ALTOONA — The Aquinas High School baseball team battled back from a tough start to its WIAA Division 2 sectional semifinal against top-seeded Wisconsin Dells on Tuesday.
The second-seeded Blugolds allowed four first-inning runs before rallying to tie the game in the fifth, but Wisconsin Dells catcher Cooper Whitehurst made them pay for an intentional walk by singling home the tying run in a 5-4 victory in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Aquinas (18-6) retired Whitehurst on a double play during his previous at-bat and, with two runners on and one out in the sixth, opted to walk leadoff batter Carter Syverson to load the bases for Whitehurst. Pitcher Aedan David was quickly ahead in the count 0-2 before stayed away from a couple of pitches that missed the zone and fouled off a two-strike pitch.
But then Whitehurst hit a 2-2 pitch in the air, and it landed just behind first baseman Landon Teachout before bouncing twice and reaching right field. It fell in for an single that scored Jax Gall with the go-ahead run.
David did single with one out in the top of the seventh to get the tying run aboard, but a liner off the bat Teachout was caught and turned into a double play with a throw to first that ended the game.
“Honestly, we played very hard, and I thought we played very well,” Aquinas coach Mike Dee said. “I think (the Chiefs) got four breaks in this game, and that happens in baseball.”
The Blugolds, who scored three runs in the third prior to tying the game in the fifth, had a six-game winning streak snapped and were stopped short of a fourth straight trip to the state tournament next week.
The Chiefs (22-5) took control when their first four batters recorded hits against David. A double and three singles was followed by an error, and Wisconsin Dells suddenly had a 3-0 lead. A fielder’s choice made it 4-0 before David retired the next seven betters to give his team a chance to get back in the game.
“I thought David was terrific.” Dee said. “It’s hard when you play in a game of that magnitude and get hit around, but he never wavered and kept pitching and kept them off balance.
“He did a terrific job, and I have tremendous respect for how he kept his composure and kept pitching the way he did.”
The three-run third was started by walks to shortstop Jonny Deets and third baseman Marcus Klar. David then delivered a two-run double to center field, and Landon Teachout followed with an RBI single to center.
Teachout later found himself at third base and sprinted for home when a pitch caromed off the shin guard of Whitehurst, who retrieved the ball in time to make a sliding throw home to get Teachout for the third out.
“Landon got a great jump, but the catcher made a terrific play,” Dee said. “The grass was high, and on a normal field, the ball would probably have rolled another five or six feet. But he made a throw from the ground and had another great athlete there to receive it on a close play.”
David was 2 for 2 with the double and two runs driven in, and catcher Ryan Johnson went 2 for 2 with an RBI. Klar scored twice, and Cullen Jorgensen had a stolen base for Aquinas, which tied the game at 4 when Johnson his a sacrifice fly and plated Klar in the fifth.
The result leaves the Blugolds with a 90-17 record, one Division 3 state championship and one state runner-up finish over the past four seasons.
