GRAND CHUTE – Add another one to the trophy case.
The Kenosha St. Joseph Catholic baseball team beat Kewaunee 3-2 in the WIAA Division 3 state championship game June 19 at Fox Cities Stadium, one year after finishing runner-up on the big stage.
The Lancers (23-7) moved into a third-place tie with Burlington Catholic Central and Nekoosa with five state championships since the tournament started in 1948, behind only the nine won by Sun Prairie and the seven by Appleton West.
This one wasn’t quite as dramatic as the D2 title game in 2005, when St. Joseph starter Cory McHalffey pitched 10 innings and the Lancers overcame deficits in the seventh, ninth and 10th innings for an 8-7 win in 12 over Denmark, but it was just the second time in the five championships that St. Joseph won by a single run.
The Lancers didn’t wait for extras to get the victory this time, scoring the game-winning run in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single to right by senior Tim Falk that scored sophomore Lukas Martinez from second.
Perhaps what hurt most for Kewaunee is that it all came after getting the first two batters out to start the inning.
Martinez sparked the rally with a single to right center and advanced to second on an infield hit by Dominic Rinaldi before Falk played hero.
“It’s just an amazing moment for all of us,” Falk said. “We’ve all worked so hard. We were biting our tongues from last year, and we just came back and we struck gold.”
“I’ve been playing the sport for a long time. I’ve trained. I’ve done everything I can. I’ve worked hard all the time. I just knew that I had to stay calm to get it done. All I knew is, I had to put a barrel on the ball. That’s what I did, and luckily it connected and we got a base hit and that won the game.”
There still was a little work to be done.
Junior left-hander Dominic Santarelli pitched the final inning in relief after Zach Rizzo allowed four hits, one earned run and struck out six in the first six innings.
He was at 82 pitches and might have been able to get through the final frame with the 18 he had left before the WIAA’s 100-pitch rule, but there was no need.
Santarelli struck out the first two Kewaunee batters before getting Connor Kilgore to fly out to left field.
Let the celebration begin.
“I tell you what, you know we talk about winning state titles,” said Lancers coach Ryan Gavinski, who has led the team to two championships in his first five seasons. “Your studs got to get you there, but the whole team has to win it. And that game right there was won by the whole team. That bottom order, two outs, guys getting on. I’ll tell you what, nobody better than Tim getting that final hit. He is one of the best kids on this team. Just a quality man. I was sitting there praying for him, and he definitely got the job done. It’s awesome.”
Kewaunee can’t keep momentum in loss to St. Joseph
The most frustrating part for the Storm (18-6) was that every time it took a lead, the Lancers came right back.
Kewaunee went up 1-0 in the top of the fourth after Diesel Bosdeck scored on a wild pitch, only for St. Joseph to score a run in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single from Mason Ballard.
When the Storm took a 2-1 lead in the fifth on an RBI flyout to center by Kilgore, the Lancers again came right back to tie the score on fielding error that scored Santarelli.
“That’s the thing, if you put one on the board, you have got a lot going,” said Kewaunee coach Dan Spranger, whose team was making its first state appearance. “Unfortunately, they were able to answer it. That’s a really good team. They are not (at state) four of the last five years for no reason. They are really good. Their pitcher is really good. We have to be able to go three up, three down and find a way to get three outs without giving up a run.
“I would rather have that kind of game than getting blown out 11-0. I would want a tight game where you have an opportunity to win.”
The Storm trio of Brady Pribek, Jackson Walecka and Waylon Delain at least gave their team a chance, holding a Lancers squad to just three runs and seven hits after they had put up 14 runs against Barron in a semifinal.
“We just lost, but it still feels good because first time in program history we ever did this,” Kewaunee catcher Ethan Paplham said. “It’s pretty cool, and a lot of people cheering us on. The environment was amazing.”
As for the Lancers, it would appear they have a good chance to get back here again next year.
Whether they get elevated to D2 or not, they have all but four players on the roster returning.
St. Joseph believed it could get back and finish the job this season after falling short 12 months ago, so why not do it again?
“Oh man, I don’t know if I have to make them believe it, I think it’s just the system,” Gavinski said. “Every year they know, they see our wall we have. We have a banner, we almost (have it) filled up, but we got one more slot to fill for a state title.
“They see all the years that we see. I don’t think we have to talk about it, because it’s just in the school, in the environment and the kids see that.”
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Kenosha St. Joseph baseball captures fifth WIAA state title with win over Kewaunee
Reporting by Scott Venci and Zac Bellman, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Green Bay Press-Gazette
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