BLANCHARDVILLE — Carter Ruegsegger was dealing on the mound, and Colton Schraepfer was taking care of offensive production at the plate as Pecatonica swept Potosi-Cassville in a Six Rivers East-West doubleheader April 5 at McKellar Park. The Vikings won the opener 10-2 and then dominated Game 2 18-6.

Ruegsegger opened the first game by striking out the side in the first inning and racking up two more in the second. He finished with seven strikeouts in 4.2 innings, allowing just one unearned run on three hits and two walks on 72 pitches.

“I felt good,” Ruegsegger said.

Meanwhile, Schraepfer, the team’s shortstop, went 6 for 7 with a walk, six runs, six steals, seven RBIs and two doubles in the two games from the leadoff spot.

“Last game I was 0 for 5 with three strikeouts. Coach (Jim Strommen) told me to stick to what I’ve been doing the past three or four years here, and that turned out well for me tonight,” Schraepfer said. 

Schraepfer, who Strommen said has scored nearly 100 runs in his career, is nearly unstoppable on the base paths and moves up 90-feet at will thanks to his speed.

“We work a lot on getting good jumps in practice, and that’s hats off to Coach Strommen for getting us ready for that every game,” Schraepfer said.

While Ruegsegger, Schraepfer and Hunter Enloe pitched a solid game for Pecatonica, Potosi-Cassville struggled to find any consistency. The struggles on the mound for the Chieftains came to a head in the fourth inning.

Starting pitcher Mason Infield had a runner on first with two outs when a booted ground ball off the bat of Schraepfer put two men on. He then hit Lane Busser with a pitch and was pulled from the game.

Ben Udelhofen and Will Bierman both came on in relief in the inning, each walking three batters on 27 pitches — 24 balls to just three scattered strikes. Cameron Schmitz was the fourth Potosi pitcher in the inning and induced a ground ball to escape the inning with just six runs crossing the plate and the bases loaded.

Busser had three runs and two walks for Pecatonica, which had nine walks in the opener.

In the nightcap, the Vikings kept the momentum and put six on the board in the first, and scored two more runs in every inning after.

“The first inning was great. Right away we came out swinging and hit the ball hard up and down the lineup,” Strommen said.

Busser pitched four innings on the hill, striking out six and walking just one on 63 pitches. Enloe again came on in relief, pitching the final inning.

“We found some time to get Hunter Enloe an inning in both games — he’s a freshman. He needs to gain experience at that level for us,” Strommen said. “Lane — the game is throwing strikes in the high school level. In that first inning he gave up double-double-single, and we can live with that. We can’t play defense against walks. He did a really good job tonight, too.”

Schraepfer was 4-for-4 in the game with six RBIs, three runs, three steals and double. Busser, Ruegsegger, Dakota Doescher and Trevor Gilbertson each scored two runs, while Bo Hendrickson had three runs. Doescher and Everett Johnson each had a pair of hits, while Ruegsegger was 3 for 3 at the plate and Zander Brunker was 1 for 2 with two walks.

“Carter did great on the mound, Colton in relief did a good job too,” Strommen said.

The Vikings have high expectations this year. After back-to-back years of reaching the sectional tournament, the four Pecatonica seniors — Schraepfer, Busser, Ruegsegger and Johnson — have made it their goal guide the Vikings to the school’s first-ever trip to state this spring.

“Our motto this year is ‘Get locked in.’ Our seniors decided to do that and hats off to Coach Strommen for allowing us to do it,” Schraepfer said. The team took that mantra and embraced it by putting “Houdini” on the back of their caps. Legendary illusionist Harry Houdini, who grew up in Appleton where the state tournament is played, was an escape artist known for getting out of handcuffs, straightjackets and even being buried alive.