A last-gasp effort by Shawano was not enough in a 7-4 loss to Menasha in the American Legion Baseball Class AA state tournament Thursday in Kaukauna.
The Patriots scored two runs in both the sixth and seventh innings, but Menasha had, by then, built a commanding 6-0 lead.
“Late in the game, when you are down, you tend to focus a little bit more,” Shawano coach Will Gillis said. “You would hope that they would focus throughout the whole game.”
The Patriots needed all the focus they could muster against Menasha’s Sam Hunt, who held them scoreless until the sixth inning and struck out 10 batters.
“He pitched very well and kept us off balance and pitched a lot of curveballs,” Gillis said. “We struck out too many times today. You can’t strike out like we did. We got to put the ball on the ground.”
In the first inning, Menasha’s Tyler Nelson singled to shallow left field to score leadoff hitter Kelvin Medrano, and Jon Smolensk singled to score Griffin Jack, who was 3 for 3.
Outfielder Chase Henning minimized the damage, however, gunning down Smolenski at the plate for the third out.
“He gave himself a good hop. Either he would try to dive for it, or lay off of it,” Gillis said. “Chase laid off of it and he made a tremendous throw. He is a five-tool player with a great arm.”
Menasha (24-4) added to its lead in the second inning. Nelson connected on a single to score Cal Keupper, and Jack doubled in Nelson and Gagne, who singled.
The Twins plated another run in the fifth, as Chris VanHandel singled in Smolenski, who doubled.
The Patriots (16-11) got on the scoreboard in the sixth when Tasa Grignon hit a two-run single to score pinch hitter Alex Hoffman and Jacob Lacy, who both singled.
After the Twins posted their seventh run on a Carter Gagne single to score Robby Van Seiver, Shawano added two runs in the bottom of the seventh. Following back-to-back singles by Kasey Kristof and Zack Sousek, Ky Schmidt drew a walk to load the bases. Henning hit into a fielder’s choice to score Kristof, and pinch hitter Nate Laude hit a sacrifice fly to center field to plate Sousek.
“Shawano is a good team. They put the ball in play, and Henning is a good hitter,” Menasha coach Jeff Chew said. “We were trying not to let him beat us today.”
Patriots starter Grant Wainio took the loss. He allowed six runs on 11 hits and one walk through five innings. He struck out two.
Several of Menasha’s hits fell between shallow center field and the middle infield.
“In those early innings when they scored all those runs, they didn’t really hit the ball that hard,” Gillis said. “He just had some bad breaks.”
Hunt allowed eight hits and two runs in 6 1/3 innings. He walked two.
Grignon was 3 for 3 with a double to lead Shawano’s offense. He is 6 for 8 with three extra-base hits in the tourney.
“He has been hitting the ball well all year,” Gillis said. “We switched things up a little bit in the lineup over the last couple weeks. … He is seeing the ball a lot better now. He is staying on the ball a little more, instead of pulling away like he did earlier in the year.”
Shawano attempts to stave off elimination at 1 p.m. Friday against Beaver Dam (17-12).
Beaver Dam (17-12) lost to Kaukauna 4-2 Wednesday and defeated Onalaska 7-5 in extra innings Thursday.
“We have to put the pressure on the Beaver Dam defense,” Gillis said.
