Taking the field for the Sectional Semi-final on June 9 in Chippewa Falls, the No. 4 River Falls Wildcats had high expectations for themselves. That said, a matchup against a No. 1 Hudson team that went 17-1 in Big Rivers Conference play was about as tall a task as possible.

The Wildcats were confident, though. One reason was because they know what they are capable of as a unit. The other reason was not so secret weapon senior pitcher Ethan Jeffers, who blanked Hudson in a 2-0 win to hand the Raiders their lone conference loss back in May.

Jeffers took the mound again and walked the second batter he faced, escaping the first inning with no further damage. He was locked in from there, getting 19 consecutive batters out, with River Falls leading 4-0 with one Hudson out to spare. The Jeffers no-hitter was snapped just short of the finish line with a double, but he finished the shutout with a routine popout.

Jeffers has a lot of experience against Hudson over the last two years. He and his catcher Colten Maves have a long-established connection. Maves has caught Jeffers’ pitches since their childhood, now wrapping up their high school years as seniors.

“Faced these guys for the past two years in my career. Just the same game plan as always. Off-speed first, see if they’re hitting it,” Jeffers said. “We do everything together. People say we’re the dynamic duo, so we know each other and we trust each other with all our hearts.”

At the plate, hits from Cal DuMond, Landon McQuade, Maves and Ryan DuMond strung together a three-run rally in the fifth, and Cal DuMond drove in another run in the fourth.

“What Ethan did against Hudson, you’re talking the best of the best in the State, but you don’t play the game on paper. You play it on the field for a reason. Ethan has just competed his tail off. His preparation is second to none. What he does, how he goes about his business sets such an incredible example for our team,” River Falls Coach Ryan Bishop said.

Menomonie secured an upset hours after the Wildcat win, which lined River Falls up with a team they had swept in a pair of regular season meetings that evening. A one-hitter would be an impossible act to follow, right? Wrong, McQuade allowed a single in the second and walked a batter in the fifth for the lone two baserunners of the game.

“He’s just going to compete. He knows his guys have his back,” Bishop said. “He wants to spend another week with his best friends.”

The Wildcats only had four hits of their own, but they broke the tie with a single from Kingston Quinn, hit by pitch from Lane Amidon and an RBI single from Cayden Kroll in the fourth. That would be all for River Falls in the scoring department. When you get another one-hitter, a run was all they needed.

“We got that run, and I was just thinking, I’ve just got to go out there and do my job and we’re going to win this game,” McQuade said.

Bishop said he is extremely confident in the Wildcat bullpen; however, that was an intersection they did not need to cross despite the 14-inning day. Maves said from his view behind the plate, both starting pitchers were controlling the counts to perfection.

McQuade pitched to soft contact in his gem. He only struck out two, trusting his defense that did not make an error at Sectionals

“They trusted each other, and they never felt like their backs were against the wall. They just kept competing for each other,” Bishop said. “We’re in Division 1 baseball, it’s really tough. For us to be able to get through that, get through the Sectional… we’re excited to be able to do what we’re going to do.”

River Falls is now back in the State Tournament for the first time since 2015. The Wildcats were seeded No. 6, taking on No. 3 Kaukauna at 2:30 June 15.

“It feels amazing,” Maves said. “The brotherhood, we do everything together. We hang out together. We’ve just become one.”

“It’s a once in a lifetime feeling, and we’re going to cherish and enjoy every moment of it,” Jeffers said. “The mindset, we all want it really badly.”