The Clintonville American Legion Post 63 Diamond Cats cruised through the regional tournament in Keshena this past weekend to earn their fifth straight trip to the State Tournament.
Diamond Cats 13
Marion/Tigerton 1
The Diamond Cats’ first game lasted just five innings, as the offense overwhelmed Marion/Tigerton. Patrick VanDaalwyk and Adam Weatherwax combined for a 2-hitter as VanDaalwyk picked up the win.
Nate Simpson led the offense with two hits and two RBIs. VanDaalwyk had a double with 2 RBIs, as did Austin Paisar. Chase Stenson and Mike Fisher each hit a double, while Jake Riemer added a hit to the offensive onslaught.
Diamond Cats 4
Menominee 3
A 9-inning contest saw the Diamond Cats pull out a win in game two, as the game was controlled by pitchers Chase Stenson (Clintonville) and Mitch Pleshek (Menominee). The two starting pitchers combined for 32 strikeouts, and both hurlers went the distance.
With two outs in the first inning, VanDaalwyk doubled and Mike Hogen followed with a home run to left-center field to make it 2-0. Austin Paisar belted a double in the second inning, but Clintonville failed to bring him home. Menominee responded with one run in the third and two in the fourth inning.
Trailing 3-2, Simpson reached on an error and advanced to second on a passed ball. VanDaalwyk followed with a single to plate Simpson. With the score tied at 3-3 in the ninth, Turner Doornink lead off with a double and Ben Klein came in to pinch run. Klein moved to third on another passed ball and scored on Riemer’s sacrifice fly to right field.
Stenson finished the game with 15 strikeouts and the Diamond Cats got out of numerous jams to win the game behind Stenson’s solid pitching.
Diamond Cats 13
Manawa 3
The Diamondcats eliminated Manawa 13-3. VanDaalwyk was the winner with five innings pitched. Clintonville broke a 3-3 tie in the fourth inning after Simpson and VanDaalwyk drove in runs on sacrifice flys. The Diamond Cats put the game away in the fifth scoring three runs with two scoring on a Kevin Ignacio double. Doornik was 3×4 with two runs scored and an RBI double, Hogen was 2×4 and Ignacio, Weatherwax, Garrick Morgan Riemer all had hits for the diamond Cats.
Diamond Cats 9
Wittenberg 6
The Diamond Cats earned their fifth consecutive trip to state after beating Wittenberg 9-6 in the Finals of the Keshena Regional Saturday. The Diamond Cats took an early 6-0 lead after scoring five runs in the second inning, highlighted by Morgan’s 2 RBI Single. The hot bat belonged to Hogen who finished 4×4 with a triple and five runs driven in. Hogen had an RBI single to start a two run fourth inning and had a RBI single in the sixth. Riemer earned the win for Clintonville with six innings pitched and Paisar came in relief for the last two innings.
Clintonville will play Wisconsin Dells, winner of the Prairie Du Chein Regional to start State on Wednesday at Richland Center. Game time is 9:30 a.m.