The Kaukauna baseball team is continuing to make history, with the latest chapter written by the right arm of Carson Gates, the legs of Bron Schaefer and the bat of Brayden Jenkins.
The third-seeded Ghosts knocked off sixth-seeded River Falls 4-1 in a WIAA Division 1 state quarterfinal game June 15 at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium and will play Nicolet in a semifinal game June 17 at approximately 4:30 p.m.
Kaukauna (22-7) is making its first trip to state since 1954 and hadn’t won a game at state since winning the state championship in 1953.
“It’s an amazing experience. I’m happy for these guys,” Kaukauna coach Mike Jenkins said. “I’m happy for what they’ve done on the field. Really excited for them and where we’re sitting, one of the last four remaining here in Division 1.
“It’s fun to rewrite some Kaukauna history. We’ve had a lot of success in a lot of sports in Kaukauna. It’s nice to put baseball on that map again.”
Gates, a senior right-hander, pitched a complete game for the Ghosts. He allowed five hits, one earned run, walked one and struck out five. He needed only 82 pitches to finish the game.
River Falls mounted a threat in the top of the seventh inning, putting runners on first and second after back-to-back singles with one out.
Colton Maves then lined a ball at third baseman Bennett Geitner, who snared the liner and quickly threw to second baseman Kaden Kress to double off Michael Everson at second base for the game-ending double play.
“It’s what we expected out of him. I don’t want to undersell it, but he’s a bulldog out there,” Jenkins said of Gates. “He goes out there and attacks hitters. He keeps them off-balance and he does a great job, really just goes after them. … When we got the lead there, we were debating on maybe pulling him, but it was his job, it was his game. He’s done it for us all year and that’s why we started him today.”
River Falls took a 1-0 lead with a run in the top of the third inning, while Kaukauna batters were struggling against the off-speed mix of River Falls pitcher Ethan Jeffers.
Kaukauna finally got to Jeffers for two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning.
With one out, Schaefer sent a bouncer toward first base that should have been fielded but got past the first baseman. The speedy Schaefer raced all the way to third base when the ball reached the right-field corner.
The next batter was Kress, who hit a slow roller to third base. Schaefer was caught too far off third base and got in a rundown. Schaefer was eventually tagged out, but the home plate umpire ruled interference on the River Falls catcher for making contact with Schaefer and Schaefer was awarded home for the first run for the Ghosts.
Kress raced around to third base during the rundown, and he scored when Jenkins followed with a one-hop double off the wall in left field to give the Ghosts a 2-1 lead.
“Bron’s our energy. Bron’s our guy. He’s our leader on the field,” coach Jenkins said. “He’s what gets us going. He did that today. He hit a hard ground ball. Fortunate that ball got through and he got all the way to third. I’ll call it not great baserunning [to get caught off base], but then good baserunning to make up for it by understanding if a guy’s there I still got to keep running and if I get contact, perfect.”
Kaukauna added to its lead with two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Bryce Urban walked to lead off the inning. After two outs, courtesy runner McKoy Luneau stole second base. No. 9 hitter Blake Vandeloo then crushed a ball to right field that bounced over the wall for a ground-rule double with Luneau scoring.
Schaefer followed with a pop up down the left-field line that fell in for a single as Vandeloo raced around to score to make it 4-1.
Gates knew it was just a matter of time before the Kaukauna bats got going to support him on the mound.
“I knew we were going to come alive. I knew we were going to win this game. I didn’t have a doubt in my mind,” Gates said.
Gates retired River Falls in order in the fifth and sixth innings and retired 11 of 12 batters until the back-to-back hits allowed in the top of the seventh inning.
Then came the timely double play to end the game and send Kaukauna to the semifinals.
“It means so much to me and this program. That’s why I’m so emotional right now,” Gates said. “It’s my last time pitching and it’s a great way to go out.”
Schaefer and Jenkins each had two hits for Kaukauna, which had six hits in the game.
Nicolet (19-11), the No. 7 seed, advanced to face Kaukauna in the semifinals with a 3-2 victory over No. 2 seed Milton.
The other Division 1 semifinal game will be Madison Memorial (21-7) against Muskego (25-4) at 2:30 p.m. Memorial advanced with an 8-4 win over Fond du Lac, while Muskego beat Marquette 7-5.
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Gates tosses complete game as Kaukauna baseball reaches semifinals
Reporting by Mike Sherry, Appleton Post-Crescent / Appleton Post-Crescent
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Mike Sherry, Appleton Post-Crescent | USA TODAY Network
