6/11 state baseball: Blugolds dominate St. Mary's Springs in D-3 semifinal

By TODD SOMMERFELDT | La Crosse Tribune

GRAND CHUTE, Wis. — Zach Rickaway didn’t exactly need any more motivation than he already had, but he got it anyway in an exchange with one of his opponents at the WIAA state baseball tournament on Wednesday afternoon.

The Fond du Lac St. Mary’s Springs High School player introduced himself and wished Rickaway luck before telling the Aquinas senior that his season was about to end.

That prediction didn’t help the Ledgers one bit. The left-handed Rickaway dazzled the Fox Cities Stadium crowd by striking out 13 batters and allowing just one infield single over six innings in the Blugolds’ 13-0 Division 3 semifinal victory over Springs.

“They have a good team, and they thought they were gonna beat us,” Rickaway said. “But we have a new bunch of guys with us this year, and they really wanted to get on the field and win this.”

They were given that opportunity by many, but none more than Rickaway, who dominated the game in every phase and guided his team (22-3) to a championship date with Marathon (22-3) at noon today.

“He dominated the hill from pitch one,” Aquinas coach Scott Bagniefski said of Rickaway, a four-year starter.

He struck out the side twice and gave up his only hit on an infield grounder that third baseman C.J. Favre bobbled and then threw wide to first base.

The play was officially ruled a hit and an error when the Springs runner advanced to second on the overthrow. Rickaway said the ruling actually loosened him up.

“It made me feel like I could have a little more fun,” Rickaway said. “It took some of the pressure off, and it didn’t matter if it was one hit or no hits. It was just fun to win.”

Rickaway (11-0) also enjoyed a big offensive day, reaching base safely in all five at-bats and going 3-for-4 with an RBI single in the fourth inning.

But no Aquinas player had trouble offensively. The Blugolds had 16 hits against four Springs pitchers, and second baseman Jason King matched Rickaway’s 3-for-4 performance. Favre had two hits and drove in four runs.

But it was Rickaway’s pitching that really stood out. He struck out the side twice and struck out two batters in an inning three times.

“His fastball, we couldn’t hit right away,” Fond du Lac Springs coach Mike St. Mary said. “We couldn’t catch up with his fastball, and his curveball was so much better (than we’ve seen), too.”

The Blugolds scored eight of their runs in the last two innings. Favre’s three-run double over the head of right fielder Ryan Theisen was the big blow in a four-run seventh that was completed in the rain.

They were aggressive on the bases and patient at the plate. Those two aspects have been consistent parts of the offense all season.

The third part to that equation was Rickaway, who lowered his ERA to 1.10.

“He’s by far the best pitcher we’ve faced all year,” St. Mary said.

He’s by far the best pitcher we faced all year.”

Todd Sommerfeldt can be reached at (608) 791-8208 or todd.sommerfeldt@lee.net

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

WIAA DIVISION 3 STATE SEMIFINAL

AQUINAS 13, FOND DU LAC SPRINGS 0

Aquinas 020 214 4 13 16 2

Springs 000 000 0 0 2 2

AQUINAS (22-3)

Pederson, c, 4-2-2-0; Vegel, lf, 4-0-1-1; Von Ruden, ph, 0-1-0-0; Rickaway, p-1b, 4-1-3-1; B. Kammel, cr-p, 0-2-0-0; Kachel, rf, 2-2-2-2; Favre, 3b, 4-2-2-4; King, 2b, 4-2-3-1; Coady, dh, 4-0-1-0; Bahr, ss, 0-0-0-0; J. Knutson, 1b, 3-1-2-1; Lauer, ph, 1-0-0-0; J. Czeiska, cf, 3-0-0-0; Z. Knutson, ph, 1-0-0-0. Totals: 33-13-16-11.

FOND DU LAC SPRINGS (19-5)

Fellers, lf, 2-0-0-0; Schneider, cf, 3-0-0-0; Beau, 2b-p, 2-0-0-0; Kiefer, ph, 1-0-0-0; Prado, ss-p, 2-0-0-0; Martin, ph, 1-0-0-0; Theisen, rf-p, 2-0-1-0; Meyer, ph, 1-0-1-0; Bartel, dh, 3-0-0-0; A. Steffes, 1b, 0-0-0-0; Schmitz, p-2b, 2-0-0-0; E. Steffes, c, 2-0-0-0; Christopherson, 3b, 2-0-0-0.

2B-Pederson, Favre, King, Coady.

Pitchers

Aquinas: Rickaway 6ip, 1h, 0r, 0er, 13k, 1w; Kammel 1ip, 1h, 0r, 0er, 0k, 0w.

Fond du Lac Springs: Schmitz 4ip, 8h, 4r, 4er, 3k, 2w; Beau 1 1/3ip 4h, 4r, 4er, 1k, 2w; Theisen 2/3ip, 2h, 1r, 0er, 0k, 0w; Prado 1ip, 2h, 4r, 4er, 0k, 5w.

W-Rickaway. L-Schmitz.