Greenwood baseball team back at state

Indians rule WIAA D4 sectional; beat Edgar 7-3 in title game

A total of 26 runs were scored in the two games the Greenwood baseball team played at Tuesday’s WIAA Division 4 sectional tournament in Athens. Twenty-two of them belonged to the Indians.

Greenwood routed St. Thomas Academy/Lena 15-1 in its early afternoon semifinal and followed that with a 7-3 win over Edgar to claim its first sectional title since its storied state champion season eight years ago. The wins mean Greenwood will chase another state title on June 28 at Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute. The Indians’ opponent and game time had not been set as of press time. The other Division 4 teams earning state berths by winning their sectionals on Tuesday were Boyceville, Rosholt and Southwestern.

Except for a few late-inning anxious moments in the win over Edgar, a senior-heavy Greenwood team had little difficulty moving through the sectional. The Indians put up an 8-run first inning against an outmanned St. Thomas Academy/Lena team and senior pitcher Cooper Bredlau held the Cavaliers scoreless during the four innings he pitched. Senior catcher Jonah Hinker’s 2-run homer drove in the final runs of a win that was never in doubt.

Edgar reached the finals by stopping Three Lakes/ Phelps 2-1 in the other semifinal game at Athens. The win was costly for the Wildcats, though, as senior catcher and lead-off hitter Kyle Brewster was ejected from the game for instigating a collision at home plate with the other team’s catcher. That ejection carried with it an automatic 1-game suspension, meaning Brewster was ineligible to play against Greenwood.

The Indians picked up right where they left off against the Cavaliers by scoring twice in top of the first against the Wildcats.

Xander Hinker led off the game by reaching first base on an Edgar throwing error, and Westen Schmitz followed with a line single to right field that sent Hinker to third. The first Greenwood run scored on Edgar pitcher Ashton Schuett’s balk.

Austen Humke drew a walk and Fletcher Bredlau poked a soft single to left field to load the sacks with one out. Greenwood coach Kent Hinker then called for the squeeze play, and Sully Whitford dropped down a good bunt to bring Schmitz home for the 2-0 lead. Greenwood may have gotten more out of the inning but Jonah Hinker was barely thrown out on a stong throw from deep in the hole by the Edgar shortstop.

Whitford retired the Wildcats in order in their half of the first. Greenwood almost scored again in the second, but the Wildcat defense came up big again. After Mason Learman singled and Xander Hinker walked, both runners moved up a base on a wild pitch. Edgar avoided any damage when its leftfielder made a diving catch on Bredlau’s 2-out liner.

Whitford allowed only a walk in the second, and Greenwood struck again in the third. Fletcher Bredlau slapped another single through the left side of the Edgar infield, and Whitford lined the first pitch he saw up the middle. Schuett knocked it down, but the Edgar infield couldn’t get to the ball in time for a throw. After Jonah Hinker flew out to shallow right field, Dakota Clark beat the throw from the pitcher for an infield single to load the bases with two outs. The Indians tacked on their third run when Learman was hit by a pitch.

After Whitford allowed one single in the Edgar third, Greenwood made it a 4-0 game in the top of the fourth. It wasn’t a pretty run, as Bredlau drew a 1-out walk, and then stole second. The catcher’s throw on the steal attempt squirted into centerfield, and when the outfielder backing up the play couldn’t come up with the ball, Bredlau scored.

Two Edgar baserunners reached in the Wildcat fourth, one on a hit batsman and the other on a walk. Jonah Hinker cut down one of those runners on a steal attempt and Whitford coaxed a Sunday-hop infield grounder to end the threat.

Edgar had two men aboard again in the fifth, but Whitford again shut the door. A 4-pitch walk to Brady Lemmer and Konnor Wolf’s line-drive single put runners on first and second with two outs, but Drew Guden popped out to Xander Hinker in short left field to end it.

Greenwood added two more runs in its half of the sixth. Schmitz drew a lead-off walk on a 3-2 pitch and Cooper Bredlau followed with a single into left field. Schmitz came all the way around to score when the leftfielder misplayed the ball, with Bredlau moving all the way to

DEAN LESAR/STAFF PHOTO

DEAN LESAR/STAFF PHOTO third. With one out, Schuett uncorked a wild pitch that let Bredlau come home for the 6-0 lead.

Edgar finally broke through in the bottom of the sixth. Jordan Bunkelman started a 3-run Wildcat rally with a double to left field. Schuett followed with a single and advanced on an Indian error to put runners at second and third with one out. After Everet Brehm drew a walk to load the bases, the first Edgar run scored on a Whitford wild pitch. Edgar was suddenly back in the game when Kaden Goodwin ripped a single to right field to drive in two runs.

Coach Hinker brought Schmitz on to relieve Whitford at that point. He responded well, getting Brayden Baumgartner to pop out to short right field and striking out Lemmer on a 3-2 pitch.

With the momentum now in Edgar’s dugout, Greenwood again looked to its seniors. They responded again.

Learman led off the Greenwood seventh with a foul pop for an out, and Xander Hinker was thrown out by the Edgar third baseman. Schmitz then came through with a solid single up the middle, and Bredlau came up huge with an RBI double to the gap in right-center, for a 7-3 lead.

Down to its final three outs, Edgar did its best to come back once more. Schmitz had control troubles, walking Wolf on four pitches to start the inning. He then ran the count to 3-0 on Guden, but came back with two called strikes for a full count. The Indian defense then came through, as Guden bounced a ball up the middle, but Xander Hinker cut it off from his shortstop position, stepped on second for the force out and fired a strike to Humke at first for a double play.

Schmitz got Greenwood to within a strike of the state tourney by running the count to 1-2 on Austin Dahlke. He then misfired on a pitch and hit the batter to put him aboard. On a 1-1 count to Bunkelman, Schmitz hit him with a pitch, too, to put two men aboard with two outs. Although those hit batsmen created a few anxious moments for the Indians, it all ended quickly when Xander Hinker snared Schuett’s line drive for the final out.

Greenwood first baseman Austen Humke (above) takes a pick-off throw from his pitcher in the Indians’ 7-3 win over Edgar in Tuesdays’ WIAA Division 4 sectional final. At left, pitcher Sully Whitford delivers to the plate against Edgar. Whitford allowed five hits and four walks over 5 2/3 innings.

Greenwood’s Fletcher Bredlau digs for third base in the Indians’ sectional semi-final win over St. Thomas Academy/Lena.