Extra innings lead to 5-4 Tiger sectional loss
By Darren Kieffer
MARSHFIELD – Marshfield varsity baseball coach, Jon Bauer, led his team to the WIAA Sectional Tournament at Carson Park in his third year as head coach, by defeating Hudson and Holmen in regionals before facing long time foe, Eau Claire North.
The last time Marshfield qualified for the sectional tournament was in 2011 where they were debunked by Eau Claire North, 10-0. In 2013, Marshfield made another run for the playoffs but lost to Eau Claire North in 2013 in the regional final, 5-0. Eau Claire North would stand in Marshfield’s way in 2016 where Marshfield lost again 7-0 in the regional final.
No. 2 Eau Claire North came in playing 16 more games throughout the regular season than No. 6 Marshfield, North finishing 22-4 and Marshfield 16-13 on the season.
The game went four extra innings as both squads struggled to score for 5.5 straight innings. North then prevailed in a hard fought 5-4 victory.
Marshfield struggles throughout the game, batting a combined average of .175 percent behind hitless outings by three Marshfield hitters, including leading hitter in the Wisconsin Valley Conference – Mason Coffren – who ended up going 0-3 but was intentionally walked and hit by a pitch throughout the game. Coffren contributed defensively by making a couple tough catches at first base to keep the Marshfield squad alive.
Eau Claire North’s pitching was exceptional for the first two innings – throwing just four in the first inning and less than 10 in the second inning – through the first six Marshfield batters.
Marshfield’s starting pitcher, Will Voss, ended the year with a 6-2 record, striking out two batters in 5.2 innings and allowing 10 hits in this contest. Eau Claire North scored two runs in the first inning against Voss, one in the fourth, and one in the fifth before being relieved by second baseman, Preston Wagner. Wagner ended the season with a 5-3 record as well. He struck out six batters in six innings of pitching and allowed five hits.
The game looked to be controlled by Eau Claire North until the top of the fifth where third baseman, Isaiah Baierl, hit a ground ball to the pitcher, in which the pitcher would fumble it before throwing a wild ball into the stands which would bring home two Marshfield runners and give the Tigers a 4-3 lead. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Eau Claire North scored the last run for the next six innings where a pitching battle between Marshfield senior, Preston Wagner, and Eau Claire North senior, Sam Stange, took place; game tied at 4-4.
Marshfield found it hard to hit as the game continued but in the top of the ninth inning with two outs left, Marshfield started to control the game. The sequence began with Jacob Earll walked and Ryan Krueger hit by a pitch. But, the Marshfield Tigers would come up empty handed in the inning.
The game would continue into the bottom of the 11th inning, where Eau Claire North ended it with a run.
Krueger batted 2-3 with a single, triple, an RBI, and two runs for Marshfield. Baierl hit 1-5 on one double with two RBIs. Brant Bohman hit 1-5 with one single and one RBI. Bohman advanced runners on multiple occasions throughout the game and made a diving grab in center field to keep the scored tied at the end of the sixth inning. Isaac Meverdan hit 1-5 on one double, and Jacob Earll hit 1-4 with one single and one stolen base.