This story is sponsored by: Chili Implement
By Steve Pilz
For MarshfieldAreaSports.com
STRATFORD – The Auburndale baseball hadn’t scored many runs in its first two playoff games. Then again, they didn’t need to.
Although the Eagles finished third in the always-tough Marawood Conference South, they dispatched one co-champion Marathon on Wednesday afternoon 1-0 before downing the other co-champ Stratford on Thursday afternoon by a score of 2-0 in a WIAA Division 3 regional final at the Tiger Stadium Baseball Field.
The Eagles (14-5) advance to the D-3 sectional semifinals to play Bonduel (21-3) at Gillett on Tuesday at 10 a.m. Algoma will take on Neenah St. Mary Catholic in the other semifinal at 1 p.m., with the winners playing at 4 p.m. for a sectional championship and a berth in the WIAA State Baseball Tournament in Appleton on June 10-13.
Blake Raab, who would figure prominently on the defensive side for the Eagles, started the game with a chopper to third that ended in an infield hit. Payton Weinfurter followed similarly with a single that never left the infield.
Two batters later Caden Weinfurter slashed a one-out double to left center to plate Raab and the Eagles were on their way, taking a 1-0 lead.
Raab finished off the Tigers 1-2-3 in the first three innings on the mound with three strikeouts.
The Tigers may have been their own worst enemy making outs on a pick-off at first and a caught-stealing at second to end the third.
Auburndale scratched out another run in the fifth when Aden Cherney had a one-out single. Caden Weinfurter followed with his second hit and Nathan Richardson drove in Cherney with a single of his own against Stratford starter Brady Schmidt to push the Eagles’ lead to 2-0.
“We had a kind of a really interrupted season with the weather and not getting games, but our pitching was always solid,” said Auburndale coach Jay Anderson, “especially the last two nights. To shut out these two teams on back-to-back days is just amazing. Marathon and Stratford and pitching shutouts! Eight innings yesterday and seven today. To do this is a heck of a job with Aden Cherney and Blake Raab. A lot of defense behind them and lots of confidence with how the defense played. It’s coming together.”
Those two runs seemed like 20 for Raab, who was on cruise control going 1-2-3 again in the fifth.
Stratford’s Riley Spindler was hit by a pitch with one out in the sixth before Brady Berg drilled a double to put runners on second and third, but the inning ended with a ground ball to second.
Raab made all of his 93 pitches count, getting two fly balls and a strikeout to send the Eagles to the sectional as they won their eighth game in a row.
“Marathon doesn’t make mistakes and Stratford was at the top for a reason too”, concluded Anderson. “I guess when you pitch a shutout you can’t lose”
Eagles 2, Tigers 0
Auburndale 100 010 0 – 2 7 0
Stratford 000 000 0 – 0 3 4
WP: Blake Raab. LP: Brady Schmidt.
SO: B. Raab 8; Schmidt (6 inn.) 5, Brady Berg (1 inn.) 0. BB: B. Raab 3; Schmidt 0, Berg 1.
Top hitters: A, Caden Weinfurter 2×3, 2B, RBI; Nathan Richardson 2×3, 2B, RBI. S, Riley Spindler 2B; Brady Berg 2B.
Records: Auburndale 14-5; Stratford 19-6.