Bonduel High School used a well-balanced attack to rout visiting Weyauwega-Fremont 9-2 Tuesday and advance to a WIAA Division 3 regional championship game.
The Bears pounded out 14 hits, scoring in all but the sixth inning, as they extended their winning streak to eight games.
No. 1-seeded Bonduel has not lost since May 12, when it fell 1-0 to Shiocton. The teams, which split their regular season contests, meet again Friday in Bonduel for the regional title.
Junior Trevor Pedersen pitched six stellar innings to get the win Tuesday, and senior third baseman Hunter VanDerLinden went 4 for 4 with four RBIs.
Bonduel (21-3, 13-1 Central Wisconsin Conference-8) struck first with two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Senior first baseman Connor Rosin (2 for 4, two runs, two RBIs) drove in Colton Dobratz (2 for 4) with a triple and scored on a single by VanDerLinden.
VanDerLinden, who missed 10 straight games due to an injured hamstring, blasted a home run in the bottom of the second inning to bolster the Bears’ lead to 5-0.
VanDerLinden came close to a second home run in the bottom of the fourth inning, hitting a double to the left-center field warning track, about 5 feet from clearing the wall.
Bonduel coach Don Gruenewald was not surprised by VanDerLinden’s performance.
“That is Hunter,” Gruenewald said. “He was ready to come back a week before, but he is good to go right now. He is just going to all out until he can’t anymore, and I don’t see any problem with him reinjuring it.”
“The whole team pitched in because one guy got a hit, then the next guy got a hit, all game long,” VanDerLinden said. “I would say the whole team was on today.”
Pedersen continued to hit catcher Tanner Mews’ target throughout the game, mixing his curveball and fastball to keep the the Indian hitters off balance. He struck out nine, allowed one run on five hits and issued just one walk.
“He wanted the ball, and his main goal to start the year, was not to give up any hits all year,” Gruenewald said. “That is the mentality he had. He only gave up 16 or 17 hits all year in the seven or eight games he pitched.”
No. 5-seeded Weyauwega-Fremont (8-18, 5-9 CWC-8) scored its only run against Pedersen in the top of the second inning when Ricky Schroeder singled in Trevor Wetzel.
Bonduel responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning. Rosin again drove in Dobratz and scored on VanDerLinden’s blast.
The Bears added a run in the third on a Pedersen single down the third base line to score Travis Wollenberg. In the fourth, Blake Stoss, running for VanDerLinden, scored on a fielder’s choice.
Bonduel tacked on two runs in the fifth inning, one on a single by Tanner Mews, scoring Wyatt Erb, and the other on a VanDerLinden single, scoring Dobratz.
VanDerLinden pitched the final inning for Bonduel, allowing one run on a bases-loaded single by Wetzel, scoring Bryce Akey.
Indians coach Joe Sambs knew his squad, which lost its two regular season games to the Bears by a combined score of 27-7, would be in for difficult game.
“They are a good team,” he said. “They got a nice core of seniors and have had our number for the last few years. We were a very inconsistent team all season and came out fairly well last night (10-2 win over Brillion) and went back to our inconsistency and did not make any plays.”
Akey took the loss. He allowed five runs on six hits in two innings, struck out two and issued one walk.
Gruenewald plans to start Rosin in the Friday matchup against Shiocton, the regional’s No. 3 seed, which handed the Bears their only defeat.
“I expect him to come out like he has all year,” Gruenewald said. “He has been sharp all year, mixing his pitches including his slider, curveball and fastball.”
The first pitch is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.
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