WIAA DIV. 2 BASEBALL REGIONAL - Hraby HR ties it in 7th, hustle wins it for Raiders in the 8th

WIAA DIV. 2 BASEBALL REGIONAL

A baseball game is never over until the team in the lead records that final out and, for the second straight night on May 29, the Medford Raiders used every out they had to create last at-bat magic.

In a tense WIAA Division 2 regional final with fourth-seeded Ashland, top-seeded Medford scored one run in each of the last four innings, including game-tying hits by Ryder Kraschnewski and Tanner Hraby in the sixth and seventh. Then, in the bottom of the eighth, hustle on two occasions kept the inning alive, the last of which was Jack Wojcik beating out what turned out to be an errant throw on an attempted double play. That allowed Nick Steliga to score the winning run in a 4-3 victory that sent Medford to the sectional tournament in Baldwin-Woodville, where the Raiders fell one win short of qualifying for state on Tuesday.

“It wasn’t exactly the walk-off I had in mind,” Wojcik said in the midst of the post-game celebration at Raider Field. “But, just put the ball in play and good things happen.”

The win came 24 hours after Medford rallied from a 7-3 seventh-inning deficit to beat Rice Lake in the regional semifinal.

“It’s awesome,” Tanner Hraby said. “Words can’t even explain how exciting this is. It’s great. We want to keep this going for two more weeks.”

“That was amazing,” Steliga said. “I don’t even know what to say. I’m really proud of our whole team for just never giving up and always knowing that it’s possible.”

Ashland’s pitching staff had allowed just one run in 18 post-season innings and the Oredockers led 2-0 when Medford finally got on the board in the bottom of the fifth. Kraschnewski, a freshman, drew a leadoff walk from Taylor Sechen and, after a Wojcik flyout to deep left, he was bunted to second by Evan Wilkins. Hraby bounced a single to leftfield to score Kraschnewski with the breakthrough first run.

In the sixth, Braxton Weissmiller led off with a sharply-hit single to left-center, but two pop outs kept courtesy runner Charlie Gierl standing at first base. Sechen pitched carefully around Max Dietzman, walking him on four not-close pitches, and took his chances with Kraschnewski, who foiled the plan by dumping a 3-1 pitch into shallow left-center to score Gierl with the tying run.

The momentum was deflated in the top of the seventh when Ashland came up with a similarly clutch hit. Trevor Fiomancini got to second on a one-out error. Steliga struck out Owen Leask on a nasty off-speed pitch for the second out, but number-nine hitter Andy Brandis lined a clean single to right to knock in Fiomancini and put the Oredockers back on top 3-2.

Like the previous night when the 100-pitch limit caught up to Rice Lake ace Easton Stone, Stechen hit it when finishing the sixth, allowing Medford to face someone new in the bottom of the seventh.

“(Stechen) was good,” Tanner Hraby said of Ashland’s junior who allowed just five hits and three walks while striking out three as the Raiders had a hard time squaring many pitches up. “He threw his curveball well. He located his fastball well. You have to give him props. Their defense made plays as well. They made plays when they needed to.”

Hraby also came up with a huge play when needed. After reliever Jake Neff got Wilkins to pop out, Hraby got a hold of a fastball at the top of the strike zone and lifted it over the leftfield fence for arguably the biggest of his school-record number of career hits.

“That is the biggest (home run),” he said. “I was going to be patient, just kinda see what he’s got. He threw me a curveball and then a fastball, so I saw both of his pitches. Then 2-0, I was just thinking fastball and was just going to try to hit it hard. Maybe I got under it and it went out. Maybe I hit it well enough. I don’t know. but I’ll take it.”

Steliga, on the other hand, was cruising with an extremely low pitch count and went back out for his eighth inning after Ashland got out of the seventh with no further damage.

“Just pretend it’s a 0-0 game. Take a deep breath,” Steliga said of the situation. “I trust my teammates out on the field more than anything. They’ll make all the plays that are there for them to make. That gives me all the comfort that I need.”

Wojcik made a big play behind him to start the inning, diving to take away a base hit –– or maybe more –– from Neff.

“I knew it was risky if I was going to dive because if I missed that ball, that’s going through and that’s probably a triple or he’s even potentially scoring if he’s fast,” Wojcik said. “I just took the risk and it turned out good.”

Steliga then induced two ground balls to Hraby at shortstop and the Raiders returned to the dugout looking to win it. Steliga led off by dumping a single that Brandis, Ashland’s centerfielder, just missed with a diving attempt.

“I was just trying to keep it simple, get a good pitch and hit it hard,” Steliga said. “I didn’t hit it the hardest, but it got the job done. We’ll keep working on that.”

Neff got Dietzman to pop out, but then Steliga came up with a huge play that won’t be highlighted in the box score as he beat the throw to second on Kraschnewski’s slow bouncer to short. That put two runners on for Wojcik, who grounded sharply to short. The Oredockers got the forceout at second, but the relay throw short-hopped past Leask at first and Steliga scored uncontested.

For Wojcik, a senior who has had to battle to find a permanent spot in the lineup, the walk-off moment certainly was a sweet reward for his strong second half of the season.

“It’s been awesome,” Wojcik said. “I started out a little shaky, not playing my best ball, but when I got my chance. I jumped on it and I’ve just gone from there.”

Steliga only threw 77 pitches, struck out four and walked none. Ashland did get five hits and had its best luck jumping on some first pitches. Brayden Connors got one for a solo homer to lead off the fifth and Michael Zunker doubled on the game’s first pitch and eventually scored on the front end of a double steal. But Steliga wasn’t going to veer from his game.

“Everything felt good,” he said. “I was just trying to paint my spots and mix speeds as much as possible and just really trust all of my fielders. You’re going to have (the early swings) once in a while. Some guys you need to mix and match a little more and maybe not throw it quite as nice, try to paint the corners a little more. But it’s going to happen once in a while.”

Hraby was three for four and Kraschnewski was two for two to account for five of Medford’s seven hits.

After losing the past two regional finals, the Raiders, 24-3 at the time, obviously were looking forward to getting back to sectional play after receiving their championship plaque.

“It’s going to be very fun,” Wojcik said. “Hopefully we can start out a little better than these last couple games.”

Nick Steliga is lifted by Evan Wilkins (hidden) and greeted by Carson Carbaugh, Charlie Gierl and Jason Woller after scoring the winning run in Medford’s 4-3 WIAA Division 2 regional final victory over Ashland on May 29. MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS

The Medford Raiders rush to grab the WIAA Div. 2 regional championship plaque from head coach Justin Hraby following Wednesday’s 4-3, extra-inning win over Ashland in the regional final at Raider Field. MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS

The Medford Raiders claimed the WIAA Division 2 regional baseball championship on May 29 with a 4-3, eight-inning win over Ashland in the regional final at Raider Field. MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS