JEFFERSON — The Eagles renewed acquaintances with several other high-profile programs and earned a pair of impressive victories on Saturday.
Jefferson’s baseball team improved to 20-5 with a 7-2 win over Turner and a 10-0 five-inning triumph against Denmark at Fischer Field.
The Eagles never trailed on the day and did not commit an error.
Jefferson rallied for three runs in the first inning versus the Trojans, who they also beat 13-4 in conference play on April 6. Drew Peterson singled home a one-out run. Payton Heard followed with a single to put two men in scoring position for Gavin Berge, whose line-shot double to left field made it 3-0.
The Trojans (11-11) pulled within 4-2 in the third when Zack Ries was hit by a bases-loaded pitch.
In the Eagles’ fourth, Aidan Kammer was hit by a lead off pitch. He stole second and third bases before coming around on an error by catcher Brody Berg to make it 5-2.
Bentley Wagner opened the Jefferson sixth with a single, took second on a wild pitch and scored on pitcher Ries’ error on Kammer’s bunt single. Kammer later scored on a ground out by Heard, who was 3-for-4, for the final margin.
Brady Vogel started for the Eagles, allowing two earned runs on three hits in 2 1/3 innings to earn the decision. Wagner then tossed 4 2/3 innings of three-hit ball to finish it out.
The Vikings (16-5) and Eagles have clashed at state the past three seasons, with the former having had the upper hand on each occasion including the 2021 and 2022 WIAA Division 2 State Tournament Championship games.
Eleventh-ranked Jefferson scored in four of its five at-bats versus ninth-ranked Denmark in this one, highlighted by a six-run inning in the fourth.
Kammer led off the game with a single. Tyler Schroedl was then hit by a one-out pitch and Peterson followed with a single to load the bases for Heard, who lined a ground ball single to left to score a pair.
Sam Steies reached via error in the Jefferson second and scored on a ground out by Wagner. In the third, Peterson drew a one-out walk and came across on Berge’s two-out double to left.
Two walks and a hit by pitch loaded the bases full of Eagles with one away in the fourth. Schroedl ripped a liner to third base and beat Joshua Gajeski’s throw to the bag. One run came across on the hit and another on the throw to make it 6-0.
With two outs, Heard, who was 3-for-4 and had six base knocks on the day, lined a double to the gap in right-center to bring across two more runs. After a walk and hit batsmen, Tyler Altermatt’s liner to right field scored two runs and resulted in the final margin as the Eagles pushed their win streak to six games.
Jefferson starter Tyler Fredrick pitched five innings of four-hit ball, striking out eight with no walks, to earn the win.
Denmark edged Turner in the middle game of the day, 2-1.
The Eagles finish regular-season play versus Milton at UW-Whitewater on Tuesday.
First game
JEFFERSON 7, TURNER 2
Turner 011 000 0 — 2 6 3
Jefferson 310 102 0 — 7 8 0
Leading hitters — T: Tillery 2x2, Pfundheller (2B), Buckley (2B); J: Heard 3x4 (2B), Berge (2B).
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — T: Halon L; 2-3-4-3-3-2, Ries 3.1-5-3-2-0-1, Wrightman 0.2-0-0-0-0-0; J: Vogel W; 2.1-3-2-2-1-2, Wagner 4.2-3-0-0-2-2.
Second game
JEFFERSON 10, DENMARK 0 (5)
Jefferson 211 60 — 10 8 0
Denmark 000 00 — 0 4 1
Leading hitters — J: Heard 3x4 (2B), Berge (2B); D: Heezen 2x2 (2B).
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — J: Fredrick W; 5-4-0-0-0-8; D: Paphlham L; 3-4-5-4-4-1, Kersten 2-4-5-5-2-2.
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