BLANCHARDVILLE - Junior Presly Hauser laid down a safety squeeze bunt to score Riley Gould and give the Pecatonica High School baseball team a thrilling 4-3 win over Shullsburg-Benton in the ninth inning of a WIAA Division 4 regional championship game Wednesday.
"It's the second time this year we have won a game on a safety squeeze bunt," Pecatonica coach Jim Strommen said. "As one of the kids said after the game, it's the power of the bunt. It may not look as glamorous, but the bunt got the job done. It hit a divot and looked like it may go foul, but we got lucky and it stayed fair."
Top-ranked Pecatonica (25-1) advances to play the winner of Barneveld and Catholic Central in a sectional semifinal at noon June 7 in Johnson Creek. Due to a rainout Tuesday, Barneveld's regional final game against Catholic Central was moved to today.
Pecatonica freshman Carter Ruegsegger coaxed a walk off Shullsburg-Benton pitcher Nathan Lowry to lead off the ninth and Strommen brought in Gould as a courtesy runner. Lowry intentionally walked senior Brooks Chandler and that set the stage for Hauser's winning RBI on the squeeze bunt.
Ruegsegger went 2-for-3 with two RBI. He pitched two innings in relief to get the win. Ruegsegger struck out two and walked one. Chandler started on the mound and pitched seven innings. He gave up three runs on eight hits. Chandler struck out 13 and walked three.
"He (Chandler) pitched well for us," Strommen said.
The top-seeded Vikings took a 1-0 lead early on. Chandler walked leading off the first. He then stole second, and Hauser, who was 2-for-5, reached on an infield single. Senior Kyle Kleppe drove in the run on a fielder's choice.
The Vikings scored two runs in the second. Junior A.J. Hendrickson reached on an error and Cory Linder singled. Pecatonica's Jake Dearth walked to load the bases. Ruegsegger then delivered a two-run single to give the Vikings a 3-0 lead.
Shullsburg-Benton scored two runs in the seventh to force extra innings. Shullsburg-Benton's Chris Trejo was hit by a pitch. Hunter Matye then singled and Noah Wand followed with an RBI single. Alex Wand came through with a sacrifice fly to knock a run and tie the game at 3.
"We didn't hit very well," Strommen said. "You have to find a way to win, and we did that tonight. We executed."
"It's the second time this year we have won a game on a safety squeeze bunt," Pecatonica coach Jim Strommen said. "As one of the kids said after the game, it's the power of the bunt. It may not look as glamorous, but the bunt got the job done. It hit a divot and looked like it may go foul, but we got lucky and it stayed fair."
Top-ranked Pecatonica (25-1) advances to play the winner of Barneveld and Catholic Central in a sectional semifinal at noon June 7 in Johnson Creek. Due to a rainout Tuesday, Barneveld's regional final game against Catholic Central was moved to today.
Pecatonica freshman Carter Ruegsegger coaxed a walk off Shullsburg-Benton pitcher Nathan Lowry to lead off the ninth and Strommen brought in Gould as a courtesy runner. Lowry intentionally walked senior Brooks Chandler and that set the stage for Hauser's winning RBI on the squeeze bunt.
Ruegsegger went 2-for-3 with two RBI. He pitched two innings in relief to get the win. Ruegsegger struck out two and walked one. Chandler started on the mound and pitched seven innings. He gave up three runs on eight hits. Chandler struck out 13 and walked three.
"He (Chandler) pitched well for us," Strommen said.
The top-seeded Vikings took a 1-0 lead early on. Chandler walked leading off the first. He then stole second, and Hauser, who was 2-for-5, reached on an infield single. Senior Kyle Kleppe drove in the run on a fielder's choice.
The Vikings scored two runs in the second. Junior A.J. Hendrickson reached on an error and Cory Linder singled. Pecatonica's Jake Dearth walked to load the bases. Ruegsegger then delivered a two-run single to give the Vikings a 3-0 lead.
Shullsburg-Benton scored two runs in the seventh to force extra innings. Shullsburg-Benton's Chris Trejo was hit by a pitch. Hunter Matye then singled and Noah Wand followed with an RBI single. Alex Wand came through with a sacrifice fly to knock a run and tie the game at 3.
"We didn't hit very well," Strommen said. "You have to find a way to win, and we did that tonight. We executed."
