ONE FOR THE RECORD BOOKS
Guden, Raiders earn many post-season awards
It didn’t have the perfect ending in a thrilling but disappointing extrainning, regional final loss to Mosinee, but the success of Medford’s 22-6 baseball season is shown in the lengthy list of post-season honors the Raiders have received.
Senior Caleb Guden tops the list after he finished putting his name on several school records while being named the team’s Most Valuable Player. In recent weeks, Guden was named the repeat Player of the Year in the Great Northern Conference, the repeat Division 2 North Central District Player of the Year and earned a spot on the Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association’s All-State second team. He made the third team in 2021.
For the second straight spring, he also earned a spot on the WBCA All-State Academic Team. Juniors and seniors are eligible for that award if they have a cumulative grade point average of 4.0 or higher, earn all-conference recognition and their coach is a WBCA member.
Guden’s baseball and academic success has taken him to the Air Force Academy, where he reported this weekfor basic training and intends to play baseball next spring.
Guden is one of four unanimous All-GNC choices from Medford for the 2022 all-conference team.
Senior catcher Aiden Gardner turned his selection into a first-team All-District spot, honorable mention All-State recognition and the opportunity to play in this weekend’s 39th annual WBCA Senior All-Star Classic in Oshkosh. Guden also was chosen, but had to decline due to his Air Force commitment.
Gardner is on the West All-Star team that will play the East team at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, the North team at 12:30 p.m. and the South team at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. All games are at E.J. Schneider Field.
Junior Logan Baumgartner is a unanimous first-team pitcher and a second-team infielder in the GNC and made the All-District second team as a pitcher. Senior outfielder Seth Mudgett also was a first-team All-GNC pick and a second-team All-District selection.
Infielders Brigham Kelley and Tanner Hraby were second-team All-GNC picks and sophomore outfielder Braxton Weissmiller earned honorable mention after the Raiders’ 10-2 season in league play that left them one game behind 11-1 Mosinee in the final standings.
Mosinee, who went 26-4 and reached the WIAA Division 2 state semifinals, ended Medford’s season on June 1 in a 9-8, nineinning thriller.
Guden leads the way
Guden set or challenged several single- season and career pitching and hitting records, with the career records being even more impressive considering he lost his sophomore year due to the Covid shutdown of 2020.
The switch-hitter posted a .500 batting average this season, going 43 for 86 with seven doubles, two triples and five home runs. He drove in 34 runs and scored 34 runs, drew 18 walks and only struck out 10 times in 112 plate appearances. His on-base percentage was .580 and his slugging percentage was .802.
The 43 hits broke his own record of 41 from last year and his 98 hits beat the old career record of 94 set by 1994 graduate Sam Russ. The 34 runs in a season ties Nick Meyer’s 2010 total for second place on the all-time list behind the 38 scored by Jeff Johnas in 2006. Guden scored 86 career runs, easily beating the old record of 76 set by 2013 graduate Cole Loertscher.
Guden stole 20 bases this season, tying the record set in 2006 by Thomas Mildbrand. He stole 35 bases in his career, putting him third on the all-time list behind 1988 graduate Todd Albrecht (44) and 1995 graduate Jamie Ziembo (38).
His 34 runs batted in broke his own record of 33 set last year and his 75 career RBIs put him number-one on the alltime list ahead of Russ (71) and his uncle, Steve Guden (68).
Guden made 12 pitching appearances during the season with 11 starts and posted a 7-0 record with a 1.05 earned run average that ranks second in school history behind BJ Prokopiak’s 2004 record of 0.94. Guden finished with a 1.68 career ERA that is the new school record ahead of the 1.87 posted by Prokopiak, a 2005 graduate. Guden allowed just seven earned runs in 46.2 innings pitched along with 28 hits and 18 walks. He struck out 56 batters.
The GNC Player of the Year award was based on numbers that showed Guden hitting a league-best .595 in 12 GNC games (22 for 37), collecting a league-best 22 hits and ranking second, two behind Antigo’s Mason Gray, with 17 runs batted in and second, three behind Mosinee’s Keagen Jirschele, with 18 runs scored. He was also two behind Jirschele with 13 stolen bases and hit two homers in GNC play.
Guden went 3-0 in 18.1 GNC innings pitched with 19 strikeouts, nine walks, 12 hits allowed and a 1.15 ERA. He allowed three earned runs.
Not the only one
The rest of Medford’s award winners also had outstanding seasons.
Gardner did well over 90% of the team’s catching again this season and would have been a four-year starter at the position had 2020 not been canceled. Amazingly, he was charged with just one error in 175 total chances for a .994 fielding percentage. He caught five of 20 runners trying to steal and picked off another runner. He had just three passed balls in 154.1 innings caught.
Gardner hit .402 this season by going 35 for 87 with 10 doubles, a triple and two homers in 105 plate appearances. He drove in 26 runs to rank third on the team, drew 14 walks, scored 15 runs and only struck out 15 times. He hit .362 with runners in scoring position.
His .513 GNC batting average (20 for 39) ranked third, just behind Mosinee’s Davin Stoffel (.520, 13 for 25), his 20 hits ranked second behind Guden and his 15 RBIs tied Mosinee’s Tanner Unertl for third. Baumgartner earned his first All-GNC honors after an outstanding all-around season. On the mound, he was 8-3 with a 2.00 ERA in 56 innings pitched. He pitched in 14 games, started 10, struck out 56 batters and walked only eight. Of the 23 runs he allowed, 16 were earned and he gave up just 47 hits. His losses came against two strong Division 1 teams –– Muskego and Stevens Point –– and he took the loss in a 2-0 loss to Mosinee on April 27 when he allowed just six hits and one earned run in seven innings.
He struck out 11, didn’t walk a batter and scattered four hits in seven innings in a 2-1 win at Rhinelander on May 7. He pitched 5.1 solid innings on April 1 against eventual WIAA Division 2 state champion Denmark, allowing just three hits, two runs and striking out five. Medford won that game 4-3 in eight innings.
At the plate, Baumgartner had a .404 batting average (36 for 89) with 31 RBIs, two homers, 11 doubles and 16 runs scored. He had a .472 on-base percentage in 106 plate appearances.
Defensively, when he wasn’t pitching, Baumgartner saw most of his time at shortstop or third base and got a couple innings at first base. He had a .929 fielding percentage with just five errors in 70 total chances (45 assists, 25 putouts) and was involved in nine double plays.
At 5-1 in the GNC, Baumgartner led the league in pitching wins. He ranked third in ERA in 31 innings pitched at 0.68 behind Jirschele and Landyn Hoeft of Northland Pines, who both did not give up a run in GNC play. Jirschele threw 22 innings and Hoeft threw 21.
Mudgett’s first-team selection is his first All-GNC baseball award. It was well-earned as Medford’s leadoff hitter posted a .372 batting average (32 for 86) with six doubles, a triple and 18 runs batted in. His 32 runs ranked second on the team and he drew a team-high 20 walks to reach an on-base percentage of .486. He only struck out four times in 108 plate appearances and hit .483 with runners in scoring position.
In league play, he ranked fourth in batting average at .450 (18 for 40), tied Matthew Szafranski of Northland Pines for third in hits and was part of a threeway tie for fourth, along with teammate Colby Elsner, in runs with 15.
Able to play multiple positions, Mudgett settled into rightfield this year and had just four errors in 38 chances. He also logged 20.2 innings on the mound, going 3-0 with a save and a 6.10 ERA.
The All-GNC first team was, as expected, dominated by Medford and Mosinee. The Indians filled five first-team spots, four of them unanimously. Gray, Szafranski and Rhinelander’s Ryan Jamison got the other first-team spots.
The All-District selection process includes candidates from the Great Northern, Bay, Eastern Cloverbelt, Central Wisconsin, Marawood, Marinette and Oconto, Northern Lakes and Wisconsin Valley conferences.
Second team, mention
For the second straight spring, Tanner Hraby earned one of the four All-GNC second-team infield spots, while this is Kelley’s first All-GNC award.
Hraby saw most of his time at second base, but also got innings at shortstop and pitched. He threw a 34-pitch, five-inning no-hitter on April 28 in an 11-0 nonconference win over Marshfield.
Hraby hit .319 overall (29 for 91) with four doubles, a triple, and a home run. He scored 25 runs and drove in 25 runs hitting second or third in the batting order. He hit out of the three spot behind Mudgett and Guden in the last half of that year and that switch was one reason the team’s offensive numbers picked up. His home run and triple were both big ones. The homer was a grand slam in the team’s 14-4 regional semifinal win over Antigo on May 31 and the triple also came with the bases loaded and gave Medford a 5-4 seventh-inning lead in the regional final at Mosinee.
Hraby had a .950 fielding percentage and was involved in nine double plays. He had just five errors in 101 total chances (68 assists, 28 putouts).
Defense was Kelley’s strength. The senior first baseman made several tough scoops to save teammates from errant throws and was sure-handed on ground balls as well. He finished with just four errors in 161 total chances for a .975 fielding percentage. Kelley also saw some time at third base.
Offensively, Kelley hit .302 (19 for 63) and his move to the ninth spot in the order helped set the table for the top of the order late in the year. He hit three doubles and drove in 14 runs. He drove in the game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth to beat Denmark and hit a big three-run double to help clinch the playoff win over Antigo. He scored 16 runs during the season.
Weissmiller is one of the program’s best pure hitters and finished with a .413 overall batting average (31 for 75) with five doubles and a triple. He drove in 18 runs, scored 11 and drew 12 walks compared to 11 strikeouts in 91 plate appearances to finish with a .478 on-base percentage.
He was three for four against Muskego, two for three against Stevens Point, two for three against Marshfield, three for five in a big 6-4 win at Mosinee on April 29 and two for five at Mosinee in the regional final.
Most of his defensive time was spent in leftfield, though he did catch 29 innings and will likely take over for Gardner at that position next spring. He had just one error in 33 chances for a .970 fielding percentage.
Medford catcher Aiden Gardner, pictured catching a foul pop-up during an April 21 game with Stevens Point, is a 2022 first-team All-GNC and All-District awards, earned honorable mention All-State honors and will play in this weekend’s Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association Senior All-Star Classic in Oshkosh.MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS
Logan Baumgartner First Team Pitcher Second Team Infield Second Team All-District
Seth Mudgett First Team Outfield Second Team All-District
Brigham Kelley Second Team Infield
Tanner Hraby Second Team Infield
Braxton Weissmiller Hon. Mention Outfield
