State Tournament Preview: West Salem vs. Waupaca
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 2 semifinals. In this edition, we're taking a look at West Salem vs. Waupaca.
The rundown
West Salem is 16-10 this season and finished as the co-champion of the Coulee Conference alongside Arcadia. The Panthers are making their second consecutive appearance at the state tournament. They lost in the semifinals to Milwaukee Lutheran last year. Overall, this is their second appearance at the spring state tournament, but they qualified for the summer tournament seven times before switching over to spring ball. To get this far, they beat Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau and Altoona in regional play, and they won their sectional with victories over Mauston and Rice Lake.
Waupaca has a 23-4 record this spring, and they won the North Eastern Conference. The Comets are making their first appearance at the state tournament since 1969, which is the only other time they qualified in school history. They won their regional by beating Little Chute and Freedom before clinching their sectional with wins over Valders and Oconto Falls.
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: West Salem’s stats listed below do not account for their two games at sectionals.
Hitting
West Salem: 37 points
Waupaca: 37 points
West Salem and Waupaca are tough to separate at the plate. The Panthers bat .314 as a team, and their starters hit well pretty much across the board. Drew Tschumper leads the squad with a .457 average and 21 RBIs. He also has the team’s highest extra base hit total at nine. Braxton Ghelfi (.359), Mitch Hansen (.338) and Trevor Kastenschmidt (.329) also batted above .300 for the Panthers. Austin Kennedy (.298) and Zach Ihle (.297) are just a shade below the .300 mark. This is a well-rounded West Salem lineup.
Johnny Popham is the top hitter on a Comets team that bats .313 collectively. He has a team-high .416 batting average and is among the team leaders in RBIs with 15. Brenden Canterbury (.357), Hayden Neidert (.342 average), Jacob Popham (.341 average) and Jason Ellie (.337 average) have also produced for the Comets this season. Much like West Salem, Waupaca has several guys who can beat you in their batting order.
Pitching
West Salem: 30 points
Waupaca: 37 points
Waupaca put up better numbers on the mound this spring, and that could be a difference maker in this game. The Comets’ top two pitchers have been lights-out this year. Walker Smith could start the semifinal game. He’s 8-0 this year with a 0.88 ERA in nine appearances. Jason Ellie is 7-1 for the Comets, and he’s got a 1.18 ERA in 10 games. He started in the sectional semifinals, and he might get the call in this game too. Johnny Popham pitched a lot in relief for Waupaca. He’s got a 2.45 ERA in 10 appearances.
West Salem also has a couple of good options to start the game. Eric Sesvold is 2-1 with a 2.88 ERA in 10 appearances. Alex Jeranek, on the other hand, is 4-2 in seven starts with a 2.10 ERA. The Panthers’ next two most-used pitchers, Alec Gorski and Nick Schultz, had ERAs of 3.18 and 3.79, respectively. Their pitching stats won’t blow anybody away, but it’s worth noting that they’ve only allowed seven runs in the playoffs this year.
Base running
West Salem: 4 points
Waupaca: 4 points
Waupaca’s base running stats aren’t currently available, so there’s a certain amount of guesswork in this rating. They hit four triples as a team this season, so there’s at least a little bit of speed on the roster.
West Salem didn’t run very often this year, but they did steal 29 bases. They were only caught stealing once. Braxton Ghelfi did almost all of the damage, tallying 18 steals this year. Pierson Koenen brings speed off the bench for the Panthers. He has five steals.
The verdict
West Salem: 71/100 points
Waupaca: 78/100 points
Waupaca will come into this semifinal as the slight favorites. Their pitching has been a little bit better than West Salem’s this season, and a consistent pair of top pitchers is often the key to winning a state championship in the lower Divisions. The Panthers have unfinished business after losing in the semifinals last season, and their hitting could be enough to carry them to a win if they are on the top of their game. Even though there’s a clear-cut favorite and underdog in this game, it still feels like there’s an air of uncertainty around it. It should be a fun game to watch.
