Marathon to state!

Brock Warren wins both D-3 sectional games

By Casey Krautkramer

Stellar pitching by Marathon senior Brock Warren and junior Jaden Koeller propelled the Red Raiders to winning a WIAA Division 3 sectional championship on Tuesday. Marathon will play in the state tournament next week for the first time since 2015.

Brock Warren only threw 89 pitches in a complete-game 6-2 win against La Crosse Aquinas in a sectional semifinal on Tuesday morning. He tossed a one hitter and didn’t walk anyone while striking out seven batters. Brock Warren retired the last 17 straight Blugold hitters. He was equally as good at the plate by reaching base four times on a single, double, walk and hit by pitch against Aquinas.

His teammate, Jaden Koeller, was nearly as dominant pitching against Markesan in the sectional championship on Tuesday night. Koeller only surrendered one run in 7-2/3 innings pitched. He reached his 100-pitch count with the game tied at one run apiece, but luckily for Marathon Brock Warren still had 11 pitches left to use for the day.

Brock Warren relieved Koeller and he got Hornets catcher Sage Stellmacher to fly out to senior centerfielder Jake Sweno on his first pitch thrown to end the bottom of the seventh inning and send the game into extra innings.

After a scoreless eighth inning, 12 Marathon players made plate appearances in a seven-run top of the ninth inning to give the Red Raiders a 7-1 lead against the Hornets. Markesan committed three errors in this pivotal inning. Brock Warren gained the pitching win after Sweno executed a double play in the ninth inning to end the game, after making a running catch in short centerfield and firing the ball to first baseman Grant Warren before Chayce Osterhaus could retreat to the bag.

It just so happens Marathon’s baseball team won a sectional championship on the 25-year wedding anniversary of head coach, Steve Warren, and his wife, Pam. Their two sons, Brock and Grant Warren, are teammates on the Red Raiders’ baseball squad this season.

The WIAA will seed the following four Division 3 sectional champions: Marathon, 19-7; Coleman, 24-2; Eau Claire Regis, 16-6 and Kenosha St. Joseph Catholic, 22-1, to determine the state tournament matchups next Tuesday at Fox Cities Stadium in the Appleton area. The first state semifinal will be at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, followed by the next state semifinal at 1:30 p.m. The Division 3 state championship will be played at 6 p.m. also on Tuesday.

Marathon beat the three top-10 ranked teams in Division 3 during its playoff run to the state tournament including No. 8 Stratford in the regional championship last Wednesday and No. 3 Aquinas and No. 6 Markesan in sectionals on Tuesday.

Regional championship

Marathon head baseball coach Steve Warren admitted sometimes baseball teams need to be a little lucky, and everything went right for the Red Raiders in their 10-0 improbable road win against Stratford in last Wednesday’s WIAA Division 3 regional championship.

He’s proud of his players’ effort during practices in the hot weather leading up to the team’s regional finals victory.

“I think if you practice hard long enough and put the time in the summer and spring, I think you do make a little of your own luck and we had a little luck today,” Steve Warren said. “There’s no doubt luck comes into this game because we got some hits to fall and Stratford made a couple of mistakes, and especially with the bases loaded it doesn’t take long for runs to score. There was an obstruction on the third baseman that scored a run, so we had a little good fortune today whereas when we played them the last time here and lost on an infield hit, that was a little bad luck, so it evens out.”

Brock Warren pitched the completegame win and Marathon’s hitters eventually chased Stratford senior starting pitcher Riley Bauman out of the game. Coach Warren talked strategy with his players after Bauman easily handled Marathon’s top of the hitting order in the first inning.

Senior catcher Mike Hahn said he and his teammates already knew what type of adjustment they needed to make at the plate to begin having success hitting the ball against Bauman. Hahn batted three for three with four RBIs against the Tigers, while Pierson Hamann was two for three with three RBIs. Tyler Underwood hit three for four against Stratford.

“We choked up a little bit on the bat which shortened our swing a little bit, and that really helped us out; even our younger guys were doing that. Sophomore Pierson Hamann got a huge two-RBI hit while he was choking up on the bat.”

Marathon batters got timely hits against Bauman in two-strike counts at the plate.

“Let’s battle a little bit; let’s fight,” Steve Warren said. “That’s why we have the signs at our home diamond that say, ‘Battle on the Next Pitch.’ It’s just a philosophy we adopted 15 to 20 years ago. It’s a mental approach and our state teams bought into it. Those kids were on one pitch and then that pitch was gone.”

Marathon beat Neillsville, 9-4, in a home regional semifinal on June 15 to advance to play at Stratford in the regional championship. Brock Warren and Underwood colleted two RBIs each. Koeller struck out eight batters while gaining the pitching win.

Brock Warren

ON TOP OF HIS GAME- Red Raiders junior shortstop Jaden Koeller throws out a Stratford runner in the regional title game, while sophomore second baseman Tyler Underwood is shown in the background. Koeller pitched a gem to help Marathon win a WIAA Division 3 sectional championship against Markesan on Tuesday in Viroqua.STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER