State Tournament Preview: Prairie du Chien vs. Markesan
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 3 semifinals. In this edition, we've got Prairie du Chien vs. Markesan.
The rundown
Prairie du Chien is 24-1 this season, and the champion of the Southwest Wisconsin Conference. The Blackhawks are making their fourth overall appearance at the state tournament, and their first since 2008. To reach Fox Cities Stadium, they beat Iowa-Grant and Cuba City in regionals and Cambridge and Arcadia at sectionals.
Markesan is one of two undefeated teams in the state, and their record sits at 24-0. The Hornets won the Trailways North Conference this season. They are making their second ever appearance at the state tournament. Their last berth was in 1957. On the road to Appleton, they beat Pardeeville and Laconia in regional play and Roncalli and Palmyra-Eagle 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: All stats listed do not include games from sectionals.
Hitting
Prairie du Chien: 45 points
Markesan: 37 points
The Blackhawks hit the cover off the ball all year long, and they have the advantage at the plate in this game. Their team batting average is .415 this season. All nine of their starters bat over .350, led by Brogan Potter’s team-high .506 average. Peyton Hall isn’t too far behind Potter with a .464 average, while Casey Hogenson is among the team’s leaders in average (.438) and has team’s best RBI total (29). There is a tremendous amount of power in the Blackhawks’ lineup. They bashed 12 home runs this season, with Dylan Yeoman’s five homers finishing as the team’s best total. Hall has three home runs this year, while Hunter Scheckler has two. All things considered, this is a fearsome lineup that is among the state’s best. They only failed to score double digit runs in a game six times this season.
While Markesan doesn’t have numbers that are quite as good as Prairie du Chien’s, the Hornets still have a strong offense. They have five starters that bat upward of .390, and their team’s collective batting average is .370. Denton Plagenz and Cody Ryan both had phenomenal seasons for the Hornets. They tied for the highest RBI total on the team (along with Kyle Krueger) at 31, and Plagenz (.464) narrowly edged Ryan (.457) for the team’s highest batting average. Including his inside the park homer in the sectional semifinals, Ryan finished the year with four home runs. There are several other guys on the team that can have a big impact at the plate too. Carter Hunter is hitting .446 this year with 19 RBIs, while Krueger has a .427 average with 11 extra base hits. All nine hitters in the Hornets’ lineup can be a game-changer on any given day.
Pitching
Prairie du Chien: 35 points
Markesan: 45 points
Prairie du Chien’s dominance at the plate is matched by Markesan’s ability on the mound. The Hornets’ top three starting pitchers all have sub-one ERAs. Cody Ryan started their sectional semifinal game. He’s 7-0 in 41 innings with a 0.34 ERA this year. He tossed five complete games prior to sectionals, where he went the distance in the semifinals. Kyle Krueger compiled an 8-0 record prior to sectionals with 45 innings pitched and a 0.93 ERA. He also had five complete games. The number three pitcher on the team is Shane Ryan, who went 4-0 with a 0.61 ERA in 23 innings this spring. That is a hard rotation to score against, and they’re arguably the best staff in the Division 3 tournament.
The Blackhawks are a solid team on the mound as well. They have two go-to guys that they can turn to in order to win games. Casey Hogenson has started 11 games this season prior to sectionals, and he is 8-1 with a 2.40 ERA. Junior southpaw Chas Sagedahl started seven games prior to sectionals, and he threw a complete game in each and every one. He has an 8-0 record with a 0.39 ERA. They relied on those two guys pretty heavily this year, and nobody else pitched more than 15 innings.
Base running
Prairie du Chien: 7 points
Markesan: 5 points
Both of these teams are good on the bases, but Prairie du Chien has had a slightly better season in that regard. The Blackhawks stole 64 bases this season with a 90% success rate. They had three players notch double digit steals, led by Brogan Potter's 15. Casey Hogenson had 11 swipes, while Peyton Hall had 10. They had two other players steal at least six bases.
The Hornets only had one player steal double digit bases, but they had decent numbers across the board. They stole 44 bases with a 96% success rate. Cody Ryan went a perfect 13-for-13 on stolen base attempts this season. Drew Bernhagen had the next highest total with seven steals. Overall, they had six players with at least four stolen bases.
The verdict
Prairie du Chien: 87/100 points
Markesan: 87/100 points
It is very difficult to look at these two teams and make a confident conclusion about which one is better. Prairie du Chien has an explosive offense, but Markesan’s pitching should be up to the challenge of stopping the Blackhawks. This should be an exciting game for neutral fans to watch. It pits one of the best offenses around against arguably the best pitching staff in the Division. A key to this game will be early offense. If the Blackhawks can get on the board early, they could see the lead out for the rest of the game. However, if Markesan’s pitching can frustrate the Blackhawks and keep them scoreless for the first three or four innings, it would give them a foothold in the game that they can hold on to for a victory.
