Packed crowds in Ellsworth for Division B State and a road trip to Marshfield for Division A State made for a fun weekend for the trio of Elmwood, Plum City and River Falls to round out each of their St. Croix Valley League baseball seasons. Elmwood and Plum City dropped their quarterfinal games, while River Falls’ push for a third consecutive title came up just short in the championship game.

Elmwood

The regular season did not go the Expos’ way this year. The team was missing players for many games, came up short in some close games and struggled to cash in on opportunities. They rallied together at the Glidden Regional.

“They’re resilient. The one thing we’ve got to fix is the runners in scoring position. In the past, we’ve been pretty good with one guy coming up and getting that clutch hit. That was kind of missing this year,” Manager Tom Sauve said.

Elmwood crushed Iron City 12-3 with multi-hit games from Tyler Churchill, Brecken Ponath, Mason Dado and Wyatt Sundby. With a third consecutive trip to State on the line, the Expos absolutely dismantled the Tony Hayshakers 19-3, including a 12-run sixth inning, off of seven hits and an incredible 18 walks. Those wins brought Elmwood back to town to play in the eight-team Division B State bracket in Ellsworth.

The quarterfinal game Friday night did not go Elmwood’s way, losing 4-2. They matched up with league foe Osceola, a team that won the 2024 State title. Nick Carlson got the ball on the mound for the Braves and was his usual brand of great. He helped Osceola build a 4-2 lead through eight innings of ball. Elmwood’s Dylan Beres was not bad himself, going eight innings, but Osceola found ways to scratch a few runs across. Carlson came back out for the ninth. The Expos had been more patient at the plate in the later innings, and it showed in the ninth. After a ground out and a line out, two walks and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases down to their final out, but Carslon finished the job with his 12th strikeout.

Elmwood got the run-scoring going when Spencer Trainor launched a game-tying solo home run in the second inning, 1-1. Ponath singled in Kyle Trainor after his leadoff double in the sixth to cut it to 4-2, but that would be all they would get.

“It was kind of a long summer. Could never get a consistent nine guys to the field, and our regular season record reflected that. Right when we get things rolling, something wouldn’t go our way. I think you make your own luck, and we just had a long regular season,” Sauve said. “To be the best, you’ve got to beat the best, and Osceola is one of those teams in the B Division year-in and year-out.”

Playing in front of the massive crowd meant a lot to the Elmwood squad.

“That was the fun part. We had people here at this game tonight that don’t even come to our games in Elmwood. With the Pierce County Fair going on, we had a lot of people here,” Sauve said. “We knew last week that if we would win that Regional in Glidden, that we could sleep in our own beds.”

Plum City

The Blues are another team that did not have everything go their way in the regular season. Plum City struggled in league play before finding a few wins down the stretch. Plum City’s trip to State was due to 57-year-old Manager Tony Garner stepping onto the mound for a nine-inning complete game shutout.

“It was a lot of fun. It did mean a lot. The young kids played a great game, they made a lot of plays,” Garner said. “To be able to represent and get us back here where it’s been 15 years, it meant a lot to us.”

At State it was a date with Whittlesey in Ellsworth. The Reds got the better of the Blues, winning 6-1. The hit battle was nearly even at 9-8 in the Reds’ favor, but the timeliness was the difference. Plum City scored its lone run with two outs in the ninth on a wild pitch.

“Today didn’t go the way we were hoping or planning, but we built a nice base of coming together and playing,” Garner said. “The young kids figured it out there in the middle of the season. We feel a lot more confident going into next year.”

Plum City lost a few contributors to injury this year, and they are eager to get them back for next season. Garner said the growth from some of the younger players jumped off the page.

“The confidence in each other. The belief that they’re going to make the play. Just learning where each other is going to be on the field,” Garner said. “Early in the year we were not covering certain situations correctly. As the summer went on and those guys played together, they figured that out.”

Garner also mentioned the crowd, saying there were fans from other teams in the league, including Elmwood, Ellsworth and Bay City that were all there pulling for Plum City.

“It was great. When we saw Ellsworth as the host team, man it would be a lot of fun if we could make it. There was a lot of people here,” Garner said. “It means a lot.”

It was Whitehall that went on to win the State title in Ellsworth.

River Falls

River Falls had a lot of pressure on them at State. Coming in as back-to-back champions, everyone knew the Fighting Fish would be the team to beat in Marshfield for the Division A bracket.

The quarterfinals were nice and easy for the Fish with a 10-2 win over Osseo. Jake Lindsay pitched eight innings and allowed two runs. At the plate, River Falls tallied 14 hits. Brian Giebel, Chad Patko, Lucas Luedtke, Austin Curti and Andy Metcalf each had multiple hits. Patko and Luedtke each reached base five times.

Osseo actually led 2-1 in the third, but they found their groove quickly after. Curti had a solo home run for the Fish.

The Fish then crushed Everest in the semi-final 16-0 in seven innings. Kyle Fritz and Joe Stoffel combined to allow a single hit in the win compared to River Falls’ eight. Cayden Mueller had the lone two-hit game; however, Luedtke had a big day at the plate that included a three-run homer, four RBIs and two runs scored.

River Falls’ title game matchup was a familiar opponent in Tilden. The Fish knocked the Tigers out of the previous two postseasons, including in the State championship game in 2024. Tilden has not been kind to the St. Croix Valley League this year, beating Prescott at Regionals. For the first time all postseason, River Falls did not reach double-digit runs, actually being held to just one in a 9-1 loss.

Tilden did not shy away despite facing two of River Falls’ top pitchers, collecting 14 hits. River Falls’ nine hits were not enough, even though they were evenly dispersed throughout the lineup. While things ended on a sour note, it was far from a sour season, winning the St. Croix Valley League with an undefeated league record.