6/11 state baseball: Blackhawks get past Waupun in D-2 semifinal

By NICK ZIZZO | Lee Newspapers

GRAND CHUTE, Wis. n Take away the first and last innings and Tyler Kozelka tossed a five-inning no-hitter. The junior right-hander held down a Waupun offense that was batting .377, allowing only two baserunners in pitching Prairie du Chien to a 4-0 shutout in the WIAA Division 2 spring baseball state

tournament Wednesday night at Fox Cities Stadium. The Blackhawks, looking for their first state title since 1993, will face West De Pere in today’s championship.

“My best (game). Best of my lifetime, probably,’’ said Kozelka, who located 64 of his 92 pitches for strikes and fanned 11. Kozelka allowed a two-out double to Tyler DeBoer in the first inning, then retired 16 straight until Zach Tavs opened the seventh with a single. Kozelka stranded Tavs by striking out the side. “He’s thrown well all season and turned it up another notch (Wednesday),’’ Blackhawks coach Mark Pedretti said of Kozelka.

The Blackhawks (19-5) hit one ball out of the infield while scoring three runs in the second inning off DeBoer. After No. 8 hitter Dylan Mallat drew a leadoff walk on four pitches, Kozelka put down a bunt and was safe when DeBoer couldn’t field the ball cleanly. Brett Hogan moved both runners over with a sacrifice, and Mallat scored on a bunt by Kyle Nack. Kozelka scored from second after Waupun’s third baseman caught a foul popup but threw the ball away while trying to double Nack off first.

Logan Mikkelson followed with the only ball to reach the outfield, a single to center that scored Nack. Prairie du Chien scored its final run on a two-out, bases-loaded balk in the sixth. Tyler O’Kane was initially tagged out while attempting to steal home, but the second base umpire ruled him safe after the call. DeBoer didn’t give the Blackhawks batters much to work with, striking out 16.

“We can strike out a lot but we get patient,’’ Prairie du Chien catcher Kyle Sime said. “We (may not) hit balls out of the infield but we’ll manufacture runs, we’ll put pressure on them.”

For dozens of photos in our 2008 state tournament gallery, click here.

WIAA DIVISION 2 / STATE SEMIFINAL

PRAIRIE DU CHIEN 4, WAUPUN 0

PdC 003 001 0 4 5 0

Waupun 000 000 0 0 2 2

PRAIRIE DU CHIEN (19-5)

Hogan, dh, 3-0-0-0; DuCharme, rf, 0-0-0-0; Nack, 2b, 3-1-1-1; Sime, c, 4-0-2-0; Polodna, cr, 0-0-0-0; Mikkelson, 1b, 3-0-1-1; O'Kane, cf, 3-1-1-0; Cox, ss, 2-0-0-0; Wessling, 3b, 3-0-0-0; Mallat, lf, 2-1-0-0; T. Kozelka, p, 2-0-0-0; Pedretti, cr, 0-1-0-0. Totals: 25-4-5-2.

WAUPUN (17-7)

Nickel, 2b, 3-0-0-0; Tavs, c, 3-0-1-0; Marwitz, cr, 0-0-0-0; DeBoer, p, 3-0-1-0; Nehls, 3b, 3-0-0-0; Wojahn, rf, 3-0-0-0; Rasmussen, cf, 2-0-0-0; Dolgner, 2-0-0-0; Pluim, dh, 2-0-0-0; Bille, 1b, 0-0-0-0; Visser, lf, 2-0-0-0. Totals: 23-0-2-0.

2B-DeBoer. 3B-Sime.

Pitchers

Prairie du Chien: T. Kozelka 7ip, 2h, 0r, 0er, 11k, 0w.

Waupun: DeBoer 7ip, 5h, 4r, 2er, 16k, 3w.

W-T. Kozelka. L-DeBoer.