Class 1A State Baseball Tournament – Semifinals
Kee, Lansing 5
Remsen St. Mary’s 3
Kee Lansing and Remsen St. Mary’s took their semifinal game into nine innings and it was the Kee Hawks moving on to the Class 1A Championship game.
Kee and Remsen St. Mary’s both left runners stranded in the first inning and both were unable to bring home runners. The Hawks of Remsen St. Mary’s got on the board first in the bottom of the second as Isaiah Gerrietts and Blaine Harpenau scored runners, giving them the 2-0 lead. Kee responded in the top of the third by bringing home Landon Reams off Tyson Cota’s RBI triple. A 6-3 play ended the offensive inning for Kee with Cota on third, but Remsen St. Mary’s lead was cut down to 2-1.
After that run, both teams were unable to get past each other’s defenses. Remsen St. Mary’s didn’t allow Kee to get a runner past second base in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings as Kee was also strong defensively. They stranded Remsen St. Mary’s runners on third base in the fifth and sixth innings, also highlighted by Buddy Hill’s great pop fly grab behind home plate in the sixth inning. Despite outhitting Kee 11-7, Remsen St. Mary’s didn’t have the answers to the defensive stops from Kee. The next run was scored by Kee in the top of the seventh where Brayden Mathis gunned it for home after an out was caught in center field, tying up the ball game with 2 runs apiece. Despite loading up the bases in the top of the seventh, Kee was unable to bring in more runs and had to settle for the two run tie.
Remsen St. Mary’s went three up and three down in the bottom of the seventh as Kee had runners at first and second, but Remsen St. Mary’s stopped runners from scoring with a strikeout to end the top of the eighth. The same situation plagued Remsen St. Mary’s. They had runners at first and second, but a flyout to center field ended their offensive inning. Kee in the top of the ninth finally got the runs they were looking for as they scored three runners, taking the lead at 5-2. Jonah Reinke, Chance Colsch, and Cam Lind all grabbed RBIs with Reinke getting an RBI double. Remsen St. Mary’s threatened to score more in the bottom of the ninth as Cael Ortmann was brought home, cutting down the Kee lead to 5-3. With runners on second and third, Kee got the final strikeout they needed to seal the deal and defeat number one seeded Remsen St. Mary’s by a final score of 5-3.
Remsen St. Mary’s season comes to an end with a final record of 26-4. Kee, Lansing moves on to Thursday’s Class 1A Championship game where they will face the winner of St. Albert and Alburnett.
Kee, Lansing Stats
Landon Reams: RS
Tyson Cota: 2-4, 3B, RBI, RS
Buddy Hill: RBI
Chance Colsch: 1-4, RBI, RS
Chris Wagner: 1-4, 2B
Jonah Reinke: 1-3, 2B, HBP, RBI, RS; Pitching: 2 IP, 3 H, 2 RA, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
Dalton Dibert: Pitching: 7 IP, 8 H, RA, 2 BB, 6 K
Cameron Lind: 2-4, RBI
Bayden Mathis: RS
Remsen St. Mary’s Stats
Cater Schorg: 1-4, HBP; Pitching: 4 IP, 2 H, RA, ER, 4 BB, 3 K
Brenden Fisch: RS
Xavier Galles: HBP
Levi Waldschmitt: 2-3, 2 HBP
Blaine Harpenau: 1-4
Cael Ortmann: 3-5; Pitching: 2 2/3 IP, 3 H, 3 RA, 4 BB, 4 K
Jeremy Koenck: RS
Hunter Pick: 1-1
Isaiah Gerrietts: 1-5, RBI; Pitching: 2 1/3 IP, 2 H, RA, ER, 4 K
Damen Brownmiller: 2-4, RS
