AS EXPECTED

Raiders blow out Antigo to set up highly-anticipated final

All spring long, a WIAA Division 2 baseball regional final between Medford and Mosinee was expected and, on Tuesday, those teams made that matchup offi cial. The 22-5 Raiders, who were ranked fourth in the final Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association Division 2 rankings of the spring last week, did their part by roughing up Antigo 14-4 in their regional semifinal at Raider Field, pounding Red Robin pitching for four home runs and 14 hits.

The 23-3 Indians, ranked second in that final Division 2 poll, took care of Rhinelander 11-1 in their semifinal.

The heavyweight regional final was played Wednesday, after the deadline for this week’s issue of The Star News, with the winner advancing to sectional play in Abbotsford Tuesday. Semifinals will be played at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. with the sectional championship game set for 4 p.m.

In the regular season, Mosinee won 2-0 in Medford on April 27, while Medford won two days later 6-4 in Mosinee.

Logan Baumgartner led Medford’s offensive charge Tuesday by going four for four with a pair of solo home runs and four runs driven in. Tanner Hraby had the game’s signature moment with a fourth-inning grand slam that gave the Raiders a 6-0 lead and Caleb Guden launched a towering solo home run to ignite a seven-run sixth inning that ended the game early via the 10-run rule.

“Wow! Long ball tonight,” Medford head coach Justin Hraby said. “Four homers in one game, I can’t remember a Medford team ever doing that. Great to see the boys get some up in the jet stream tonight.”

“Up at the plate we were all seeing the ball good,” Baumgartner said. “Top of the order through bottom of the order, everyone was good. We were all hitting it. Even Tanner got one out. I don’t think anyone expected that. We were just hitting as a team, doing our jobs.”

Baumgartner, who also was the game’s winning pitcher, hit a run-scoring single in the first inning and launched his first solo homer to left in the third off starting pitcher Connor Cornelius to make it 2-0.

Max Dietzman hit a one-out single in the bottom of the fourth and Brigham Kelley was hit by a pitch. Seth Mudgett bounced into a fielder’s choice, leaving runners at the corners for Guden, who the Red Robins did not mess with, issuing the proverbial “unintentional, intentional” walk to take their chances with Tanner Hraby. The sophomore made them pay, lining a 1-0 offering from Cornelius over the leftfield fence for the grand slam and his first varsity home run.

“That was my first on the big field,” said Hraby, who hit deep shots during the regular season at Mosinee and Rhinelander that came close. “I was sitting there and I figured they were pitching around him. Then (Cornelius) threw another ball to me and I was like, ‘OK, five straight. He’s gotta come with one down the middle and there it was. I got it up, the wind helped it a little bit and it went over. I didn’t really see it go. I was just running but once I heard everyone start screaming I knew it was gone.”

After Antigo got back in it with a four-run rally in the fifth, Baumgartner silenced the Robins with a solo homer to lead off the bottom half.

“I was attacking early,” he said. “The wind, obviously, if you get it up in the air it’ll go. One of them he just threw a fastball, I saw it good, hit in the air. The other one was a curveball. Usually I don’t like to hit those, but I put a good swing on it and it went.”

“Logan and Tanner have had some good swings lately,” Justin Hraby said. “I knew it was a matter of time before both of them got one. Tonight was the night.”

About the only thing that went wrong for Medford was that top of the fifth. The Raiders’ pitching plan for the night was to get a lead and get as far as they could get with Guden and Baumgartner both staying under 30 pitches to be available to pitch Wednesday. Guden did his part, breezing through the first 2.1 innings. Baumgartner finished the third and worked around a two-out double by Antigo’s Mason Gray in the fourth.

But, down 6-0, Antigo made things happen in the fifth getting one-out singles by Jacob Hanus and Trevor Tarras. Kelley took over mid-count against Malik Brisby as Baumgartner reached his planned pitch limit. Brisby walked to load the bases, but Kelley struck out Marvin Duchac to get an out away from getting out of the jam. But a wild pitch scored a run and walks to Trevin Walbeck and Caden Kautza scored another to force Baumgartner’s return to the mound. Gray bounced a two-run single up the middle before the Raiders finally got the third out.

“We had a game plan to try and save both Logan and Caleb,” coach Hraby said. “It didn’t quite work out. We were close. However, I am confident that Chubs will be tough against Mosinee and, if needed, whoever we bring after will get the job done.”

Reed Kuenzli took over the pitching duties for Antigo in the sixth and was greeted by Guden’s bomb. Tanner Hraby singled, Aiden Gardner doubled down the leftfield line and Baumgartner singled in Hraby. With one out, Parker Lissner got one in the jet stream and banged a double off the leftfield fence to score courtesy runner Colby Elsner. After Dietzman walked, Kelley hit a three-run double to deep center of Duchac and then scored the clinching run on a wild pitch.

“Brigham Kelley had the dagger at the end,” Justin Hraby said. “A bases-clearing blast to put it away and then a great read on the wild pitch to clinch it in six.”

Dietzman also reached in all four plate appearances with a double, a single and two walks.

“Max Dietzman had some great at bats for us,” coach Hraby said. “He was on base a lot.”

The Raiders hoped the offensive surge would continue the next night as they anticipated facing Mosinee’s Keagan Jirschele, who shut them out in the April 27. game.

“It’s the rubber match,” Tanner Hraby said. “We figured we were probably going to play them and here it is. We just have to go win.”

Medford 5, Lakeland 1

Lakeland left-hander Zack Peterson was effective with his off-speed stuff, allowing just two hits, but Medford made the most of the three batters he hit and three walks he issued to earn a 5-1 win over the seventh-seeded Thunderbirds in Thursday’s WIAA Division 2 regional opener at Raider Field.

The hits, a liner to center by Tanner Hraby in the third inning and Kelley’s infield single to the left side in the fourth, both drove in runs, Braxton Weissmiller hit two sacrifice flies and Lissner added another in Medford’s third win of the season over their Great Northern Conference rivals.

Guden struck out 12, walked three batters early and allowed just two hits in his six-inning start. Baumgartner finished things up with a scoreless seventh where he allowed one hit.

“Chubs was electric in his start,” Justin Hraby said. “He dialed it in and was tough.”

The Raiders’ biggest “offensive” inning was the second, when they scored two runs without a hit. Gardner and Baumgartner both got hit on a foot by Peterson pitches. After a passed ball charged to catcher Brandon Zajac advanced the runners, Weissmiller and Lissner hit their sacrifice flies to rightfi eld for a 2-0 lead. Mudgett drew a one-out walk in the third and Guden was hit by a pitch. Hraby’s single scored Mudgett to make it 3-0. Weissmiller walked to lead off the fourth, was bunted to second by Lissner, moved to third on Dietzman’s groundout to first and scored on Kelley’s sharply-hit grounder to third baseman Max Nowak, who gloved it while going to the ground, but was unable to make a throw.

Guden’s bid for a no-hitter ended with Danny Gahler’s leadoff infield single. With two outs, Will Fortier ended the shutout bid with an RBI single to center. Medford got that run back in the bottom half. Baumgartner reached second on a misplayed fly ball to right, pinch runner Tucker Kraemer moved to third on an errant pickoff throw by Peterson and he scored on Weissmiler’s second sacrifice fly of the game.

Peterson needed just 80 pitches to get through six innings and struck out four Raiders. Three of Medford’s runs were earned.

“The ability to grind out at-bats and play a little small ball won this game for us,” coach Hraby said. “Three sac flies with runners on third got it done. Braxton twice and Parker once, that was huge.

“We took advantage of the two hits we had as well. Tanner’s RBI single and Brigham’s infield hit got us our other two runs. Peterson was on his game. He pitched well. We scratched and clawed and found a way to score five runs.”

Medford’s Parker Lissner rounds third and heads for home and Max Dietzman is right behind him on Brigham Kelley’s three-run double during Tuesday’s 14-4 win over Antigo.MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS

Medford’s Caleb Guden delivers the first pitch of the Raiders’ 5-1 win over Lakeland in their WIAA Div. 2 tournament opener Thursday. Guden went six strong innings, striking out 12 and allowing just two hits.MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS