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WITTENBERG – The Auburndale baseball team continued its playoff run with another road win.
The eighth-seeded Eagles rallied from a five-run deficit to top No. 4 seed Wittenberg-Birnamwood 8-5 in a WIAA Division 3 regional final on Wednesday at Wittenberg-Birnamwood High School.
Auburndale (16-7) moves on to a Division 3 sectional on Tuesday at Shiocton. The Eagles will take on Amherst (18-8) in the first of two sectional semifinals at 10 a.m. Kiel (22-2) and New Holstein (12-11) will play in the second semifinal at 1 p.m., with the winners meeting in the sectional championship game at 4 p.m. with a berth in the WIAA State Baseball Tournament on the line.Click here to view the statewide WIAA regional scoreboard and the Division 1 regional finals schedule.
Auburndale trailed 5-0 as the Chargers (17-8) plated five unearned runs over the first four innings. Mason Meverden drove in two runs with a double, and Owen Dickman, Nathan Waupekenay and Braeden Groshek each had RBI as Wittenberg-Birnamwood took early command.
The Eagles finally got their offense cooking in the fifth, scoring three times, and pulled away with a five-run top of the seventh. Sloan Welch threw two shutout innings of relief to earn the win, allowing just one baserunner while striking out two.
Blake Raab, Alex Willfahrt and Nathan Richardson each had two hits, with Willfahrt driving in two runs. Tim Schmitt had three RBI with a double for Auburndale.
It was the second-straight day the Eagles rallied to push across the winning runs in their last at-bat. Auburndale scored twice in the top of the seventh in a regional semifinal Tuesday as it topped No. 1 seed Coleman 7-5.
Aden Cherney started on the mound for Auburndale and went five strong innings. He struck out five without a walk, and allowed six hits and the five unearned runs as the Eagles committed four errors.
Eagles 8, Chargers 5
Auburndale 000 030 5 – 8 11 4
Wittenberg-Birnamwood 011 300 0 – 5 7 2
WP: Sloan Welch. LP: Hudson Miller.
SO: Aden Cherney (5 inn.) 5, Welch (2 inn.) 2; Nathan Waupekenay (6 1/3 inn.) 4, Keegan Benbo (0 inn.) 0, Miller (0 inn.) 0, Bryson Schmid (2/3 inn.) 0. BB: Cherney 0, Welch 0; Waupekenay 5, Benbo 0, Miller 0, Schmid 0.
Top hitters: A, Blake Raab 2×5, run; Alex Willfhart 2×4, 2 RBI, run; Welch 2B, RBI; Tim Schmitt 2B, 3 RBI, run; Nathan Richardson 2×4, run. WB, Benbo 2×4, 2 runs; Mason Meverden 2×4, 2B, 2 RBI; Waupekenay 2B, RBI; Braeden Groshek RBI; Owen Dickman 2×3, RBI.
Records: Auburndale 16-7; Wittenberg-Birnamwood 17-8.