State Tournament Preview: Pepin/Alma vs. Rib Lake
The 2016 edition of the spring baseball state tournament begins on June 14. There will be 20 teams competing for a state championship across four divisions. The Division 1 quarterfinals and semifinals take place on Tuesday, followed by the Divisions 2-4 semifinals on Wednesday. All four Divisions will play their championship games on Thursday. Today, we're breaking down the Division 4 semifinals. In this edition, we've got Pepin/Alma vs. Rib Lake.
The rundown
Pepin/Alma is 18-7 this spring, and they took second place in the Dunn St. Croix Small Division behind Spring Valley. This is the Eagles’ first appearance at the state tournament as a co-op, but Alma qualified all the way back in 1967. They defeated Plum City, Prairie Farm and Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran in regionals on their road to Appleton, and they punched their ticket to the state tournament with wins over McDonell Central and Hurley at sectionals.
Rib Lake has a 19-4 record this year, and they are the Marawood North Conference champions. This is their second consecutive appearance at the state tournament, and their fourth appearance overall. To reach Fox Cities Stadium, they beat Granton, Athens and Loyal in regional play before taking down Pittsville and Gresham at sectionals.
Here’s a breakdown of the matchup based on the following categories: hitting, pitching, and base running. The teams are rated on a 100 point scale, with 100 being the best. There are a possible 45 points in both the hitting and pitching categories, and 10 in the base running category.
*Note: Rib Lake’s stats do not include games played at sectionals.
Hitting
Pepin/Alma: 28 points
Rib Lake: 28 points
These two teams are pretty even at the plate. Pepin/Alma is hitting .273 as a team this year, and they have four starters that bat over .300. Slugger Lance Johnson has a .390 average this season with eight doubles, two triples and five home runs. He leads the team with 25 RBIs. Outfielder Trevor Heit boasts a .385 average for the Eagles, while Logan Carroll comes into the tournament hitting at a .321 clip. Tyler Meixer (.303) is the only other starter to bat over .300. After that, the average start to drop off a bit. The rest of their starters batted below .250.
Rib Lake collectively bats .274, and they have some really solid hitters in their lineup. Outfielder Austin Ewan leads the squad with a gaudy .486 average. He’s got 17 RBIs this season, but teammate Dalton Strebig has him beat with 25 runs driven in. Strebig has the team’s second-best batting average at .406. Zane Mencheski (.333) is the only other Redmen starter to hit over .300 this season. Noah Weinke is hitting .284, but like Pepin/Alma, the averages dip from there. Nobody else batted above .240.
Pitching
Pepin/Alma: 32 points
Rib Lake: 35 points
Pepin/Alma and Rib Lake are also tough to separate on the mound, but the Redmen get the nod here. Noah Weinke is the team’s ace. He has a 9-2 record this year, and has posted a 1.51 ERA in 79 innings. Their number two and number three pitchers have both thrown similar amounts of innings this season. Jesus Ontiveros is 3-2 with a 3.74 ERA in 24.1 innings, while Jerod Arkola is 4-0 in 20.2 innings with a 1.02 ERA. Beyond those three guys, only one other player has pitched this year, so there isn’t a ton of depth on the mound for Rib Lake.
The Eagles have a couple of options to start on the mound in the semifinals. Logan Carroll has started the most games for them this season. He’s 7-3 with a 3.50 ERA in 54 innings. Ben Mueller went a perfect 7-0 this season over 39 innings of work. He has a 2.15 ERA. Finally, Lance Johnson is 3-3 in 48.1 innings this spring, and he has posted a 2.03 ERA.
Base running
Pepin/Alma: 10 points
Rib Lake: 6 points
The Eagles pose a serious threat on the base paths, and that gives them the edge in this department. They stole 116 bases as a team this season. Logan Carroll stole 31, which puts him among the state’s top base stealers. Trevor Heit has 24 swipes, and Lance Johnson has 18. That trio is very dangerous on the bases, but they’re not the only Eagles that can steal bases. They have eight players with five or more steals this season.
Rib Lake didn’t steal quite as many bases as Pepin/Alma. The Redmen stole 57 bags this spring, led by Austin Zondlo’s 15 steals. Austin Ewan chipped in with 12 of his own. Only two other Rib Lake players had five or more steals.
The verdict
Pepin/Alma: 70/100 points
Rib Lake: 69/100 points
On paper, this is a very evenly matched semifinal. These two teams have put up very similar numbers this season, and there’s not much to separate them. Rib Lake is slightly better on the mound, but Pepin/Alma is a terror o
n the base paths. Rib Lake has valuable experience from being at the state tournament last year, but it’s hard to say if that will have an effect on this game. If either team can get several innings out of its starter, that would could make the difference in the game.
