6/3 baseball: Division 3 / Return trip for Blugolds

By KIRK BEY | La Crosse Tribune

VIROQUA, Wis. — Scott Bagniefski’s mind was made up. Alex Bahr was staying put.

So Bagniefski, Aquinas High School’s baseball coach, said what he had to say to his senior pitcher, and he did so in a matter of a few seconds Tuesday. The situation the Blugolds were facing — bases full of Deerfield runners, one out in the second inning — needed Bahr’s full attention.

When the Blugolds think about their 14-4, six-inning victory in a WIAA Division 3 sectional final that will give them the chance to defend their state title, they likely will think about what Bahr did next. It really was as easy as one-two-three. Deerfield’s Cody Eilenfeldt hit a bouncer back to Bahr. Bahr threw the ball to catcher Sam Pederson, who forced out Mike Hommen at the plate. Pederson then threw out Eilenfeldt at first base for an inning-ending double play.

That’s 1-2-3 in your scorebook. That’s also what senior first baseman Zach Rickaway and Bagniefski would call a momentum-changing play. The Demons still led 4-3, but they could have done far worse damage.

“It (a play like that) makes everyone calm down because if he (Bahr) is confident everyone else is going to be confident,” Rickaway said.

“I can’t say enough about Alex’s composure on the hill,” Bagniefski said. “He didn’t have his best stuff tonight, and he knew it. He just had to battle through it and trust our defense.”



To see what happened next for Aquinas (20-3) was to see a team that truly believed it would find a way to return to Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute, Wis., on June 11. And when the Blugolds were finished, they truly had earned a semifinal date with Fond du Lac Springs.

Aquinas scored four runs in the bottom of the second to take a 7-4 lead and control of the game. Five of the Blugolds’ first six batters in that inning reached base, and senior third baseman C.J. Favre capped Aquinas’ surge with a two-run double to right-center field.

Meanwhile, the jolt Bahr got on the mound was just as huge. He retired nine of the next 10 batters he faced. He did give up a single and a walk to start the sixth, but the Blugolds bailed him out with a double play after Rickaway relieved Bahr. Rickaway then struck out Tyler Brown to end the inning.

Bahr was grateful for the way the Blugolds had helped him out both at the plate and in the field. But he was even more grateful that Bagniefski had put all his trust in him when things were looking bleak for Aquinas.

“He (Bagniefski) is a great coach. He just came out and calmed me down,” Bahr said. “I wasn’t throwing strikes and I was walking a lot of people. He just said to focus on throwing strikes and let the defense do the job, and they did.”

Kirk Bey can be reached at (608) 791-8414, or at kbey@lacrossetribune.com.

DIVISION 3

CHAMPIONSHIP

AQUINAS 14, DEERFIELD 4 (6)

Deerfield 220 000 — 4 2 2

Aquinas 342 005 — 14 17 4

DEERFIELD (15-3)

Hommen, p-lf, 2-0-0-0; Wyman, rf, 3-1-0-0; Jackson, cf, 2-0-0-1; Eilenfeldt, c, 3-0-0-0; Schenkel, 3b, 3-0-0-0; Halverson, lf-p, 3-0-1-0; Jahr, ss, 2-0-0-0; Borgrud, 1b, 1-1-0-0; Brown, 2b, 3-1-1-0; Saunders, cr, 0-1-0-0. Totals 22-4-2-1.

AQUINAS (20-3)

Pederson, c, 4-2-2-0; Vegel, lf, 4-4-4-3; Rickaway, 1b-p, 5-1-4-3; Kachel, rf, 4-0-0-0; Favre, 3b, 3-1-2-2; King, ss-2b, 3-1-1-2; Kammel, 2b, 1-0-0-0; Coady, dh, 3-1-1-0; Czeiska, cf, 3-3-2-1; Knutson, 1b, 1-1-1-1; Bahr, p-ss, 0-0-0-0; Lauer, pr, 0-0-0-0. Totals 31-14-17-12.

2B—Czeiska, King, Vegel.

Pitchers

Deerfield: Hommel 6ip, 17h, 9r, 9er, 3k, 4w; Halverson 1/3 ip, 5h, 5r, 5er, 0k, 1w.

Aquinas: Bahr 5+ip, 2h, 4r, 1er, 6k, 6w; Rickaway 1ip, 0h, 0r, 0er, 1k, 1w.

WP: Bahr. LP: Hommel.

SEMIFINAL

AQUINAS 14, LANCASTER 2 (5)

Aquinas 218 03 — 14 11 1

Lancaster 000 20 — 2 4 3

Pitchers: A—Rickaway, Kammel (4), King (5); L—Lesser, Jensen (4). WP—Rickaway (5k, 0w). LP—Lesser (1k, 4w).

Leading hitters: A—Pederson 2-3 (2b), Favre 2-3 (2b), Knutson 2-3 (2b).