WBA REGIONALS: WHITTLESEY - Reds beat Ashland, but tough Elmwood team shuts them out
The Whittlesey Reds were shut down over seven innings by Mason Dado and saw their 2025 season end Sunday in a 5-0 loss to the Elmwood Expos in the Abbotsford regional of the Wisconsin Baseball Association’s post-season tournament.
The Reds gave themselves a chance to advance to the finals weekend in Augusta with a 13-9 win over Ashland Saturday. But Elmwood, last year’s runner-up in the WBA’s B Division and the top seed in the three-team pod earned its second shutout of the weekend to move on.
Dado struck out 10 Reds, walked two and gave up just four hits, while Eli Ponath finished up with four strikeouts and one hit allowed in two innings. Elmwood also shut out Ashland 18-0 in five innings in the fog late Saturday night into very early Sunday morning.
Saturday’s action in the regional was delayed by three hours due to rain.
Nate Retterath kept Whittlesey in Sunday’s game until a three-run bottom of the seventh broke it open. In 6.2 innings, the big right-hander allowed eight hits, struck out seven Expos and walked one. Four of Elmwood’s runs were earned.
Elmwood got its unearned run in the bottom of the second inning and then made it 2-0 in the fifth when Brecken Ponath singled, stole second and scored on Kyle Trainor’s two-out single.
Whittlesey’s only real scoring threat came in the top of the sixth. Nick Meyer led off with a single and was bunted to second by Spike Alexander. Cade Alexander dropped in a single that pushed Meyer to third and Alexander advanced on a wild pitch that didn’t get far enough from catcher Spencer Trainor to allow Meyer to score. Dado struck out Brandon Loertscher and got Jeff Kraschnewski to pop out to get out of the jam.
Spencer Trainor started Elmwood’s clinching rally in the seventh with a base hit and pinch runner Lucas Glaus scored all the way from first base on Brecken Ponath’s double to the gap in right-center. Tyler Churchill singled. Ponath and Churchill both scored on Dado’s two-run double to right-center.
Meyer, both Alexanders, Cody Loertscher and Brent Mueller had Whittlesey’s hits. Dado was two for four with a double and a triple, Brecken Ponath was two for four and Spencer Trainor was two for three.
Reds 13, Ashland 9
Other than a four-run top of the third that briefly put third-seeded Ashland on top 5-4, Whittlesey controlled Saturday’s delayed opener and earned its four-run win over the Merchants.
Restyn Kraschnewski gave Whittlesey 4.1 solid relief innings, starting in the fifth and getting into the ninth and the Reds scored in every inning but the fifth and seventh while racking up 16 hits.
Brigham Kelley, Jeff Kraschnewski and Restyn Kraschnewski had three hits apiece and Ryder Kraschnewski was two for four while driving in four runs. All of the damage was done against Ashland lefthander Erik Hakamaki, who allowed 12 earned runs and six walks while striking out two in 7.2 innings.
Restyn Kraschnewski singled in two runs and Meyer added a sacrifice fly in a three-run second that put the Reds up 4-1. But Ashland countered in the top of the third as Daryk McWilliams singled in a two-out run, an error scored another and a base hit by Ethan Schutte scored two more.
Jeff Kraschnewski’s leadoff double sparked a three-run answer in the bottom half that put Whittlesey up for good. Mueller bunted him to second and he scored on Darren Leonhard’s groundout. Nate Retterath and Kelley then singled. Both scored on Ryder Kraschnewski’s double to deep leftfield.
Mueller lined a sacrifice fly to right in the fourth and Leonhard singled in a run in the sixth to make it 9-5. After Ashland got a run in the top of the eighth, the Reds put it away in the bottom half. Jeff Kraschnewski hit his second leadoff double of the game and Mueller beat out an infield hit. Kelley walked with two outs to load the bases. Ryder Kraschnewski drove in two with a base hit, Restyn Kraschnewski singled in one and Nick Retterath singled on the final run of the inning for a 13-6 lead that more than held up versus a last-ditch ninth-inning rally by Ashland.
Restyn Kraschnewski struck out four, walked two and allowed five hits and four runs to get the relief win. Jeff Kraschnewski started. He allowed five runs, two earned and seven hits in four innings while striking out two and walking one. Leonhard got the last two outs, walking one.
McWilliams led Ashland by going four for five out of the eighth spot in the Merchants’ batting order.
