ARGYLE - Pecatonica senior Devin Jeglum didn't want his baseball season to end on the same night as his high school graduation.
Jeglum went 3-for-5 and scored two runs as the Vikings came back to beat No. 3 seed Argyle 7-2 Friday in a WIAA Division 4 regional quarterfinal. Pecatonica (14-11) advances to the regional semifinals and will play at No. 1 seed Barneveld Tuesday.
"It was a little nerve wracking thinking this could be our last game," Jeglum said. "You just have to put that out of your mind once the game starts and play mentally tough. It would have been a bad mood going back (to Blanchardville) if we had lost."
Argyle senior pitcher Nick Martin pitched out of bases loaded, one-out jams in the first and third innings. The Vikings left nine runners on base in the first five innings and flew out or popped out 11 times. That all changed in a five-run sixth when the Vikings batted around the order.
"Sometimes it doesn't even out," Pecatonica coach Jim Strommen said of the luck and breaks hitters receive after leaving the bases loaded in the first and third. "I think that is the nature of baseball."
Pecatonica junior Tyler Francois started the big sixth by beating out a bunt single. After J.J. Hogan's sacrifice bunt, the Vikings luck changed. Jeglum blooped a single to center and sophomore Wyatt Massey came through with a go-ahead RBI single up the middle to give the Vikings a 3-2 lead. Junior Tannar Johnson, who was 2-for-4, then blooped an RBI single to right.
The Orioles brought in junior Nate Thomas in relief. He intentionally walked Taylor Berg and hit Chris Hendrickson, which forced home another run. A dropped fly ball in left helped the Vikings open up a 7-2 lead.
"We put a crooked number up there and got going," Johnson said.
Argyle (9-8) looked to play the role of the graduation crashers by jumping out and scoring runs early. Zach Mick singled up the middle in the second and then Johnson hit Ryan Geissbuhler. Argyle sophomore Jared Johnson then delivered a two-run, two-out single to left to give the Orioles a 2-0 lead.
"I was happy to see that," Argyle coach Travis Erickson said. "Jared stepped up. That was huge."
Tannar Johnson settled down after that and threw five shutout innings and retired the last 10 batters he faced. He gave up two runs on four hits. He struck out four, walked two and hit one.
"I had a great defense behind me," Tannar Johnson said. "I let them hit the ball, put it in play. I knew my defense was going to make plays."
Martin pitched out of a bases loaded one-out jam in the first by getting Hendrickson to pop out and getting junior Ross Gilbertson to hit a sharp grounder to end the threat. In the third with the bases loaded, Martin got Hendrickson to fly out to left and Gilbertson crushed a ball to deep center for the final out.
"You don't get opportunities like that every inning," Strommen said. "You want to score some runs early. I think you swing the bat better after that."
The Vikings battled back in the third. Jeglum lined a single to center. He scored on Hendrickson's sacrifice fly. The Vikings came back and tied the game in the fourth. Martin walked Kleppe and Hogan reached on an error. Kleppe scored the game-tying run from second to tie the game at 2.
The two teams looked to be setting up for a nail-biting finish until the Vikings five-run sixth where the Orioles committed one of their costly four errors.
"That has been our problem all year, giving up the big inning," Erickson said. "I honestly think Nick was getting tired. I was trying to get out of the big inning."
The Orioles finished over .500 overall and were 5-5 in the Six Rivers East. They were in contention for a conference title until being swept by Barneveld and earned the right to host a regional opener.
"This is the best season the Argyle baseball team has had since playing in the regional final in 2002," Erickson said.
The Orioles will return 14 of their top 15 players next year.
"I hope we are not satisfied," Erickson said. "We will hopefully build on that."
Jeglum went 3-for-5 and scored two runs as the Vikings came back to beat No. 3 seed Argyle 7-2 Friday in a WIAA Division 4 regional quarterfinal. Pecatonica (14-11) advances to the regional semifinals and will play at No. 1 seed Barneveld Tuesday.
"It was a little nerve wracking thinking this could be our last game," Jeglum said. "You just have to put that out of your mind once the game starts and play mentally tough. It would have been a bad mood going back (to Blanchardville) if we had lost."
Argyle senior pitcher Nick Martin pitched out of bases loaded, one-out jams in the first and third innings. The Vikings left nine runners on base in the first five innings and flew out or popped out 11 times. That all changed in a five-run sixth when the Vikings batted around the order.
"Sometimes it doesn't even out," Pecatonica coach Jim Strommen said of the luck and breaks hitters receive after leaving the bases loaded in the first and third. "I think that is the nature of baseball."
Pecatonica junior Tyler Francois started the big sixth by beating out a bunt single. After J.J. Hogan's sacrifice bunt, the Vikings luck changed. Jeglum blooped a single to center and sophomore Wyatt Massey came through with a go-ahead RBI single up the middle to give the Vikings a 3-2 lead. Junior Tannar Johnson, who was 2-for-4, then blooped an RBI single to right.
The Orioles brought in junior Nate Thomas in relief. He intentionally walked Taylor Berg and hit Chris Hendrickson, which forced home another run. A dropped fly ball in left helped the Vikings open up a 7-2 lead.
"We put a crooked number up there and got going," Johnson said.
Argyle (9-8) looked to play the role of the graduation crashers by jumping out and scoring runs early. Zach Mick singled up the middle in the second and then Johnson hit Ryan Geissbuhler. Argyle sophomore Jared Johnson then delivered a two-run, two-out single to left to give the Orioles a 2-0 lead.
"I was happy to see that," Argyle coach Travis Erickson said. "Jared stepped up. That was huge."
Tannar Johnson settled down after that and threw five shutout innings and retired the last 10 batters he faced. He gave up two runs on four hits. He struck out four, walked two and hit one.
"I had a great defense behind me," Tannar Johnson said. "I let them hit the ball, put it in play. I knew my defense was going to make plays."
Martin pitched out of a bases loaded one-out jam in the first by getting Hendrickson to pop out and getting junior Ross Gilbertson to hit a sharp grounder to end the threat. In the third with the bases loaded, Martin got Hendrickson to fly out to left and Gilbertson crushed a ball to deep center for the final out.
"You don't get opportunities like that every inning," Strommen said. "You want to score some runs early. I think you swing the bat better after that."
The Vikings battled back in the third. Jeglum lined a single to center. He scored on Hendrickson's sacrifice fly. The Vikings came back and tied the game in the fourth. Martin walked Kleppe and Hogan reached on an error. Kleppe scored the game-tying run from second to tie the game at 2.
The two teams looked to be setting up for a nail-biting finish until the Vikings five-run sixth where the Orioles committed one of their costly four errors.
"That has been our problem all year, giving up the big inning," Erickson said. "I honestly think Nick was getting tired. I was trying to get out of the big inning."
The Orioles finished over .500 overall and were 5-5 in the Six Rivers East. They were in contention for a conference title until being swept by Barneveld and earned the right to host a regional opener.
"This is the best season the Argyle baseball team has had since playing in the regional final in 2002," Erickson said.
The Orioles will return 14 of their top 15 players next year.
"I hope we are not satisfied," Erickson said. "We will hopefully build on that."
