BENTON — First baseman Hunter Matye hammered a pair of three-run home runs and pitcher Chris Trejo struck out 16 batters as #3-seeded Benton/Shullsburg slugged their way to a 9-1 victory over #6-seeded Black Hawk in a WIAA Division 4 regional quarterfinal playoff baseball game at Swift Park on Thursday, May 26.
    Matye’s three-run blast in the first inning erased an early 1-0 Black Hawk lead, and his second three-run shot in the second inning capped a five-run, two-out rally, which put the Zephyr-Miners (12-9 overall) ahead 8-1.
    Nathan Wedige and Trejo added RBI-singles in the second frame, while Noah Wand doubled and scored on an error in the fifth to make the final score 9-1.
    The Warriors (0-22) grabbed a quick lead in the top of the first inning when Jett Rufenacht doubled in Jayden Stietz with two down for a 1-0 lead.
    Trejo avoided any further damage by getting a strikeout with the bases loaded in the first, and the Warriors didn’t score after loading the bases in the fourth when the junior hurler turned a 1-2-3 double play to get out of the jam.
    Trejo (6-2) allowed a run on four hits and three walks and he finished with 16 Ks. He fanned the side in the first, second, third and seventh innings. Black Hawk’s Reesan Ruch struck out four batters in the loss.
    Matye went 2-for-4 with two homers and six RBIs. Trejo and Aaron Coffey each had two hits and two runs scored in the game, while Nolan Strang and N. Wand each doubled and scored for the hosts.
    Rufenacht finished 2-for-3 with a double and a RBI for Black Hawk.
    Both teams wrapped up the regular season with losses in their finales on Tuesday, May 24. Barneveld nipped the Zephyr-Miners, 5-3, in their finale in Barneveld, and Argyle used a pair of five-run innings to pull away from the Warriors in their Six Rivers East closer in South Wayne.
    Coffey was 2-for-3 with a run scored against the Golden Eagles and N. Wand went 2-for-4 with a RBI. Matye had a double, a run and a RBI in Tuesday’s game.
    At Black Hawk, the Orioles snapped a 2-2 tie with a five-run second stanza, and then plated five more runs in the fourth to turn their 7-2 lead into a 12-2 advantage. The guests scored 17 runs on just six hits as Warriors’ pitchers walked 17 batters and hit four others, and the defense had four errors.
    Rufenacht drove in three runs for the Warriors (0-16), including a two-run home in the third inning. Jason Treuthardt had a RBI-double in the first, and Brody Milz ripped a two-run single in the seventh. Stietz scored three runs, and Noah Metz went 2-for-2 with a run scored for the Warriors.
    Playing in their final games for Black Hawk in Thursday’s playoff game were seniors Seth Paulson and Alex Wheeler.
    “We are only losing two players this year, but their work ethic and listening skills will be greatly missed,” said Black Hawk head coach Colton Laird. “Seth was my starting second basemen pretty much the whole season and did an excellent job for me. He also worked hard and gave all the underclassmen a good role model to look up to in practices and on the field.
    Alex was a first year player for me. He came out really working hard and listened to every word the coaches told him. He absorbed as much information about the game as he could and showed drastic growth in his athletic abilities as a baseball player.”

WIAA D4 REGIONAL QUARTERFINAL
Black Hawk… 100  000  0 – 1    4  3
Bent/Shulls… 350  010  x – 9  11  0
Leading Hitters: BH– Jett Rufenacht 2x3. 2B– Rufenacht, Reesan Ruch. B/S– Aaron Coffey 2x3, Chris Trejo 2x4, Hunter Matye 2x4. HR– Matye  (2). 2B– Noah Wand, Nolan Strang.
WP- Chris Trejo. LP- Reesan Ruch.
At Benton, on Thursday, May 26
 
Bent/Shulls… 001  011  0 – 3  7  2
Barneveld….. 013  100  x – 5  3  4
Leading Hitters:  Aaron Coffey 2x3, Noah Wand 2x4. 2B– Hunter Matye.
WP- Shatrawka. LP- Nathan Mowry.
At Barneveld, on Tuesday, May 24

Argyle……….. 250  532  0 – 17  6  2
Black Hawk… 202  201  0 –   7  6  4
Leading Hitters:  Noah Metz 2x2. HR– Jett Rufenacht. 2B– Jason Treuthardt.
WP- Flannery. LP- Preston Bevins.
At South Wayne, on Tuesday, May 24