CLASS AA LEGION REGIONAL - Post 147 sweeps with well-rounded regional effort

CLASS AA LEGION REGIONAL

Medford’s Post 147 Senior Legion baseball team set the tone for the Class AA Region 2 tournament with a 4-2 win over host Merrill Post 46 in Friday’s opening round and then finished the job Sunday afternoon with an 111 drubbing of the home team.

In between, Medford routed Rhinelander 12-1 on Saturday to complete a 3-0 run through the four-team double-elimination tournament where Post 147 left no doubt it was the top team there.

“Our pitching was huge,” Medford head coach Justin Hraby said after the team clinched the program’s third state berth in four years in Class AA. This state trip follows two straight state berths in Class A in 2018 and 2019. “We gave up four runs in three games. To get through a regional with three pitchers, that’s crazy. Last year we went through everybody and we had an eighth grader that we almost put in at the end of the game. You expect to have to burn guys. But Logan (Baumgartner), Payton (Schreiber) and Tanner (Hraby) were all very sharp and did their job.”

Tanner Hraby needed just five innings to close out Merrill in Sunday’s championship round. He allowed just two hits while striking out three and walking two. Part of the reason he was able to coast was the work of the offense, which built a 9-0 lead through an inning and a half and an 11-0 lead by the middle of the third.

“Everyone was aggressive,” said Braxton Weissmiller, whose booming double to the fence in centerfield helped set up Post 147’s three-run first inning. “Everyone knew what we were going to see today, so everyone was ready to hit. Everyone was ready to sit on that fastball and drive it and everyone hit very well today.”

“We were all patient at the same time though, waiting for good pitches and then hammering them,” number-two hitter Parker Lissner said. “We looked good all weekend.”

“The whole lineup from one to nine, everyone just smoked the ball,” Weissmiller said. Hraby singled to lead off the game against Merrill left-hander Cameron Wallin. Lissner hit a line drive right at shortstop Sam Reimann for the first out, but Weissmiller followed with his double. Baumgartner singled in Hraby, Bargender’s fielder’s choice scored Weissmiller and Jack Wojcik later drew a bases- loaded walk. Wallin only lasted two-thirds of an inning with Rib Lake graduate Jackson Blomberg relieving him and getting Nick Steliga to ground out to end the inning. But it was a tough second inning for Blomberg and Post 46. Lissner hit a one-out single to right, Weissmiller was hit by a pitch and Baumgartner, Bargender and Schreiber all walked to make it 5-0. Carson Carbaugh reached on an infield hit, Wojcik walked in another run and Steliga singled in a pair to cap the six-run rally.

Carbaugh singled in another run in the third and Payton Schreiber scored Medford’s last run on a wild pitch. Merrill’s lone threat came in the fourth when Reimann doubled and Brady Kanitz singled to start the inning. Cooper Wendorf’s sacrifice fly was the only damage as Hraby then got Nick Palecek to hit a comebacker to start at 1-2-3 double play.

Carbaugh was two for two while six others had one hit apiece.

“Today the bats really came alive and we hit when we needed to,” Bargender said. “Tanner pitched a great game and the defense behind him was amazing.”

“Even on Friday when we only scored four runs, we had 10 hits and left runners all over the place,” Justin Hraby said. “So we hit the ball well and put a lot of pressure on all three team’s defenses and obviously it paid off. It was good. It was really good when you have everything really firing like that you’re going to win a lot of games.”

The state tournament runs Friday through Tuesday at West Salem. Medford faces New Richmond in its first game Friday at 4 p.m. Post 147 would play at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday with a win and at 1:30 p.m. Saturday with a loss.

“I’m really excited,” Bargender said. “It should be a lot of fun.”

Medford 12, Rebels 1

Schreiber struck out 11, walked only two and scattered six hits while going the distance in Saturday’s 12-1 win over Rhinelander. The Rebels got a first-inning run and led 1-0 through three innings.

But once Medford broke the seal with a two-run top of the fourth, the Rebels were unable to stop the runs from scoring. Rhinelander was eliminated by Merrill 8-1 in the next game.

Hraby went three for three, drew two walks and scored three times out of the leadoff spot in the batting order. Lissner, Weissmiller and Baumgartner had two hits apiece.

Weissmiller started the go-ahead rally in the fourth with a double. After Baumgartner singled, an errant pickoff throw scored Weissmiller. Baumgartner scored the goahead run on an error on a ball hit by Wojcik.

Hraby walked to start a three-run fifth that included an RBI single by Weissmiller and Baumgartner’s RBI double. A five-run sixth put it away. Steliga blooped a single into shallow right and Hraby singled up the middle. Steliga scored when Lissner’s drive to center just eluded the diving attempt by Dylan Vanderbunt. Reliever Oscar Hanson had trouble finding the strike zone, issuing four walks and hitting a batter. Two more basesloaded walks ended the scoring in the seventh.

Rhinelander pitchers issued 10 walks and the Rebels committed four errors.

Medford 4, Merrill 2

Baumgartner allowed just four hits, struck out nine and walked two in Medford’s tournament-opening 4-2 win over Merrill Friday night. The first-round win was a big one, giving Post 147 a clearer path to the final.

“It was a big thing for all the pitchers,” Weissmiller said.

“They all locked in well. We knew that Merrill would probably be the team to beat.”

Hraby singled to start the game and scored on Weissmiller’s two-out double. Merrill countered in the bottom half with Brady Norton’s double and Isaak Clapper’s single to tie it.

Jack Wojcik doubled to deep center in the second and scored on Hraby’s two-out single. A two-run fifth opened up a 4-1 lead. Carbaugh scored the second run by barely beating the throw home on Steliga’s sacrifice fly to right. Merrill got an RBI double from Reimann in the sixth. Medford’s defense turned a double play to diffuse a potential Merrill rally in the bottom of the seventh.

Medford outhit Merrill 10-4 with Hraby going three for four and Lissner and Weissmiller adding two hits each.

Carter Kaminski started for Merrill and went six innings, allowing 10 hits, two earned runs and two walks while striking out two.

The Wisconsin American Legion Class AA Region 2 champion team from Medford Post 147 include (front l. to r.) Carson Carbaugh, Nick Steliga, Parker Lissner, Ryder Kraschnewski, Black Bergender, (back) coach Ryan Bargender, Max Dietzman, Payton Schreiber, Logan Baumgartner, Tanner Hraby, Braxton Weissmiller, Jack Wojcik and coach Justin Hraby.

Post 147 pitcher Payton Schreiber fields a tapper by Rhinelander’s Dylan Vanderbunt and throws him out to start the bottom of the first inning in Saturday’s 12-1 win over the Rebels during regional tournament play in Merrill. MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS