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By Steve Pilz
For MarshfieldAreaSports.com
STRATFORD – The third-seeded Stratford Tigers made quick work of Colby on Thursday, downing the Hornets 10-0 in five innings in a WIAA Division 3 regional quarterfinal at the Tiger Stadium Baseball Diamond.
The Tigers (12-5) will take on second-seeded Auburndale (9-7) in a Division 3 regional semifinal Tuesday at Auburndale. The teams split a pair of games during the regular season.
The Tigers hit three of their five doubles in the first inning with Lance Heidmann leading off with a double to right. Chandler Schmidt drove him in with the first of his two doubles and the Tigers had all they would need.
After an out, Mark Handrick hit a double to score Schmidt. Matt Handrick had a single and Dawson Moen delivered a sacrifice fly to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead.
The Tigers’ bats would stay silent until the fourth when they put the game away with six runs. Heidmann, Schmidt, Handrick and Handrick would all have run-scoring singles. Dylan Schoenerr broke the streak with a screaming double down the left field line to score a pair of Tigers to make it 9-0.
“We had some guys in the middle innings that we couldn’t get in right away, but we stuck with it and started to cut down on our swings,” Stratford coach Brad Grube said. “We did a nice job of hitting the ball where it was pitched.”
In the meantime Heidmann had little trouble on the mound, scattering four hits, striking out five, walking none and allowing just a single runner to third base.
“Lance (Heidmann) has been our guy who’s going to put the ball around the strike zone all game long,” Grube said. “He’ll get a lot of ground balls and an occasional strikeout, and he did that today. That’s what we gotta have.”
After Dylan Palmer and Heidmann walked in the fifth, Schmidt put a cap on his three-hit day with his second double and his third RBI, scoring Palmer to provide the 10th.
“We got Auburndale on Tuesday,” said Grube, the Auburndale graduate. “We’re four-deep in pitching so we’re ready to go. This is a good group of kids that understand there’s going to be competition within their own team. They’ve accepted that and we’ve improved.”
Heidmann and Mark Handrick joined Schmidt with three hits and Matt Handrick had two.
Tigers 10, Hornets 0
Colby 000 00 – 0 4 2
Stratford 300 61 – 10 13 0
WP: Lance Heidmann. LP: Harley Schmelzer.
SO: Schmelzer (4 inn.) 1, Dylan Geiger (0 inn.); Heidmann 5. BB: Schmizer 2, Geiger 2; Heidmann 0.
Top hitters: C, Schmelzer 2B; Sawyer Stuttgen 2B. S, Heidmann 3×3, 2B, 2 runs, RBI; Chandler Schmidt 3×4, 2 runs, 2 2Bs, 3 RBIs; Mark Handrick 3×3, 2B, 2 RBIs; Dawson Moen RBI; Dylan Schoenherr 2B, 2 RBIs; Devyn Palmer 2 runs; Mav Liccairdi 2 runs.
Records: Colby 1-8; Stratford 12-5.