Edgar captures first regional title

‘Cats come up short at making first trip to state

Edgar senior Konnor Wolf tossed a no hitter in the team’s 10-0 home win in six innings against Rib Lake in the WIAA Division 3 regional championship last Wednesday. Edgar’s win was significant because it was the first time the baseball time has won a regional title in school history.

Wolf relished an opportunity to show area baseball fans the Wildcats could indeed win the regional championship this season.

“It means a ton; we’ve been looking forward to this for a long time and we knew we had a special group with our senior class coming up through the years,” Wolf said. “In my freshman and sophomore seasons we made it to the regional final and ended up getting stomped on by Athens. This year we’re the big dogs, so I thought ‘let’s come out and do that to everyone else.’” Wolf struck out 10 Rib Lake batters while only surrendering two walks. Junior third baseman Ashton Schuett batted two for four with three RBIs; senior shortstop Austin Dahlke was two for four with a pair of RBIs and a run scored; senior centerfielder Drew Guden was two for two with a pair of walks, an RBI and three runs scored, senior catcher Kyle Brewster was one for two with a pair of walks and two runs scored; senior second baseman Kaden Goodwin was zero for one with three walks, an RBI and a run scored and junior right fielder Jordan Bunkelman was zero for one with a pair of walks, an RBI and two runs scored in the victory.

Wolf was elated he and his teammates were able to create Edgar baseball history by capturing a regional champion- ship.

“It’s never been done in our school history, so it’s a great feeling to get past that milestone,” he said.

Sectional semifinal victory

Three Lakes/Phelps got on the scoreboard first against Edgar in Tuesday’s WIAA Division 4 sectional semifinal in Athens, but starting pitcher Konnor Wolf got out of some jams to keep the Wildcats in the game.

Edgar tied the game at one run apiece in the bottom of the third inning when senior shortstop Austin Dahlke singled to drive in Everett Brehm, but senior catcher Kyle Brewster was tagged out at home plate on the play. Home plate umpire Larry Buchberger ejected Brewster from the game because WIAA rule states a player needs to slide into home plate instead of bulling over the catcher like Brewster did.

This was a huge play because by getting ejected from the game, Brewster was not allowed to play in the sectional championship against Greenwood on Tuesday night. Senior Drew Guden later scored in the inning on junior Jordan Bunkelman’s fielder’s choice to give the Wildcats a 2-1 lead, which ended up being the final score at the end of the game.

Sectional finals defeat

Edgar senior Kaden Goodwin replaced Brewster as the team’s starting catcher for the rest of the sectional semifinal, after he was ejected from the game for an illegal slide at home plate. Goodwin also started at catcher against Greenwood in the sectional final.

The Wildcats’ trio of pitchers Ashton Schuett, Drew Guden and Jordan Bunkelman struggled against the Indians.

Down 6-0 to Greenwood, Edgar’s offense finally started clicking in the bottom of the sixth inning on Tuesday night. Jordan Bunkelman scored on a wild pitch and Goodwin’s two-RBI double scored Ashton Schuett and Everett Brehm to bring the Wildcats within three runs of the Indians.

Greenwood added an insurance run in the top of the seventh inning, however, making Edgar’s comeback tougher.

It was a wild last inning to end the game. Greenwood’s pitcher walked Egdar leadoff batter Konnor Wolf on four straight pitches. Senior Drew Guden hit a ground ball up the middle but Greenwood shortstop Zander Hinker made a great play to retrieve the ball and step onto second base to get the force out on Wolf, and Hinker then threw to first base to get Guden out for a double play.

With two outs in the final inning, Greenwood’s pitcher hits both Austin Dahlke and Jordan Bunkelman to put them on base. Zander Hinker climbed the ladder to snag a liner hit by Ashton Schuett to end the game. Greenwood beat Edgar, 7-3, to advance to the WIAA Division 4 state tournament on Monday.

Edgar concludes this season with an 18-4 record, while Greenwood improves to 17-6 this season.