Marathon’s improbable state run ends
73RD WIAA STATE SPRING BASEBALL TOURNAMENT
Raiders lose to the eventual state champion
A red sea of Marathon Red Raider baseball fans gave their hometown squad a rousing applause following its 11-1 five-inning WIAA Division 3 state semifinal loss to eventual state champion Kenosha St. Joseph on June 29 at Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute.
The Marathon faithful in attendance would’ve liked to have seen the baseball team go the distance and bring home the school’s fourth state championship, but they were happy the squad even made it to the state tournament this season considering it was dominated by underclassmen. Marathon didn’t even win the Marawood Conference title, which was shared by Edgar and Stratford this season.
Marathon’s young squad got off to a slow start this season. Junior third baseman Nathan Hanke missed a few games early in the season and freshman starting right fielder Cooper Hoeksema broke his arm; sophomore Pierson Hamann replaced Hoeksema. Marathon lost three straight games, including a pair to Edgar and one to Abbotsford, early this season. Marathon also was swept by Stratford during the regular season.
The Red Raiders rallied to win four out of their last five regular-season games and they continued to improve every game in the playoffs. Marathon downed Spencer and Neillsville at home before toppling eighth-ranked Stratford, 10-0 in five innings, in the road regional championship. Marathon then beat third-ranked La Crosse Aquinas, 6-2, and sixth-ranked Markesan, 8-1 in an extra inning, during sectionals in Viroqua to advance to state for the sixth time in school history.
Marathon’s baseball squad was mostly comprised of lowerclassmen this season; the Red Raiders only had three seniors and juniors apiece compared to five sophomores and nine freshmen. Freshmen Tyler Underwood and Grant Warren were starting infielders this season and Hoeksema was a starting outfielder before suffering his season-ending injury. Sophomore Daniel LaQua was the team’s starting left fielder. Marathon still finished this season with a 19-8 record.
Red Raiders head coach Steve Warren, who has a 368-135 record in 23 seasons at Marathon, was proud of how his young squad “battled on the next pitch” this entire season.
“This is my fifth trip to state as Marathon’s head baseball coach and being here five times is a blessing, but the other four state teams I had were heavy with juniors and seniors, which you really do need in the state tournament,” Steve Warren said. “It’s disappointing at state to get beat like this, but to be honest we knew after looking at the stats and the scouting report on Kenosha St. Joseph, it was going to be a tough game because they are a very fast and talented team.”
The Lancers had six seniors, three juniors and one sophomore in its starting lineup against the Red Raiders.
After Kenosha St. Joseph beat Marathon, the Lancers then downed the Coleman Cougars, 7-4, in the state championship. Coleman won the other state semifinal, 6-4, against Eau Claire Regis to advance into the state title game. Kenosha St. Joseph finished this season with a 25-1 record; its lone defeat was to Shoreland Lutheran by two runs in the regular season. Kenosha St. Joseph also beat Marathon, 4-2, in the 2009 Division 3 state championship.
Marathon was the visiting team in its WIAA Division 3 state semifinal defeat to Kenosha St. Joseph. Red Raiders junior shortstop Jaden Koeller struck out looking against Lancers junior starting pitcher Andrew Setter to begin the game. Senior centerfielder Jake Sweno flied out the left field, before senior starting pitcher Brock Warren smacked a double to centerfield. Senior catcher Mike Hahn flied out to right field to end the top half of the opening frame.
Brock Warren took the mound for Marathon. He got senior leadoff hitter Max McCarville, the Lancers’ shortstop, to fly out to righfielder Pierson Hamann. Senior centerfielder Jack Davidson singled up the middle and junior third baseman Brady Davidson reached first base on a fielder’s choice. Brady Davidson advanced to second base on a wild pitch, but senior catcher Frank McGuire struck out looking to end the inning.
Marathon’s hitters were relatively quiet at the plate in the top of the second inning. Tyler Underwood grounded out to third base and Grant Warren reached base on an error by the second baseman. Hamann flied out to centerfield and Nathan Hanke fouled out to first base.
Kenosha St. Joseph, meanwhile, scored four runs on five hits and no errors in the bottom of the second inning against Brock Warren. Setter singled to right field and then stole second base. Junior second baseman Jacob Ashmus’ RBI single scored Setter. Ashmus advanced to second base on senior first baseman Peter Ruffolo’s ground out to second baseman Underwood. Senior designated hitter Danny Santarelli flied out to right field.
The Lancers did most of their damage with two outs in the bottom of the second inning. Ashmus advanced to third base on junior right fielder Matt Schulte single to third base. Schulte stole second base before McCarville’s two-RBI triple to right centerfield. McCarville scored on Jack Davidson’s RBI single. Jack Davidson stole second base but Brady Davidson fouled out to left fielder LaQua to end the inning.
Kenosha St. Joseph held onto a 4-0 lead until the top of the fifth inning, when Marathon scored its only run on two hits. Grant Warren singled up the middle to begin the inning and Hamann flied out to centerfield. Hanke was hit by a pitch. LaQua singled to load the bases with only one out. Koehler’s RBI groundout scored Grant Warren. Sweno then grounded out to end the Red Raiders’ threat.
Coach Steve Warren always preaches to his teams they need to avoid “the big inning” by giving up too many runs to opposing teams, because runs can be scored in bunches and the game can quickly get out of hand. Marathon unfortunately wasn’t able to avoid the “big inning” against Kenosha St. Joseph in the bottom of the fifth, as the Lancers erupted to score seven runs on five hits and one error to end the game early.
McGuire was hit by a pitch and Setter singled. With no outs in the inning, Koeller and Brock Warren switched positions on the field; Koeller came in to pitch and Brock Warren went to shortstop. Koeller didn’t have any luck retiring the Lancers, who scored seven runs to conclude the game. Two of the runs Koeller surrendered were charged to Brock Warren.
Brock Warren gave up eight hits, six earned runs and one walk in four innings pitched; he struck out two batters. Koeller surrendered four hits, four earned runs and a walk. Setter, meanwhile, held Marathon’s batters to only three hits and he didn’t walk anyone.
Kenosha St. Joseph’s top two hitters in its starting lineup did the most damage against Marathon. Leadoff man McCarville batted three for four with four RBIs and two runs scored, while Jack Davidson was three for four with two RBIs and one run scored. No. 5 batter Setter hit two for three with a pair of runs scored and No. 9 batter Schulte was two for two with a walk, an RBI and two runs scored.
Marathon clearly outnumbered Kenosha St. Joseph in the number of fans attending the WIAA Division 3 state semifi nal game at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium near Appleton. Loud cheers could be heard from the Red Raiders faithful while the players walked from the field up the steps to the concourse to greet their family and friends after the game ended.
Jake Sweno stood in the concourse with his teammates, and he said they weren’t even predicted to beat Stratford, let alone La Crosse Aquinas and Markesan in the playoffs to qualify for the state tournament.
“It’s just cool to get to the state tournament because it’s an experience of a lifetime that I’ll never get again,” Sweno said. “Playing for Marathon was a really great experience and Steve Warren is a really good coach; he preaches the ‘battle on the next pitch’ mentality because you never know what’s going to happen in baseball.”
Nathan Hanke echoed Sweno’s thoughts on the state tournament experience.
“It’s just a luxury to see all the Marathon people attending our state tournament game to watch us play,” he said. “Marathon is a small public school and we had a great turnout of fans, some who never saw us play this season until now, at the state tournament; it’s just been a great experience.”
Marathon fans lined up along the big hill on Main Street with handmade signs they created to show their support for the team as it left in a bus on Monday morning for the state tournament. Mike Hahn also enjoyed the entire state baseball tournament experience.
“Marathon is like the best town ever,” Hahn said. “You saw how much red was in the crowd at our state tournament game; we had three times more people than Kenosha St. Joseph did.”
Coach Steve Warren was excited to talk about the huge difference his team’s three seniors of Hahn, Sweno and Brock Warren made in their “put the team first” attitude.
“Brock has put a lot of time into playing baseball since he was three years old; we started hitting whiffle balls in the backyard when he was three and we went from there,” Steve Warren said. “Jake has come a long ways in his career and he’s really improved.
“Mike was not a catcher; he was a first and third baseman and a couple of summers ago we needed a catcher, so one day in summer during our American Legion season I asked him, ‘Mike, do you want to try playing catcher and he said, yeah, I’ll try it,’ and that’s the type of kid he is. Then COVID-19 hit and he was a catcher without having any instruction on how to play the position, which not everybody can do. He finally received instruction this spring on how to play catcher and he’s done quite well at it.”
This is the only season in which Steve Warren coached both his sons, Brock and Grant Warren, at the same time on the high school team. He’ll always savor this unique family experience, even though things weren’t always peachy in the dugout.
“Everybody thinks it’s an awesome experience coaching your sons, and that’s not always true because Brock and I share the same exact personality which can be good and bad, but it was pretty neat to have them together and we survived,” Steve Warren joked. “I guess we’ll look back at this season years from now and be thankful.”
Brock Warren treasured his time spent on the baseball field with his father and younger brother this season.
“It was unforgettable; I’ll never forget this experience as long as I live,” he said. “I can say I was on the 2021 Marathon Red Raiders that made it to state, and not too many people can say that. We are going to enjoy the state tournament experience and we want to thank all the Marathon fans that traveled here to watch us; Marathon should be really proud of our team.”
He summed up this spring season the best way he could.
“We couldn’t be happier because we had a very good season; if you win 19 games and make it to state then what’s there to be disappointed about?” Brock Warren said.
PICKOFF PLAYMarathon junior shortstop Jaden Koeller attempts to grab a throw down to second base from senior catcher Mike Hahn, in trying to nab a Kenosha St. Joseph base runner. Red Raiders freshman second baseman Tyler Underwood provides backup on the play. The Lancers runner safely slid into second base.
FIST BUMP- Red Raiders freshman reserve catcher Derek Vesely, right, fist bumps senior starting catcher Mike Hahn between innings during the team’s WIAA Division 3 state semifinal loss to Kenosha St. Joseph on June 29 near Appleton.
TEAM’S MANTRAMarathon head coach Steve Warren credits the 2008 state championship team for steadfastly following “Battle on the Next Pitch.” He said baseball is a tough game, therefore he wants his players each season to solely focus on the next pitch and put the last pitch, if it was a bad experience, out of their minds. Each of the 2021 Marathon baseball team players autographed this red Battle sign, which coach Warrren displays, along with the white sign to match it, in the dugout during each game.
BROCK BATTLES AT STATE- Marathon senior starting pitcher Brock Warren did his best to close the door on Kenosha St. Joseph, but the Lancer hitters were too tough for him to overcome in an 11-1 WIAA Division 3 state semifinal loss in five innings on June 29 at Fox Cities Stadium near Appleton.STAFF PHOTOS/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER
SCORE CELEBRATION- Red Raiders senior centerfielder Jake Sweno (3) congratulates freshman first baseman Grant Warren on scoring a run in the top of the fifth inning against the Lancers.
FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME- Marathon sophomore rightfielder Pierson Hamann always seems to have a smile on his face, whether it’s while attempting to catch a fly ball or chatting with his teammates in the dugout. He’s pictured doing his best to grab a fly ball in the state semifinal on June 29.STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER
