Summer State Tournament Preview: New Holstein vs. Menomonee Falls
The WIAA summer baseball state tournament is this Friday. The semifinals will take place in the morning, and the state championship is scheduled for 6:05 in the evening. Marquette and Oak Creek will square off in the first semifinal, to be followed by New Holstein vs. Menomonee Falls. Today, we'll be breaking down the second semifinal.
The rundown
New Holstein is 20-10 this season and finished in third place in the Big East Conference, only behind Kiel and Plymouth. The Huskies are making their first trip to the state tournament since 2010, and their 19th trip overall. Their only summer state championship came in 1965. They fell in the state title game in 1974, 1986 and 2007. Their road to the state tournament saw them beat Oostburg in regionals before defeating Plymouth and Kiel to clinch their sectional.
Menomonee Falls is 23-10 this summer and finished in third place of the Greater Metro Conference, behind fellow state tournament teams Oak Creek and Marquette. They are making their second consecutive appearance at the state tournament. They won the state championship last year by beating Franklin in the final. To return to Mequon, the Indians beat Kewaskum in regionals and both Grafton and West Bend West 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: Stats for Menomonee Falls do not include their sectional games.
Hitting
New Holstein: 35/45 points
Menomonee Falls: 37/45 points
The Indians are a good hitting team, and they have a small advantage in this category. They hit .317 as a team, and had seven starters bat over .300. Illinois commit Ty Weber led the team with a gaudy .513 average. He bashed 13 extra-base hits and tallied 21 RBIs. Nick Gile was also a constant threat in the Falls lineup. He batted .431 with 14 extra-base hits and a team-high 25 RBIs. Matt Emmer (.385), Ryan Spalding (.344), Jake Sutherland (.339), Tommy Howard (.338) and Zach Kornburger (.308) are other notable hitters for the Indians.
The Huskies are fairly comparable to the Indians at the plate. They also hit .317 collectively, but only six of their starters bat over .300 compared to Falls’ seven. Josh Burg was a phenom at the plate this summer. The senior hit .484 with 14 extra-base hits and 38 RBIs. Owen Olson batted .395 with six doubles for the Huskies. Brady Halbach hit .359 with five extra-base hits and 23 RBIs, while Trent Winkel hit .354 with 16 RBIs. Bryce Karrels (.356) and Nolan Beirne (.309) are some of the Huskies’ other top hitters.
Pitching
New Holstein: 35/45 points
Menomonee Falls: 35/45 points
These teams are tough to separate on the mound. New Holstein has better numbers, but Menomonee Falls faced much tougher competition during the year. Owen Olson is the Huskies’ ace. He’s 8-2 this summer with a 1.62 ERA in 56.1 innings. He’s thrown six complete games in 10 starts. Justin Weber is a solid number two option. He’s got a 4-1 record in 44 innings and has posted a 2.86 ERA. Carson Heus also had a good year for the Huskies. He’s 3-2 with a 1.02 ERA in 34.1 innings.
The Indians are led by Ty Weber (a 34th round draft pick by the Cincinnati Reds) on the mound. He’s about as good as it gets in Wisconsin. Prior to sectionals, he was 6-0 with a 2.05 ERA in 41 innings with 55 strikeouts. Logan Roble and Ryan Piontek both pitched 38.1 innings for the Indians this year. Roble went 5-2 with a 1.64 ERA, while Piontek was 2-3 with a 4.02 ERA. Zach Kornburger was 4-1 with a 1.25 ERA in relief this year.
Base running
New Holstein: 5/10 points
Menomonee Falls: 5/10 points
These teams are practically identical on the base paths. New Holstein stole 51 bases with an 84% success rate. Josh Burg led the club with 10 steals, followed closely by Owen Olson with nine and Brady Halbach with eight. The Huskies had a more balanced running attack than the Indians. Six players stole four bases or more.
Two players did most of the damage on the bases for Menomonee Falls, who stole 49 bases with an 84% success rate. Matt Emmer had a team high 17 stolen bases, while Zach Kornburger had 10. The only other player with at least five stolen bases was Ty Weber, who had five.
The verdict
New Holstein: 75 out of 100 points
Menomonee Falls: 77 out of 100 points
The defending state champions will come into this game as the favorite. They’ve played a tougher schedule than New Holstein this year, and they should be ready for the challenges the state tournament throws at them. However, the Huskies should not be overlooked, as they’ve got a squad that’s capable of pulling off an upset when they’re on their game. Scoring an early run or two against the Indians’ solid pitching staff would likely boost the Huskies chances significantly. Otherwise, Menomonee Falls will get a hold on the game, and as they showed against West Bend West in the sectional final, that would make them very tough to beat.
