River Falls baseball took the field Monday in Appleton three wins from a State Championship with senior Ethan Jeffers taking the mound after allowing just one hit at Sectionals against a Hudson team …
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River Falls baseball took the field Monday in Appleton three wins from a State Championship with senior Ethan Jeffers taking the mound after allowing just one hit at Sectionals against a Hudson team that was the favorite to make it out of the Section.
The Wildcats were seeded sixth of eight Division 1 State teams, facing Kaukauna for a spot in the semi-finals. Jeffers started off strong, escaping a jam in the first after a pair of base hits had Kaukauna runners on first and third one out into the game. Jeffers allowed a hit in the second with one out, again closing the door with some soft contact.
Jeffers then kickstarted the offense, walking with one out in the top of the third, scoring on a double one pitch later when Chase Rudolph lined the ball to left field.
The infield was making plays all day long, including all six outs in the third and fourth inning to hold onto the 1-0 lead.
River Falls’ first error since Regionals brought a runner all the way to third with one out in the fifth. The error does not take away from what the Wildcats had built defensively, as that is a major piece to what got them this far, but it did cause the tying run to score on a ground ball to the left side as a throw home was not in time. The next batter took advantage of a 3-1 count with a skied double to left field for a 2-1 lead after five.
River Falls went down 1-2-3 in the sixth, and Kaukauna capitalized with a two-out rally, doubling and singling for a 4-1 lead.
Lane Amidon grounded up the middle for a seventh inning base hit with one out, and Cayden Kroll followed it up with a single to center of his own. The Wildcats would be halted there, though, with a line drive to third being caught, then a runner straying too far from the base, being doubled off to close it out.
It was River Falls’ first trip to State since 2015, and a memorable road at that. Other than the obvious pair of one-hitters at Sectionals, including one against an arch-rival, the Wildcats also had a walk-off comeback win in front of the home crowd at Regionals.
