Johnson Creek dominates home sectional, earns 5th trip to state

JOHNSON CREEK — Like any good catcher, Oakfield senior Bailey Schepp had done his homework.

With his team’s season winding down to the final outs in a Division 4 sectional semifinal against Johnson Creek, Schepp offered his teammates some perspective in the dugout.

“That’s the best hitting team we’ve faced,” Schepp said. “They can all hit. The worst hitting guy is batting .268. They’ve got their ace going in the next game and their shortstop comes in and throws mid-80s.

“They will beat Barneveld in the next game.”

It was spot-on analysis.

Hosting and playing in the same sectional since the program’s state championship season in 2007, Johnson Creek earned the program’s fifth trip to the WIAA State Baseball Tournament with an 8-4 win over Oakfield followed by a 14-2 rout of Barneveld in the championship game on Tuesday at Wuestenberg Field.

Johnson Creek (24-4) had 12 hits against Oakfield and 14 against Barneveld while holding the opponents to nine total hits. The Bluejays, seeded second, return to Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute for the first time since 2018 for a state semifinal game next Tuesday at 9 a.m. versus third-seeded Solon Springs/Northwood.

“We’ve been playing (since little league together) in Farmington, now we’re here, 10 years at least,” Johnson Creek senior pitcher and infielder Dylan Bredlow said.

“It feels unreal, honestly. We knew coming into the season that we could be really good. We had high potential. We just went out there and we played our hearts out today.”

Oakfield (18-4) took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning with an unearned run against Bluejays starter Dugg Hartwig.

Schepp reached on an error to lead off the game and with one out, Oakfield pitcher and No. 3 hitter Hunter Sabel was intentionally walked. The Oaks took the lead on James Kautzer’s two-out RBI single to right.

Johnson Creek took the lead for good with two runs in the second inning.

Junior center fielder Luke Hartz led off with an infield hit and senior right fielder Silas Hartz sacrificed him over.

Sophomore first baseman Aiden Smith drew a two-out walk and senior catcher Ian Heald tied the game with an RBI single to right center.

Smith stole third and then Hartwig helped himself from there, beating out an infield hit to score Smith with the go-ahead run.

Hartwig retired the side in order over the next two innings before the Bluejays chased Sabel with a three-run rally in the fourth.

Silas Hartz drew a leadoff walk and Heald put runners at the corners with a ground ball single through the left side. Hartwig followed with an RBI single to right and junior second baseman Tanner Herman drove in another run with an infield hit.

Sophomore left fielder Zach Holland capped the rally with an RBI single up the middle.

Just two weeks ago, Johnson Creek baseball coach Marc Blakeley watched his team get swept by Deerfield on this field in the conference championship showdown and said, “We strike out too much.”

That hasn’t been a problem since.

“Sabel is a great pitcher,” Blakeley said. “We knew he had a nice, tight little slider. We went up there and we battled. I think we only had three strikeouts in the game. Our biggest asset is our speed and when the ball gets put in play, it puts a lot of pressure on teams.”

The Oaks scored two runs in the fifth and Sabel showed why he was intentionally walked in the first inning. After Hartwig gave up a one-out single through the left side by Schepp and a walk to Mitchell Moser, Sabel crushed a two-run double to the left center gap.

Hartwig hit the next batter but escaped further damage with a strikeout and a ground ball. He was pulled after a one-out walk in the sixth, but earned the decision by allowing three runs (two earned) on three hits with two strikeouts and five walks.

“We were hemming and hawing, Wags and Lauersdorf (assistant coach Tim Wagner and Ray Lauersdorf) and I, who do we throw? We just came to the decision, we’re throwing Dugg. He’s been throwing the best lately.

“He didn’t have his best stuff today, but he bit down on his mouthguard and he just gave us everything he had. He was kind of struggling a little bit, but he was mixing in the curveball and was throwing hard and spotting up and we just made the plays behind him.

“He does have some decent movement on his fastball, mixing in some curves and changeups. Taylor (Senior shortstop Taylor Joseph) made a couple nice plays, our outfield has got to be one of the best in Division 4. We just fly all over the place.”

The Bluejays got one run back in the bottom of the fifth.

Luke Hartz hit a one-out single over the shortstop and Silas Hartz bunted him over for a second time. Smith put the Bluejays up 6-3 with an RBI single to right as Hartz easily beat the throw to the plate.

Smith relieved Hartwig in the sixth and walked the first batter on four pitches, then got an infield pop fly and a groundout to retire the side.

Johnson Creek put the game away with two runs in the home half of the sixth.

Joseph punched a one-out single to center and Herman launched a two-run homer to left off Moser to give the Bluejays a five-run cushion.

“(I’ve only hit) just one this year,” Herman said. “It felt good. Coach tells us, 2-0 count, we gotta be ready to smash one, so I was just looking to get the barrel on it and he put it right down the middle of the plate.

“I flashed the bunt, but the kid moved up, so I thought maybe this is the time to finally get one and he put it right down the middle of the plate.

“When everybody’s locked in, we’re electric. It starts with our defense and it starts with our 1 hitter (Joseph). He starts us off and we go. That’s what it is.”

Smith gave up one run on two hits and a walk in the seventh, but closed the game out with a flyout to right.

“In the middle of the game, Wags and I are talking, do we bring Dylan in, do we bring Taylor in?,” Blakeley said. “Nope, we’re going to the sophomore and what does he do? He just throws strikes. We love him.

“He’s going to be a great player and he already is a great player for us. With the depth on this team, he just ends up being the No. 4 pitcher and he just comes in and throws strikes. We’re going to need him in this next game, too.

“Oakfield is a great program. We’ve run into them numerous times. Aaon Schepp, their coach, is a great coach.”

Heald gave both of his pitchers high marks afterwards.

“They did as much as they could, hitting their spots.,” Heald said. “The zone was a little bit tighter than in the regular season, but they did their best to work with it. I tried my best to help them get in the zone, caught better and made them feel comfortable out there. They just did their job and secured the deal.”

Joseph, Herman, Luke Hartz, Heald and Hartwig each had two hits in the victory.

“We decided to get our bats going real good today,” Heald said. “Hopefully, we’ll keep it going next game. After that, no one can beat us except ourselves.”

The Bluejays were the visitors in the title game. They put up a four-spot in the top of the first inning to set the tone.

Herman drew a one-out walk, Holland singled and Bredlow walked to load the bases. Herman scored on a wild pitch. Luke Hartz hit a two-run double and later scored on a wild pitch.

Bredlow started for Johnson Creek and threw 1 2/3 innings, but Blakely feared a potential rainout and didn’t want to lose his ace if play resumed the next day.

Smith was called upon again and threw 3 1/3 innings, allowing one earned run on two hits.

“We were worried about rain, so we took Dylan out,” Blakeley said. “We wanted to keep him under 30 pitches, so he didn’t have to sit. We put Aiden in and he just throws strikes.

“Wags and I just said, let’s keep him in. He went to 100 (pitches) and then we brought Dylan in there.”

By the time Smith reached his pitch count limit, the Bluejays had this one well in hand.

Luke Hartz led off the third with a double down the left field line, Silas Hartz walked and Smith hit an RBI single to center. Heald followed with a two-run single to left to make it 7-1.

In the fourth, Herman walked, stole second and scored on Silas Hartz’s RBI single to right.

Hartwig led off the fifth with an infield hit and Joseph reached on a fly ball single to shallow center. Herman laid down a bunt and was ruled safe, allowing Hartwig to score. Bredlow hit an RBI single to right and Luke Hartz hit a sacrifice fly to make it 11-1.

Barneveld (16-6) scratched out a run in the home half of the fifth to avoid being sent home via the run-rule, but it was merely a stay of execution.

The Bluejays scored three more runs in the sixth.

Smith singled to right, Heald was hit by a pitch and Joseph reached on a one-out error to score Smith. Herman’s RBI fielder’s choice and Holland’s RBI single to center made it 14-2.

Bredlow re-entered and retired the Eagles in order in the sixth, finishing the game with his fourth strikeout.

But it was Smith who gave the Bluejays two quality outings on the mound when they needed it most.

“Just go in there, throw strikes and be the best I can and do this for the team (was my mindset),” Smith said. “Throw strikes, make sure we win the game. We got our goal done and won the game and I am proud of everybody.”

Once again, five Bluejays had two hits in the game and four of them drove in two runs. The defense made two errors in each game, but also made a ton of plays behind the pitchers.

“Our defense is so good,” Smith said. “I feel like we should be top in the state, Taylor, Ian, Dylan, Silas, Luke, Zach ... we are a hell of a team, we are really good. It’s an amazing team. I love these guys. This is definitely the best day ever. I love this day so much.”

So did Joseph, who enjoyed playing the biggest games of his life on the team’s home field.

“Definitely,” Joseph said. “We got everybody in the community here, very cool.

“It’s wonderful. I’ve been playing with these guys since I was little. We’ve been through thick and thin. It feels wonderful to pull together and go to state together and have a good, winning season.

“We’re very solid all the way around, Our sticks are very good, but I think our defense is a little better than everything else. This is definitely one of the best (hitting days) we have had, just banging balls around the yard.”

Blakeley felt the two losses to Deerfield to end the regular season helped the team re-focus. So did Bredlow.

“It was kind of a realization, you don’t win everything and everything doesn’t always go your way,” Bredlow said. “Even if you’re lining out, good hits and everything, sometimes you have your off days. It was a setback that made us realize we have to keep going no matter what.

“Our defense has been great. When a ball is hit, I don’t expect it to drop at all. I expect it to be an out. If it’s grounded, if it’s hit in the air, I can look over here (to the umpire) and I just hear ‘out.’”

Blakeley and Wagner talked up this senior class for both football and baseball years ago. Taking this group to state makes it that much more gratifying.

“This senior class has worked so hard,” Blakeley said. “They have done everything that myself, Wags, Lauersdorf and (Logan) Peot have asked them to do.

The 6:30 a.m. morning workouts ... Every morning in the summer, these kids never missed a day of lifting, a day of speed. For this to happen, it just shows all the hard work that they do.

“They have put in the work. We’ve had some ups and downs, we lost a couple of games that we feel we shouldn’t have lost, but I think that helped us. It all came together today. Oakfield is great, Barneveld is a state caliber program. To do what we just did to that program, just shows we are right there. We’re not done yet. That’s their goal.”

Top-seeded Eleva-Strum faces fourth-seeded Stevens Point Pacelli in the second state semifinal, with the winners advancing to the state title game on Thursday, June 13 at 9 a.m.

JOHNSON CREEK 8, OAKFIELD 4

Oakfield 100 002 0 — 1 4 4

Johnson Creek 020 312 X — 8 12 2

Leading hitters - O (Sabel), JC (Joseph 2x4, Herman 2x4, HR, L. Hartz 2x3, Heald 2x3, Hartwig 2x3)

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - O (Sabel L 3.2-9-5-4-2-1, Moser 2.1-3-3-2-0-1), JC (Hartwig W 5.2-3-3-2-5-5, Smith 1.1-1-1-1-2-0)

JOHNSON CREEK 14, BARNEVELD 2 (6)

Johnson Creek 403 122 — 14 14 2

Barneveld 010 010 — 2 5 2

Leading hitters - JC (Joseph 2x5, 2B, Holland 2x5, Bredlow 2x4, L Hartz 2x3, 2B (2), Smith 2x2, Heald 2B), B (Marx 2B)

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - JC (Bredlow W 2.2-3-1-1-1-4, Smith 3.1-2-1-1-1-1), B (Larson L 2.1-9-7-7-3-2, Schmidt 3.2-5-7-4-3-1)