INTERWALD TO FINALS - Woodticks finally back in Finals thanks to wins over Plum City, Ashland

INTERWALD TO FINALS

An 8-0 lead put the Interwald Woodticks in control of their Wisconsin Baseball Association regional game with Plum City Sunday, but it was the two additional runs they scored in the eighth inning that finally secured their spot in this coming weekend’s WBA Finals.

The Woodticks held on for a 10-9 win over the Blues that suddenly got tight when Plum City, who had been absolutely silenced by Jackson Blomberg and the Interwald defense, put together a five-run rally in the top of the seventh inning. Two more runs in the eighth made it 8-7 before Interwald’s offense snapped out of a three-inning drought in the bottom of the eighth.

Those two runs loomed large with Plum City’s Ben Mueller drove a long two-run single to center with two outs in the ninth, cutting Interwald’s lead back to one. Sean Borderding singled to put the tying run at second base, but Interwald pitcher Peter Devine struck out the number-nine man in the order, Noah Gansluckner, to finally end the game and cap the Woodticks’ 2-0 regional weekend on their home field.

Interwald is one of eight teams playing for the WBA’s Division B championship this weekend in Whittlesey and Rib Lake. The Woodticks will face New Richmond in the quarterfinal round Saturday at 9:30 a.m. in Whittlesey.

It’s the first WBA Finals appearance for Interwald since 1998.

In Sunday’s win, Interwald did most of its damage against Plum City starter Tony Garner, a well-known pitcher in WBA circles, particularly at the 35-and-older level.

Garner pitched out of some trouble in the first and second innings, but the Woodticks got on the board in the third with a big blast from Matt Mohr. He followed a Blomberg single with a towering home run to left that put Interwald up 2-0. Blomberg was actually picked off by Garner right before the homer, but he beat a rundown between first and second base. The Woodticks got an out at home plate in the top of the fourth, cutting down Mitch Thomas as he tried to score from first base on Jake Bechel’s double, and then unloaded against Garner and the Blues in the bottom half.

David Fliehs led off the inning with a bunt single, but Logan Blomberg grounded into a double play to seemingly kill the threat. Instead, the Woodticks put together a six-run, two-out rally.

Sam Gumz and Dalton Strebig started it with singles and Jackson Blomberg reached on a throwing error that scored Gumz. Mohr beat out an infield hit to load the bases. Strebig scored on a wild pitch, then Nick Gerstberger punched a two-run single through the left side. Three batters later, with the bases loaded again, Fliehs slapped another two-run single through the left side of Plum City’s infield.

Garner was lifted after the fourth inning after allowing 10 hits, two walks and two hit batters while striking out four.

Blomberg allowed just three hits in six scoreless innings before Plum City finally got to him. Gansluckner’s one-out single with the bases loaded got the Blues their first run. Blomberg struck out Lance Johnson, but Tanner Strommen singled in two runs, Thomas singled in one and Bechel drove in another with an infield bloop single. Johnson’s two-run double off Devine in the eighth made it 8-7.

Blomberg finished with eight hits and five runs allowed in seven innings. He struck out five, walked three and hit two.

Interwald’s clinching runs came against reliever Jarrod Pelzel. After three scoreless innings, he unraveled in the eighth, walking four and hitting a batter. One run scored on a wild pitch and the final run came on Logan Blomberg’s walk.

Fliehs was the game’s leading hitter, reaching base in all five plate appearances. He had three hits, walked and was hit by a pitch. Strebig and Mohr had two hits each. Thomas, Bechel and Mueller had two hits each for Plum City, who routed Ashland 20-1 in its first game Saturday.

Interwald 12, Ashland 2

A big rally early was a knockout punch for Interwald Saturday as a six-run third inning ended the suspense in a 12-2 win over undermanned Ashland.

The big third inning put the Woodticks up 11-1. Gerstberger led the charge going three for four with four RBIs. Jackson Blomberg and Mohr had two hits each. Strebig and Jerod Arkola each hit a double in the win.

Devine started and covered the first four innings. He allowed six hits, one run, one walk and one hit batter while striking out one. Logan Blomberg struck out the side in the fifth and then closed things out, escaping a seventh-inning jam with only one run scoring. In three innings, he struck out four, walked one, hit one and allowed one hit.

Jackson Blomberg’s RBI double and Gerstberger’s two-run single gave Interwald a quick 3-0 lead. Gerstberger hit a sacrifice fly in a two-run second that made it 5-1. Sam Gumz and Gerstberger had RBI singles in the third. Carter Scheithauer and Fliehs were hit by pitches with the bases loaded and Logan Blomberg added an RBI groundout. Mohr singled in a run in the fourth. Above: Interwald’s Jackson Blomberg begins a dive into first base that beats the throw from Plum City’s Lance Johnson during the third inning of the Woodticks’ 10-9 win Sunday. Blomberg was picked off first base by Plum City pitcher Tony Garner but beat the ensuing rundown. Matt Mohr followed the play with a two-run homer. Right: Rib Lake second baseman Joe Frombach fields a bouncing ball hit by Tri-County’s Peyton Solberg in the first inning of Friday’s 7-2 win.

PHOTOS BY MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS