lowed a hit and a ….

lowed a hit and a walk with Morrison eventually scoring on a wild pitch. But that was all the Hodags got.

Metz and Baumgartner both went two for three in Medford’s 10-hit attack. Weissmiller was three for four with two runs batted in.

“Braxton continues to hit the ball hard while grinding out quality at-bats for us,” Justin Hraby said. “He could’ve been four for four had it not been for a diving catch in the gap by the centerfielder in the first inning. What was equally impressive, was his defense (catching for Metz). He blocked everything and saved us a lot of bases.”

In Wednesday’s regional final, the Raiders welcomed a 17-3 West Salem squad that tied Viroqua, who beat Medford 7-2 very early in the year, for the Coulee Conference title at 10-2. The Panthers beat sixth-seeded Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau 10-2 in their regional semifinal Tuesday.

“West Salem is a very good team,” Hraby said. “We are looking forward to the challenge in this very good regional final matchup.”

Wednesday’s winner advances to the WIAA Division 2 sectional tournament at Altoona’s Cinder City Park on Tuesday. The 10 a.m. semifinal will feature the St. Croix Central/Altoona winner and the Hayward/Ashland winner. The West Salem/Medford winner will face the Abbotsford-Colby/Mosinee winner at 1 p.m. Medford split two games with both of those potential semifinal opponents during the regular season with Medford and Mosinee’s split, of course, leading to their co-championship in the Great Northern Conference.

The sectional championship game will follow the second semifinal at 4 p.m.