BASEBALL

Mosinee shut down in Division 2 state baseball semifinal

Tim Johnson
USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

GRAND CHUTE – Brenden Bille spoiled the longest postseason run by Mosinee baseball team in nearly four decades Wednesday.

Mosinee High School's #1 Zach Bednar leads the team off the field following their loss to Waupun High School during the 2017 WIAA Division 2 Spring Baseball Tournament semifinal baseball game on Wednesday, June 14, 2017 at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute, Wis. 
Wm. Glasheen/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

The Waupun junior lost his bid for a no-hitter with two outs in the seventh inning to lead the Warriors to a 6-0 win in a WIAA Division 2 state semifinal matchup at Fox Cities Stadium.

“His curveball was lights out. He kept us off-balance the entire night and kept us guessing,” Mosinee coach Adam Olson said after the game ended at 1:24 a.m. on Thursday. “He hit his spots all over the strike zone and just did a heckuva job.”

Mosinee, making its first state appearance since 1991 and fourth overall in the program’s history, had just three base runners through the first six innings against Bille, who entered the state tournament with a 0.89 earned run average this spring. Ben Vandehey walked to open the second inning and was hit by a pitch with two outs in the fourth, and Jace Baumann walked with one out in the sixth.

Waupun High School’s #10 Reece Homan is out at second on the double play attempt by Mosinee High School’s #15 Jace Bauman during the 2017 WIAA Division 2 Spring Baseball Tournament semifinal baseball game on Wednesday, June 14, 2017 at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute, Wis. 
Wm. Glasheen/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Bille needed just 72 pitches to get through the first six innings. He walked Zach Bednar to open the seventh and Vandehey reached on a fielder’s choice. Brandon Bernarde struck out before junior Austin Freiboth ended the no-hitter bid with a single to left field.

Bille then got his 10th strikeout to end the game and send Waupun into a state title matchup with West Salem.

Mosinee (15-10) had a long season and a long day.

The first pitch was at 10:40 p.m. roughly three hours after the sixth and final high school baseball game of the day was estimated to begin. Inclement weather forced a delay in the middle of the afternoon and wrecked havoc with the state baseball tournament schedule.

"It was a long day but (the players) had a great attitude the whole time," Olson said. "They were glad to be here, and I'm glad they had they experience."

Mosinee had just pulled into Grand Chute when the weather delay hit at about 3 p.m. The team went for a group dinner and spent time back at its hotel before it headed to the stadium in the early evening.

Bille set the tone early as he struck out the first two batters he faced.

"He had everything," Vandehey said. "He had a knuckleball, curveball and slider. His fastball was pretty good, too. He is just a really good pitcher, and he deserved to win."

Waupun (26-5) took control of the game with three runs in the third inning. The first six Warriors batters reached base in the inning, and a double by Jak Lenz brought home the game’s first run. Drew Behling and Reece Homan both drove in runs in the inning as well.

Bryce Burmania added a two-run single in the fifth inning, and Homan drove in his second run of the game in the sixth.

Baumann started for Mosinee and took the loss. He allowed four hits and three earned runs in three innings. Bednar and Vandehey combined to allow four hits and three earned runs in three innings of relief. 

Waupun entered the game with a team batting average of .343.

"I wanted to keep them off-balance with the curve and tried to do that, but they ended up catching up to it," Baumann said. "They hit off me and they hit off everybody tonight. They're pretty good."

It was a disappointing game but Baumann took away a positive from the experience. 

"We had some ups and downs this year and because of that people doubted that we would go anywhere (in the postseason). We proved them wrong," Baumann said. "I'm just proud to be part of this group."

Tim Johnson: 715-845-0731, or twjohnson@gannett.com; on Twitter @timmyjo11

Waupun High School’s Collin Witthun is tagged out at the plate by Mosinee High School’s catcher Matt Olson during the 2017 WIAA Division 2 Spring Baseball Tournament semifinal baseball game on Wednesday, June 14, 2017 at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute, Wis. 
Wm. Glasheen/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin