Antigo Tops Beaver Dam at State Tournament
Beaver Dam's Skylar Eberle slides under Antigo's Alex Nagel. Photo by Spencer Flaten for Wisconsin Baseball Central.
RIVER FALLS, Wis.—Antigo Post 3 edged Beaver Dam Post 146 2-1 at the Legion baseball Class AA state tournament on Friday afternoon.
In a game where offense was at a premium, Antigo did just enough to claim victory in River Falls.
Antigo got on the board in the bottom of the first inning. Max Nowinsky led off the frame with a double to left field and eventually came in to score when Beaver Dam second baseman James Jimenez misplayed a ground ball.
Beaver Dam tied the game in the top of the third. Collin Cullen led off the inning with a single and was sacrificed to second base. He advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on an RBI groundout by Zach Beekman.
After that, both teams threatened to score several times. However, both defenses came up big to escape jams and keep the game tied.
In the bottom of the third, Antigo got the first two batters of the inning on base with back-to-back singles, but Beaver Dam pulled off a big double play to tiptoe out of danger.
Antigo did the same in the top of the fourth. Beaver Dam got a runner on second with one out, but Antigo got two outs on one swing with a putout at first and a throw to third to get the advancing runner.
Antigo got runners on second and third in the bottom of the fourth, but Beaver Dam pitcher Luke Livingston forced two groundouts to end the threat.
The tie was finally broken in the bottom of the fifth. With a runner on first base, Antigo’s Hunter Kirsch hit an RBI double over the right fielder’s head to give his club a 2-1 lead.
Beaver Dam couldn’t manage any offense in the sixth or seventh, which gave Antigo their second victory of the tournament.
Beaver Dam's Luke Livingston pitched well for Post 146 in the loss. Photo by Spencer Flaten for Wisconsin Baseball Central.
Nick Greening got the win on the mound for Antigo. He pitched six innings and allowed one unearned run on four hits and two walks. Livingston took the loss for Beaver Dam despite giving up just two runs in six innings of work. Kyle Wagoner got the save for Antigo after pitching a scoreless seventh inning.
Nowinsky finished with two hits for Antigo. Cullen went 1-for-3 with a run scored for Beaver Dam.
Antigo (19-5) will face Menasha on Saturday at 1 p.m. in a matchup of 2-0 teams. Beaver Dam (18-7) plays Wisconsin Dells on Friday night at 7 p.m. in an elimination game.
