MCDONALD'S SWNEWS4U.COM GAME OF THE WEEK (July 18–25)
AMERICAN LEGION BASEBALL: Prairie du Chien U19 Regional
By Derick Kelly, Courier Press
Grasshoppers win regional, enter state tournament on thirteen-game winning streak
PRAIRIE DU CHIEN — The Prairie du Chien Grasshoppers varsity legion baseball team entered regional tournament play this past weekend as one of the hottest teams in the state regardless of class, and they left the weekend as arguably the hottest team in the entire state with a 3–0 record in regional play.
The Hoppers kicked off the weekend by hosting Belleville Post 460 on Friday, July 21. After holding the visitors scoreless in the top half of the first inning, Prairie came out and pushed a run across in the bottom half of the inning thanks to a two-out double by starting pitcher Caydon Lomas that scored Colton Thompson. Lomas pitched a quick 1-2-3 inning in the top half of the second inning to send the Hoppers back to the plate. A two-out single by Maddox Cejka drove in one run and a steal of home by Noah Pedretti on a double steal with Cejka taking second base added the Hoppers third run of the game. Both starting pitchers then settled into grooves as the game remained 3–0 in favor of PdC until the bottom of the sixth inning when the Hoppers pushed two more runs across thanks to a sacrifice bunt by Drake Ingham that drove in Bryce Lenzendorf and a two-out RBI single by Thompson to make the score 5–0, which ended up being the final score.
Thompson (2-for-4 with 1 run scored and 1 RBI) and Lomas (2-for-4 with a double and a walk) paced the Hoppers offense as Lomas also added a gem on the mound with a complete game, 3 hit, 2 walk, 10 strikeout shutout for Prairie.
Saturday evening saw the Hoppers take on Fennimore Post 184 (13–2 winners over Gays Mills in game 1 of the tournament) in a game to determine one participant of Championship Sunday as the winner would earn a birth in the regional championship. Maddox Cejka got the start for Prairie du Chien and Justin Trumm for Fennimore. For the first three and a half innings, it appeared that these two starting pitchers would be locked into a pitching dual for the entire game. However the Hoppers had other plans as they scored one run in the bottom of the fourth inning on a RBI single by Tommy Mara that broke up the scoreless battle before using a seven-run fifth inning to put the game out of reach and a two-run sixth inning to end the game 10–0 in Prairie’s favor.
Cejka was absolutely lights out for the Hoppers as he retired 16 of the 18 outs he recorded during the six inning game via strikeout, including each of the first eight batters of the game for Fennimore. He allowed just three total base runners (2 hits and 1 walk) during the shutout victory. The sixteen strikeouts are most likely a new PdC Legion record, surpassing a total of 15 strikeouts by Travis Elvert during a 16–5 Hoppers win in six innings over Westby in July 1997.
Ty Wagner and Thompson provided plenty of offensive support in the fifth inning as they hit back-to-back home runs for the Hoppers, including a three-run shot by Wagner, as part of Prairie’s seven-run inning. Wagner (3-for-4 with a triple, home run, 2 runs scored and 3 RBIs) finished a double short of hitting for the cycle during the game, while Lomas (2-for-4 with a double and 1 run scored) and Mara (2-for-3 with 1 run and 1 RBI) also had multiple hits during the game.
Fennimore defeated Gays Mills 2–0 in an elimination game that determined the regional’s other state qualifying team as Prairie du Chien had already earned an automatic birth in the state tournament as host. This low scoring battle had been postponed to Sunday afternoon due to rain on Saturday Night. Since the Hoppers were still undefeated, Fennimore would have to defeat PdC twice to earn the regional championship. Prairie du Chien would not allow that happen as the Hoppers came out and took care of business as they claimed a 11–1 win in five innings to claim the regional title.
After winning the coin toss for a third straight game, the Hoppers scored a run the bottom of the first inning when a double by Cejka scored Wagner to take an early 1–0 lead. PdC used four straight hits and some shaky defense by Fennimore to push six runs in the bottom of the second inning before adding three more runs in the bottom of the third inning to hold a 10–0 lead going into the fourth inning. Thompson worked around a couple of jams during his 3 2/3 innings on the mound to start the game for the Hoppers, but was chased after a hit batter and back-to-back walks scored a Fennimore base runner after a lead-off double. Logan Kiesau came on in relief to pitch the final 1.1 innings for the Hoppers, allowing 0 runs on 2 hits with 4 strikeouts. PdC got three consecutive base hits to start the bottom of the fifth inning before a perfectly placed sacrifice bunt down the first base line scored Pedretti to give the Hoppers a 11–1 win in 5 innings and their second consecutive regional championship.
Wagner (2-for-3 with 3 runs scored and 1 RBI), Cejka (3-for-4 with a double, 2 runs scored and 3 RBIs), Lomas (3-for-3 with a double, 1 run scored, 3 RBIs and 1 walk), and Ingham (2-for-3 with 2 runs scored) led the Prairie hit parade in the win with Lenzendorf adding a double as well. Thompson (1 hit, 1 run (earned), 3 walks, and 6 strikeouts in 3.2 innings pitched) got the win. Prairie du Chien improved to 27–5 with the victory.
Next up for the Grasshoppers is the 2023 Wisconsin American Legion Baseball Class A State Tournament at Dillman Memorial Field on St. Feriole Island in Prairie du Chien as they will play Little Chute at 7 p.m. on Friday, July 28. The other qualifying teams are Arcadia, Viroqua, Denmark, Stratford, and Jackson.The tournament begins Friday at 10 a.m., with games at 1, 4, and 7 p.m. with the opening ceremony occurring between the third and fourth games. Admission for the tournament is $5 per day.
