The WBA State Finals saw yet another year with a Pierce County champion, with the River Falls Fighting Fish winning a trio of games in Hayward over the weekend, including two nailbiters.

The Fish came out swinging in the quarterfinals, facing off against a familiar foe in the Tilden Tigers in Hayward, two teams that seemingly square off in every State Finals weekend. River Falls gave up a pair of runs in the top of the first, but had little issue after that, winning 11-3 to advance to the semifinals.

Eight different players picked up a hit in the win, with Chase McQuade (3), Chad Patko (2) Ragan Pinnow (2) and Kyle Fritz (2) each tallying multiple. On the mound, ace Jake Lindsay tossed seven innings with just one of the three runs being earned. Jaxin Larson closed out the game with a pair of shutout innings.

River Falls matched up with the Eau Claire Bears in the semifinals in what ended up being as thrilling a game as you will ever see.

After falling behind 4-0 early, River Falls tied the game in the bottom of the fourth off a grand slam to remember from Austin Curti.

“I kind of had a lot of things going through my mind at once,” Curti said. “As soon as I hit the grand slam, it kind of just felt like a dream almost. Just running the bases and seeing all the fans and the teammates all hyped and rowdy.”

Both teams then went scoreless all the way to the 11th inning where Eau Claire picked up a run. River Falls found a way to scratch a run across, bringing the game all the way to the 13th, where Andy Metcalf would put a stop to the madness with a walk-off single.

River Falls was outhit 14-6, yet one error to Eau Claire’s four as well as timely hitting was enough to get the job done. Eli Condon threw a whopping nine innings in relief to close out the win, allowing one unearned run. When they made that comeback and got the game to extras, Curti knew there was nothing stopping them.

“[During the Regional] we didn’t really have a lot of close games,” Curti said. “It was kind of like that final test, that final push.”

The Fish had one more thriller in them in the finals, winning 8-7 over Osceola to take the championship. After falling behind 1-0 in the top of the first, River Falls picked up three in the bottom of the inning with a three-run shot from Curti, the man of the hour. When Osseo tied it back up, Lucas Luedtke homered in the second, getting a 5-3 lead they would not give back. Luedtke went 5-5 in the final game with a home run, earning the honor of tournament offensive MVP. Luedtke was locked in all postseason long, homering three times in two games to get the team to the final eight bracket.

Charley Griffin started the game on the mound and Larson closed things out again.

Rivers Falls already had titles in 2011, 2020, 2022 and 2024, but it meant something to go back-to-back for the first time.

“From just the fan standpoint, getting hundreds to thousands of fans at every home game is just awesome,” Curti said. “It just feels like a family and we all bond really well.”

“It means a lot,” Curti said. “I know it meant a lot to all the guys, especially the older ones, because you never know, they could be done sooner or later.”

The Fish finished the year with a tremendous 39-2 record, and despite a wide range of ages on the team, Curti said it was as close-knit as any.

Elmwood

In Division B, Elmwood cruised by New Richmond to make the top four, coming up short against Osceola 9-6 in the semifinal.

Against New Richmond, Brecken Ponath tossed all nine innings, allowing just one unearned run and striking out 11. Brayden Wolf homered, and Wyatt Sundby drove in a pair to highlight the offense in the 5-1 win.

The Expos then took on another league matchup, facing an Osceola team that beat them in the championship game a year ago. Elmwood trailed 5-2 in the bottom of the sixth, rallying all the way back to a 6-5 lead off an all-around hitting stretch that was capped by a two-run single from Adam Churchill. Osceola picked up three runs of their own in the seventh and did not look back.

Whitehall ultimately came out on top with a 3-2 win over Osceola to take the championship in the division.

Ellsworth

The Hubbers were strong at the plate in their Division B quarterfinal game, but a tough Abbotsford team did not slow down either, winning 11-7. It was a team effort on offense for Ellsworth, putting up a great fight of their own.

After some time rebuilding the squad, Manager Jeremiah Paulson was thrilled that the team qualified for the State’s final eight in consecutive years. They could not take the next step into the top four this time around; however, the team is making leaps in the right direction each year.

Spring Valley

The Spring Valley Hawks were taken down in the Division A quarterfinals. After an exciting year leading them to the final weekend they have been eyeing for so long, they could not contain the Rapids Redhawks, falling 6-2.

Overall, it was a great year for Spring Valley, finishing in the top three of the St. Croix Valley League again.