Prescott and Spring Valley combined to allow just one run on their way to their respective Regional Final games. For Prescott, things started slowly.

The score was 0-0 after four innings, with neither team even posing much of a threat to score. That would change in the bottom of the sixth, as a pair of errors to lead off the inning set up a base hit from senior shortstop Evan Kochendorfer, a single from Brody Temmers, a bunt single from Zac Matzek, a double from Zach Murphy and a single from Mason Livegard to make for a six-run inning.

“Starts with the small game. We bunted the ball, they made an error and that kind of broke it all open for us,” Matzek said. “We made them move on defense in the fifth inning… We weren’t doing that early in the game.”

Prescott scored three more in the sixth on a Zac Matzek single and a Jack Matzek double.

“It feels good, especially how we started. We just couldn’t seem to get any runs across the board early in the game,” Head Coach Brad Matzek said. “It was getting kind of frustrating because we know that we’re capable of scoring a lot of runs and it just wasn’t happening. We had a lot of time off there, so it’s hard to kind of get back into the groove with the hitting. We’ll get there, and once we get there, we’re going to be tough to beat.”

Temmers tossed five shutout innings for the Cardinals in a stellar outing, followed by an inning from Jack Matzek and another from Murphy to complete the shutout.

“That was what we were hoping to do once we got the lead where we wanted to. Mix it up and get those guys that are going to throw in the next upcoming games some work because they’ve had so much time there,” Brad Matzek said.

Pitching and good defense is key in the playoffs, and Prescott has multiple pitchers who can get it done on any given night.

“Feels pretty good, we’ve got to get ready for the next though,” Zac Matzek said. “Brody, Jack and Zach really hit the zone. They were there the whole time, really helped us out.”

Next up, No. 3 Prescott takes on No. 6 Mondovi at home June 2.

Spring Valley

It is difficult to talk about Spring Valley’s 2-1 win over Augusta without mentioning Will Biggs. He went six shutout innings on the mound, followed by Braden Gregg finishing the job, allowing one run to cross the plate but securing the save. At the plate, Biggs had three of the five Cardinal hits. He also struck out a whopping 13 batters.

“A lot of the time he was around the zone. There was a couple at-bats he got a little bit wild, and he could have been a little more efficient with his pitch count, but he was pretty well locked in,” Head Coach Brandon Walczak said. “Defensively, I don’t think we had an error, which is good because we only had to get about eight outs from non-strikeouts.”

The Cardinals got their runs in the fifth, as Gregg led off with a hit by pitch followed by a Milo Shafer sacrifice bunt. Will Smith then singled, and with two outs, Jake Hannack doubled on a fly ball to center field to bring home a pair of runs.

“We had some really quality at-bats and were getting guys on base. One or two base running mistakes,” Walczak said.

Augusta did threaten to tie the game in the seventh, with runners on first and third with two outs in a 2-1 game, but Gregg sealed the deal by fielding a ground ball and making the throw to first.

“A little shaky at the end for my liking, but it was pretty fundamentally sound all-around,” Walczak said. “It was good for them to see that they can play some fundamentally sound baseball.”

Next up for No. 8 Spring Valley is a date with No. 1 Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran at their field on June 2. The Cardinals know it will not be easy, taking on a team that lost two conference games in the Dairyland-Small.

“They have a couple quality pitchers,” Walczak said. “They’re going to pump strikes. They’ve got a lot of strikeouts, so our batters are going to have to try to take advantage early in the count.”

Walczak said defensively they will have to be on their toes, making the plays within themselves as they are faced with a team that can apply pressure through contact hitting. He said with Biggs on the mound, they know they have what they need to pull off the upset.

Elmwood/Plum City

No. 7 Elmwood/Plum City hosted No. 10 Clear Lake, two teams that split a pair of games the week heading into the postseason in Division 4.

The game started with a big first inning from EPC. Ariel Perez led off with a walk, stole second and scored on a single from Oliver Mendlik. Pitcher Hudson Hewitt drove in Mendlik on a sacrifice fly and Logan Auth hit a ground ball to the shortstop which was misplayed for a 3-0 lead.

Clear Lake got one back on an outfield error in the third, and two more in the fifth with a bases-loaded walk and hit by pitch to tie the game at three. Mendlik drove in another run to regain the lead in the bottom of the fifth, hitting a ground ball to the shortstop and reaching on an error. A bases-loaded walk from Robbie Duffy later, and EPC opened the lead up to 5-3.

The bats got hot for Clear Lake in the fifth, picking up four runs, adding another in the seventh.

Backs against the wall 8-5, EPC had the heart to make a rally happen. Mendlik walked to lead off the inning, with Duffy also walking to bring up Auth with one out. He hit a line drive single to center field to score a run. Skylar Fischer’s sacrifice fly plated another run, with the tying run on second and two outs, but a strikeout ended the game.

Ellsworth

No. 10 Ellsworth in Division 2 took the long trip to No. 7 Hayward, coming up short 7-2 to end their season in the first round. The Panthers limited damage in the early innings, but an RBI groundout in the first, a double to left in the third and a line drive single to right in the fourth each scored Hayward a run.

Vincent Orrichio scored in the fourth when a pitch could not be handled at the plate, followed by a Jack Stoltenburg double to center field that put runners on second and third. The Panthers could not come through with two outs, leaving Ellsworth trailing 3-1 after the top of the fifth.

Hayward plated a pair in the bottom half of the innings, and an Omar Coulson walk with the bases loaded in the seventh would be the last run the Panthers would score, lining into a double play to end the game.

River Falls

The Division 1 playoffs begin a week after the rest of the divisions, with River Falls hosting a first-round game June 2. The Wildcats earned a No. 4 seed and host No. 13 Wausau West. If they win, the Wildcats will again be home June 4 for a game against either No. 5 Eau Claire North or No. 12 Superior in the Regional Final.