Elk Mound baseball sweeps D-SC games to end regular season, beats Durand to open playoffs
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By Amber Hayden
ELK MOUND — The Elk Mound baseball team entered the WIAA Division 3 on a nice winning streak.
In fact, the Mounders had won 10 of its last 11 games including four straight heading into last Thursday’s WIAA Division 3 regional home opener against Durand.
After sweeping a home double header (8-1, 10-0) against Glenwood City last Monday, May 20 and edging Elmwood/Plum City by a run, 2-1, in the following day’s conference and regular season finale, Elk Mound made it five consecutive victories with a 4-2 win over Durand in the May 23 regional quarterfinal.
That win set the stage for #4 Elk Mound’s rubber match with the top-seeded Bulldogs in Boyceville in yesterday’s, Tuesday, May 28, regional semifinal contest. The two teams earned a split during the regular season with each winning 3-0 at home.
The winner will play on the road in either Prescott (#3) or Eau Claire Regis (#2) in today’s (Wednesday, May 29) regional championship and a berth in the sectional tournament to be held next Tuesday, June 4 at Chippewa Falls’ Caper Park.
The Mounders finished third in the Dunn-St. Croix behind champion Spring Valley (14-2) and runner-up Boyceville (13-3) with a 12-4 record. They are currently 13-5 overall.
For the Mounders the chance to beat Durand for a third time was a sweet victory as they squeezed out the win 4-1 in seven innings. Blaze Todd was solid on the mound as he struck out 12 Panther batters.
Glenwood City Game 1
Elk Mound welcomed Glenwood City to the diamond for a Monday, May 20 doubleheader that was originally slated to be played on the Hilltoppers home field, but the field conditions played a factor in the decision to give Elk Mound home field advantage.
Elk Mound gave up just one run in the two games that ended 8-1 and 10-0 in the Mounders’ favor.
In the doubleheader opener, Brett Lew was able to hit a solo home run against the Toppers in the second inning. Brett Lew and his brother Nate both finished the game with three hits in four at bats and each scored a pair of runs.
Avery Kaanta also went three-of-four at the plate with two runs scored and a pair of RBIs in the five inning game. Kaanta pitched one inning where he struck out one batter and gave up two of the Toppers’ three hits.
Leading the Mounders in RBIs was junior Chase Rhude with three in a two-for-four performance at the plate.
Blaze Todd did a masterful job on the mound. He started and went four innings and earned the win as he struck out four and allowing just one hit.
ELK MOUND 8, GLENWOOD CITY 1
Elk Mound.….….….……………..4 1 1 0 2 – 8
Glenwood City.….….…………….0 0 0 0 1 – 1
Elk Mound (8) AB-H-R: Chase Rhude 4-2-1, Ben Heath 1-1-0, Ryan Bohl 2-1-1, Nate Lew 4-3-2, Cole Steinhorst 3-0-0, Brett Lew 4-2-3, Ethan Kaanta 3-1-0, Avery Kaanta 4-3-2. Total 27-14-8.
Glenwood City (1) AB-H-R: Bryce Wickman 3-1-0, Gavin Janson 2-0-0, Mitchell Bliese 1-0-0, Brady McCarthy 1-0-0, Daniel Loring 3-0-0, Tanner Davis 3-2-1, Bryce Fayerweather 1-0-0, Cole Logghe 1-0-0, Brandyn Hallquist 2-0-0. Total 17-3-1.
Pitching: Elk Mound — Blaze Todd 4 IP, 1 H, 4 K, 3 BB, 0 R, Avery Kaanta 1 IP, 2 H, 1 K, 0 BB, 1 R (1 earned); Glenwood City — Tanner Davis 3 IP, 7 H, 2 K, 3 BB, 3 R (3 earned), Bryce Fayerweather 2 IP, 5 H, 1 K, 2 BB, 5 R (5 earned).
Glenwood City Game 2
In the doubleheader night cap last Monday evening, May 20, the Elk Mound Mounders took another win from Glenwood City with 10-0 five-inning shut out.
Ryan Bohl and Nate Lew led the way for Elk Mound with two runs and one walk a piece for the teammates. Bohl had one hit in his two at bats and Lew had one walk in his three plate appearances.
Elk Mound only had four hits but drew seven walks from two of the three Toppers’ pitchers.
James Javanovich pitched all five innings for the Mounders and allowed just two hits and struck out six in a 64-pitch performance.
Chase Rhude once again led in RBIs with two while going one-of-four at the plate with one run as well.
Brett Lew and Cole Steinhorst had the other two hits for Elk Mound.
ELK MOUND 10, GLENWOOD CITY 0
Elk Mound.….….….……………2 3 0 5 0 – 10
Glenwood City.….….…………….0 0 0 0 0 – 0
Elk Mound (10) AB-H-R: Chase Rhude 4-1-1, Brett Rosenthal 1-0-1, Andrew Williams 0-0-1, Ryan Bohl 2-1-2, Nate Lew 3-0-2, Cole Steinhorst 3-1-1, Brett Lew 3-1-0, Blaze Todd 1-0-0, Ethan Kaanta 1-0-0, Avery Kaanta 2-0-1, Cole Baskin 3-0-0. Total 24-4-10.
Glenwood City (0) AB-H-R: Bryce Wickman 3-0-0, Gavin Janson 2-0-0, Brady McCarthy 1-0-0, Daniel Loring 1-0-0, Tanner Davis 2-0-0, Bryce Fayerweather 2-0-0, Cole Logghe 2-1-0, Brandyn Hallquist 2-1-0. Total 16-2-0.
Pitching: Elk Mound — James Javanovich 5 IP, 2 H, 6 K, 2 BB, 0 R; Glenwood City — Bryce Wickman 2/3 IP, 1 H, 0 K, 5 BB, 5 R (5 earned), Gavin Janson 2 IP, 2 H, 1 K, 2 BB, 5 R (3 earned), Daniel Loring 1/3 IP, 0 H, 0 K, 0 BB, 0 R.
Elmwood/Plum City
Single runs in the second and fourth innings were enough to lift the Mounders to a tight 2-1 win against Elmwood/Plum City in the conference and regular season finale played in Elmwood last Tuesday, May 21.
Elk Mound made the most of its five hits while Ryan Bohl caged the Wolves, allowing E/PC just three hits in an eight-strike out pitching performance for the win.
Bohl also delivered at the plate as he picked up a hit and both Elk Mound RBIs in two plate appearances.
Cole Steinhorst doubled and scored a run while Blaze Todd, Brett Lew and Avery Kaanta had the Mounders other hits.
Andrew Williams scored Elk Mound’s other run.
ELK MOUND 2, ELMWOOD/PLUM CITY 1
Elk Mound (2) AB-H-R: Chase Rhude 3-0-0, Ben Heath 2-0-0, Andrew Williams 0-0-1, Ryan Bohl 2-1-0, James Javanovich 2-0-0, Nate Lew 3-0-0, Cole Steinhorst q-1-1, Brett Lew 2-1-0, Blaze Todd 1-1-0, Avery Kaanta 3-1-0. Total 19-5-2.
Elmwood/Plum City (1) AB-H-R: Basil Giles 3-0-0, Zack Philips 3-0-0, Noach Gansluckner 2-1-1, Dalton Binkowski 3-0-0, Nic Forster 2-1-0, Jackson Glampe 1-1-0, Ryden Carson 2-0-0, Tyler Bauer 2-0-0, Tyler Maxwell 2-0-0. Total 20-3-1.
Pitching: Elk Mound — Ryan Bohl 7 IP, 3H, 8 K, 2 BB, 1 R; Elmwood/Plum City — Jackson Glampe 2 IP, 3 H, 1 K, 1 BB, 1 R (1earned), Basil Giles 3 IP, 1 H, 0 K, 1 BB, 1 R (1 earned).
Durand
It was clear to fans that the Mounder boys were far from ready to say goodbye to the 2019 season as they took on the Durand Panthers and squeezed out a 4-2 win on their home field in last Thursday’s WIAA regional opener.
Ryan Bohl was the star of the show, with a pair of doubles and three RBIs for Elk Mound in his three times up to bat. Bohl also scored one of four Mounder runs.
Blaze Todd threw a complete game. Todd struck out 12 Durand batters and walked only two in seven innings of work. He surrendered just four hits and one earned run.
The win has given the Mounders a third chance at the #1 seed Boyceville Bulldogs, with the chance to move on to the Regional championship game.
ELK MOUND 4, DURAND 2
Elk Mound.….….….………..0 0 0 2 0 2 X – 4
Durand….….…..….….……..0 0 0 0 0 0 2 – 2
Elk Mound AB-H-R: Chase Rhude 2-0-0, Ben Heath 2-1-0, Andrew Williams 0-0-1, Ryan Bohl 3-2-1, James Javanovich 1-0-0, Nate Lew 2-0-0, Cole Steinhorst 3-0-0, Brett Lew 3-1-0, Ethan Kaanta 2-1-2, Avery Kaanta 3-0-0. Total 21-5-4.
Pitching: Elk Mound — Blaze Todd 7 IP, 4 H, 12 K, 2 BB, 2 R (1 earned).