a run.
Reliever Austin Redfearn entered for Southwestern and went six pitches deep to Miken Godfrey, getting the Oriole to strike out on a foul tip in a 2-2 count to end the game.
Johnson collected three hits at the plate, while Ritschard and Flannery each had two. Godfrey went 4.2 innings on the mound, allowing four runs (two earned) on five hits and two walks. Godfrey struck out five. Johnson pitched the final 1.1 innings and allowed two unearned runs to score. Four of Argyle’s five runs on offense were unearned.
Barneveld 10, Monticello-Albany 2
BARNEVELD — Luke Johnson doubled and had three hits and Corbin Kelly walked twice with a hit, but the Ponies were no match for the Eagles.
Kelly took the loss on the mound, pitching all six innings of defense for Monticello-Albany. He allowed 10 runs — just three earned — on 12 hits and a walk. Kelly threw first-pitch strikes to 26 of the 35 batters he faced and had 65 strikes of his 101 pitches painted the black.
Barneveld led 1-0 after the first and added two more runs in the second. The Ponies scored both of their runs in the top of the third to make it 3-2, but Barneveld countered and held a 5-2 lead after four innings. A five-run sixth blew the game open.
In other area action, Black Hawk lost to Shullsburg-Benton 10-0 in six innings.
