ONE WIN AT STATE

CLASS AA LEGION STATE TOURNAMENT ONE WIN AT STATE

Experience should benefit Medford in 2022

The post-season run for Medford’s American Legion Post 147 baseball team ended Sunday with a disappointing 9-0 loss to the host team from Antigo, but the squad didn’t leave the Class AA double-elimination state tournament empty handed.

Post 147 did get one win in the eightteam tournament and gained some valuable experience with everyone on the roster expecting to be playing for the Medford Raiders next spring and most will be eligible to make another Legion run next summer.

“This was quite a two-week run for the boys, playing without any seniors and without GNC Player of the year, Caleb Guden,” Medford head coach Justin Hraby said. “These boys stepped up and competed. We knew moving to AA it would be harder to get to state. That didn’t faze these guys. Last week in the regional we beat some very talented and experienced teams in Merrill and Rhinelander. We knocked off a Waupaca team at state that had five graduated players.

“The nice thing I saw was some of the guys jumped into leadership roles already this summer,” Hraby said. “That’s something that will also help us come 2022.”

Medford liked its odds going into Sunday’s elimination game with the host Typhoon, but Post 147 had only two real scoring chances against Post 3 pitcher Luke Pecore and just about everything the Typhoon put in play in the later innings found a hole to turn a close game into a blowout.

Medford’s summer season ended at 11-6. Antigo, who was only in the tournament because it was the host team, ended a magical tournament run Tuesday by falling 6-5 to Kaukauna in the championship round.

After the required one day of rest having thrown just 44 pitches in Medford’s opening loss on Friday, staff ace Logan Baumgartner was back on the pitching mound and pitched three scoreless innings before Antigo got on the board in the top of the fourth.

Connor Kolz hit a one-out single and Logan Thomae followed with an infield hit. Will Kubeny’s single scored Kolz. Baumgartner responded by striking out Mason Gray and catcher Aiden Gardner threw out Kubeny as he tried to steal second base to keep it a 1-0 game.

A one-out single by Austin Schedlbauer and a two-out infield hit by Neil Bretl led to a passed ball and Antigo’s second run of the game in the fifth.

Medford, which had stranded two runners in the first inning, had its last threat in the bottom of the fifth. Tucker Kraemer singled and Miles Searles walked to bring up the top of the order with one out. But Pecore got Seth Mudgett to pop out to Kolz, Antigo’s catcher, and Tanner Hraby to pop out to Thomae at first to get out of the jam.

“This was a really good game through five innings,” Justin Hraby said. “We had our chances in the fifth. Seth and Tanner got a little anxious and couldn’t come through with runners on second and third. I’d take the same situation again, those two up with runners on second and third with one out. More often than not, they are going to come through for us.”

The game then got away from Medford as two errors, a walk and two singles led to three Antigo runs in the top of the sixth. Four hits and an error during Tanner Hraby’s one-third of an inning put the game away in the top of the seventh.

Pecore struck out five, walked one and allowed just four hits in a big outing for the Typhoon. Baumgartner went six innings and allowed eight hits and five runs, two of which were earned, while striking out three, walking one and hitting one.

Baumgartner and Gardner hit backto- back singles in the first. Brigham Kelley singled in the second for Medford’s only other hit.

Kubeny was three for four for Antigo, while Elliott Orgeman, Bretl, and Thomae had two hits apiece.

“We played like a young team at times in this game,” Hraby said. “Simple plays not made and we allowed the emotions of the game to get to us down the stretch and allow them to blow the game open. Logan pitched well and deserved a much better outcome. He has been solid all summer and will be a lot of fun to watch in 2022.

“This just capped off a great 2021 Medford Raider/Legion baseball season,” the coach added. “We just rattled off 35 wins in the last three months or so. That’s impressive. These boys love the game and will do anything to get better and win.”

Medford 11, Waupaca 3

On Saturday, it was Medford that benefi ted from late offense as Post 147 buried Waupaca with a six-run seventh-inning rally that sealed an 11-3 win and eliminated Waupaca from the tournament.

Medford only trailed briefly 1-0 and led 5-1 going into the bottom of the sixth, but Waupaca’s Post 161 squad scored two runs in that inning to tighten things up at 5-3.

But Kelley’s one-out single off new pitcher Hagen Rasmussen put the wheels in motion for the clinching rally. After Kraemer flied to left for the second out, Searles bounced a single through the right side and Mudgett followed by dumping a single into shallow left that scored Kelley. Tanner Hraby blooped an RBI single to right and Baumgartner laced a rocket to left-center for a two-run double that made it 9-3.

Gardner was hit by a pitch and Max Dietzman walked, setting up a two-run single to center by Steve Hraby.

“The six-run inning was huge,” Hraby said. “The momentum was starting to shift in their favor. We had some great ABs in that inning and really did what good teams do, put teams away.

“So huge to get a win. These young guys battle and are not intimidated by these older teams. It’s fun to watch and coach.”

Mudgett went six innings to pick up the pitching win. He struck out three, walked four and allowed three earned runs and nine hits. The defense turned two double plays behind him, Gardner threw out a runner trying to steal second to help limit Waupaca’s first-inning rally and Mudgett also picked a runner off first base.

“Seth pitched well,” Justin Hraby said. “He mixed and matched and got a lot of ground balls with his off-speed stuff. A few of those grounders turned into double plays for us.”

Medford tied the game in the top of the third when Mudgett, Tanner Hraby and Baumgartner hit consecutive singles. Post 147 took the lead in the top of the fifth. Baumgartner was hit by a oneout pitch from Waupaca starter Luke Schwenn and scored when Gardner doubled to deep left, missing a homer by only a couple of feet. Max Dietzman singled and wound up at second on the play, while Gardner held at third. Gardner scored on Steve Hraby’s bouncer to second. After Kelley walked to put runners on the corners, Kelley took off for second and got himself in a rundown, Dietzman also got hung up between third and home but he eventually made a perfect slide to beat a throw home to complete the unusual double steal and make it a 4-1 game.

Mudgett doubled, went to third on an error and scored on Tanner Hraby’s single in the top of the sixth.

Medford banged out 14 hits against Schwenn and Rasmussen with each starter getting at least one hit. Tanner Hraby was three for four, while Mudgett was three for five. Baumgartner was two for four and Steve Hraby had one hit and three RBIs.

Schwenn gave up eight hits and five runs while striking out five in six innings for Waupaca.

This was Medford’s second straight state win over Waupaca. Post 147 also beat Waupaca 4-3 in the 2019 Class A state tournament at Westby.

Ahnapee 6, Medford 1

The Ahnapee Trailblazers jumped ahead early and pitcher Luke Steebs made sure they stayed ahead with an outstanding pitching performance in their 6-1 win over Post 147 in Friday’s firstround matchup.

Ahnapee took the lead on hits from its first three hitters and expanded its lead to 5-0 before Medford ever got a base runner. While Post 147 played a solid final four innings, the early damage did the team in.

Steebs did not walk a batter, allowed just four hits and struck out six. He set down Medford’s first nine hitters in order before Post 147 finally got to him in the top of the fourth. Mudgett singled up the middle to break up the perfect game, advanced to second on an errant pickoff throw and scored on Tanner Hraby’s line-drive single to left.

The rally died when Medford hit into some bad luck. Ahnapee shortstop made a diving stop on a sharply-hit ground ball by Baumgartner and forced Hraby at second. Gardner then hit another ground ball bullet that Krause turned into an inning-ending double play.

Medford never seriously threatened again.

Steebs, Alex Laughlin and Jack Peterson singled off Baumgartner to give the Trailblzaers a quick 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, but Dietzman snared a liner hit by Charlie Neinas and ended the inning with an unassisted double play to keep the deficit at one.

But things went bad for Medford in the third. Number-nine hitter Jaden Diller crushed a leadoff triple to deep center and Steebs singled him in. Laughlin singled and Peterson hit a two-run double. Peterson later scored on a passed ball for a 5-0 lead.

With two down and Baumgartner at 44 pitches, coach Hraby went with Steve Hraby to keep Baumgartner available for Sunday. That move paid off as he allowed just four hits over the final 3.1 innings. Ahnapee didn’t score against him until Diller’s two-out RBI single in the bottom of the sixth.

Dietzman and Gardner had singles for Medford in the later innings.

Medford Post 147 second baseman Tucker Kraemer makes a nice backhand pick from behind the bag to rob Ahnapee’s Charlie Neinas of a hit during the bottom of the third inning in Medford’s 6-1 opening loss to the Class AA state tournament Friday.MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS

Left: Medford leftfielder Miles Searles scoops up a base hit by Ahnapee’s Alex Laughlin in the first inning of Friday’s 6-1 loss to the Trailblazers. Middle: Seth Mudgett gets Friday’s game started by making solid contact on a ground ball to second base. Right: Medford first baseman Max Dietzman makes a nifty over-the-shoulder grab in foul territory to retire Ahnapee’s Luke Steebs and end the bottom of Friday’s sixth inning at the Wisconsin American Legion Class AA state tournament in Antigo.MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS