PORTAGE — The Eagles, riding senior ace Tyler Schroedl, got through 6 2/3 innings clinging to a one-run lead.
Four pitches later, the Warriors produced an unlikely four-run rally.
Second-seeded Waupun scored the tying run via error and the go-ahead run on Trey Schmidt’s single in the seventh inning, charging past top-seeded Jefferson 4-1 in a Division 2 baseball sectional semifinal at Portage High School on Tuesday afternoon.
“Being able to put the ball in play has kind of been our Achilles’ heel,” Jefferson baseball coach Greg Fetherston said. “That was the difference. When you don’t hit, everything gets magnified. We have to find a way to put the ball in play and get some swings earlier. All they did was put the ball in play and force us to make some mistakes.
“We talked all year about valuing the ball from the catch play to the batter’s box to the outfield. We didn’t value the ball the way we needed to in the seventh inning.”
The gut-wrenching loss marks the end of the Eagles’ quest for four straight state appearances. Jefferson drops to 16-4 overall in the playoffs since 2021, a wildly-impressive stretch that includes state runner-up finishes in 2021 and 2022 along with last year’s state semifinal appearance.
Through six innings, the Warriors were being no-hit by Schroedl, the 6-foot-5 right-hander who tossed a no-hitter in the regional semifinals versus Stoughton in his last outing.
Waupun pitcher Mason Holz led off the seventh with a single just to the right-hand side of the second base bag. Evan Sauer, on a 2-1 count, popped out to senior second baseman Aidan Kammer for the inning’s first out.
The Warriors (21-5) got aggressive next, putting Holz in motion. A pinpoint throw from junior catcher Finn DeBlare to Kammer, who applied the tag, promptly cut down the runner for out No. 2.
On a full count, Chase Beahm drew a walk and was courtesy run for by Brady White before Jake Krueger walked on five pitches.
Schroedl, on a 1-2 pitch, got Ethan Cunningham to hit a ground ball to senior third baseman Tyler Fredrick, who gathered and fired a low throw that squirted under sophomore first baseman Gavin Berge’s glove. The ball skated away, allowing White, who paused near the third base bag, to dash home and make it 1-1 on a head-first slide without a play at the play.
Making matters worse for Jefferson was that pitch put Schroedl at the 100-pitch limit.
Sophomore Bentley Wagner came in from shortstop and was greeted by Schmidt, who singled to right-center on the first pitch he faced, scoring Krueger from third for the go-ahead run.
On a 1-0 count, Bryant Ferris lined a double over junior Sam Steies’ head and to the fence in right field, plating two runs for the final margin. Landon Richter hit a deep fly ball to senior left fielder Brady Vogel to end the rally.
The Eagles, with the top of their order due up, still possessed a sliver of hope and got the home half of the seventh off to a promising start when Kammer, who was 2-for-4, lined a double down the left-field line. Kammer took third on Fredrick’s ground out but was stranded when Sauer punched out Schroedl looking and got senior designated hitter Payton Heard to ground out to third base.
Schroedl, who punched out the side in the third, powered through five perfect innings before Logan Prall drew a lead off walk in the sixth. Schroedl struck out Ferris, Richter and Emmett Hull looking to end the frame with Prall, who stole second and reached third on a wild pitch, stranded.
Hull, on a full count, ran out of the box toward first anticipating a pitch on the outside portion of the zone would be ruled a ball, but was wrung up. Head coach Travis Hull had words for the home plate ump and was promptly tossed. Emmett Hull, on his way to the dugout, also argued the call and was quickly ejected.
Jefferson (23-6) led from the jump, with Kammer opening the first inning by lining a pitch to the fence in right-center for a double. Fredrick laid down a well-placed bunt, which Holz fielded and threw high and errant of first base to bring Kammer around. A Schroedl walk and Heard ground out put runners at second and third with one away. Senior Drew Peterson popped a bunt to Hull at third before Holz fanned Berge to end the threat.
Holz retired eight consecutive until a Schroedl two-out single in the third, which Heard followed by drawing a walk. Peterson then struck out looking.
Jefferson, known to grind away at bats and work deep into counts, drew three full-count walks in the sixth to load the bases. Sauer relieved Holz with men on first and second and two outs before walking DeBlare. Sauer then punched out Wagner to escape the jam and pitched 1 1/3 innings with two strikeouts to earn the decision.
Holz allowed an unearned run on two hits with eight strikeouts, five walks in 5 2/3 innings.
“I thought we’d get more collective swings and at bats,” Fetherston said. “We missed some bunt executions and had too many strikeouts (10) by guys. We can’t do that with all the good pitching we’ve seen this year. Holz is a great pitcher, but we had some good counts where we did not make things happen.”
Schroedl took the loss despite pitching 6 2/3 innings of one-hit ball. He surrendered three unearned runs, fanned nine and walked three for Jefferson, which had a nine-game win streak snapped.
“Getting ahead in the count, throwing the fastball for a strike and moving it around were keys for me today,” Schroedl said. “My curveball was there for a little bit, but I really could not throw it at the end. It was just a lot of fastballs pounding the zone and moving it around, which is hard to hit.
“I’ve made a huge improvement as a pitcher. My junior year, I told coach I probably wouldn’t be pitching because of arm pains. He made me come and do an open gym. From there, I worked with assistant coach Heath Renz, who was drafted to play professionally and played in the minors. All the credit goes to Heath for working with me.”
Schroedl loved his time as an Eagle.
“I won’t forget the trip down to Florida to start this season or our state trip last year,” Schroedl said. “We went up to Kimberly and played two games last year, which was a blast, and did some overnight stays, team dinners and lots of team bonding. Hopefully these guys coming back next learned leadership qualities and how important it is to pick guys up from our senior class.”
Jefferson bids farewell to its 10 seniors, a group Fetherston praised as people and players.
“Those guys work hard, are great kids and great teammates, get everybody involved, support the youth, help with camps, love the game, are cage warriors and do it the right way,” Fetherston said. “That is going to carry on to the younger guys. They learned it from the 2014 state title group and that just continued to get carried on down. Baseball can be cruel. I’ll never forget this group, it’s one of the most special groups I’ve had. To see 10 people stick with the program as long as they did is impressive on their part.
“I want to thank my assistant coaches for all the time and effort they put in. They do a phenomenal job preparing our kids for these big games. I know our players and parents appreciate them too, but we really do have a good group of assistant coaches to help us with this process.”
Edgewood rallied in the seventh inning to beat Reedsburg 3-2 in the day’s first semifinal, then used a seven-run third inning to upend Waupun 10-5 and reach the Division 2 State Baseball Tournament. Kettle Moraine Lutheran, Mosinee and La Crosse Logan, a No. 6 seed, are the other D2 qualifiers.
WAUPUN 4, JEFFERSON 1
Waupun 000 000 4 — 4 3 1
Jefferson 100 000 0 — 1 3 1
2B — Ferris (W); Kammer (J) 2.
Waupun (ab-r-h-rbi) — Hull 3-0-0-0, Holz 3-0-1-0, Sauer 3-0-0-0, Beahm 2-0-0-0, Krueger 2-1-0-0, Cunningham 3-1-0-0, Prall 1-0-0-0, Schmidt 1-1-1-1, Ferris 3-0-1-2, Richter 3-0-0-0. Totals 24-4-3-3.
Jefferson (ab-r-h-rbi) — Kammer 4-1-2-0, Fredrick 4-0-0-0, Schroedl 3-0-1-0, Heard 2-0-0-0, Peterson 3-0-0-0, Berge 3-0-0-0, Steies 2-0-0-0, T. Altermatt 1-0-0-0, Wagner 3-0-0-0. Totals 25-1-3-0.
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — WA: Holz 5.2-2-1-0-5-8, Sauer W; 1.1-1-0-0-1-2; J: Schroedl L; 6.2-1-3-0-3-9, Wagner 0.1-2-1-1-0-0.
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