RIVER FALLS — The River Falls Fighting Fish hosted its Regional in pursuit of a third consecutive State title, and the team coasted to two wins to advance to the weekend’s final bracket in Marshfield. The weekend started with an 11-2 win over the Eau Claire Bears and ended with a 14-0 seven-inning clinic against Minocqua.

On the mound, Jake Lindsay pitched eight two-run innings against Eau Claire, and Kyle Fritz and Charlie Griffin were the recipe to combine for a shutout and just one hit allowed in the finale. The Fighting Fish accumulated 25 runs over 14 innings with the sticks on the weekend.

Chad Patko and Cayden Mueller dominated against the Bears, each smacking three hits to combine for six of the team’s seven Friday evening. The scoreline does not do justice to the level of play the Bears bring to the field, taking River Falls down to the wire in the postseason a year ago. Each team had seven hits and one error this time around, but 13 River Falls walks and a significant difference in timely hitting did Eau Claire in. Trey Larson walked four times and Lucas Luedtke walked thrice.

River Falls jumped on Minocqua early with a 12-0 lead after two innings. This time, the Fish won the hit battle 11-1, adding on 12 more walks. River Falls kept a clean sheet defensively with zero errors.

“Everyone’s approach is different, I’m sure, but as you know and as you’ve seen, we can hit the ball,” first baseman Andy Metcalf said. “Everyone, I’m sure, is just getting up there and looking to hit something hard.”

The bottom third of the order was electric. Metcalf had two hits and a walk, driving in four runs and scoring two. Catcher Eli Baker had two hits, a home run and a double. Baker drove in five runs and scored two. Luedtke had a home run of his own.

“We just kept doing what we’ve been doing all year. We’ve been a really close group all year. We keep on each other in a good way, hold each other accountable. Really, we’ve got a lot of talent on this team,” Metcalf said. “We just hit and we pitched, and that’s how you win ball games.”

River Falls is not only the defending State Champion, but the defending back-to-back champion. Stepping into the ring after an undefeated season in league play, the Fish know they are going to see every team at their best. The target is on River Falls’ back, but there is nothing they can do other than what they do best.

“Staying within ourselves, not worrying what the other team is going to do. We’ve just got to play the best we can and not worry about any of the outside noise,” Metcalf said.

The State Finals brackets come out Aug. 11 to decide which teams will line up with each other over the final weekend.

“We’re pretty confident we have the best team in the state, so as long as we’re not worrying about any of the outside stuff and keeping within ourselves, we can take it big time.”