Rio Captures First Ever State Title
By Alex Cheban, lead writer
Appleton, WI-
The Rio Vikings defeated Ithaca 1-0 to claim the Division 4 state championship on Thursday morning. Trajan Prochnow threw a 6 hit shutout with 2 strikeouts.
The entire game was a pitcher’s duel going back and forth.
The Bulldogs had runners in scoring position in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th innings. They just were not able to get the timely hits that they needed. Ithaca coach Jeff Hilleshiem said after the game, “We were able to get at least one run in 26 games, but today we were not able to.”
Rio took the lead in the bottom of the 5th on a Jacob Black single to left field. Not only was he able to help with the bat, but he also did his job in field as he made two spectacular catches.
Ithaca started Aaron Huebsch on the mound. He only went 3 innings, gave up 2 hits and struck out three batters. Jacob Huebsch would come on in relief and got the loss, he also went 3 innings gave up 3 hits and the lone run of the game. He struck out 2 guys but walked a costly 4 batters.
Both teams brought home the school’s first state tournament hardware across all sports.
