Arrowhead crushes Burlington in championship rematch
Arrowhead's Bryce Toussaint celebrates after hitting a double in Tuesday's state quarterfinal at Fox Cities Stadium (Alex Cheban/Wisconsin Baseball Central).
GRAND CHUTE – There will not be a repeat state champion this season after Arrowhead claimed a commanding 11-1 win over defending champion Burlington in five innings in the Division 1 quarterfinals on Tuesday morning.
Five errors and Arrowhead’s explosive offense proved to be too much to overcome for the Demons. The Warhawks bashed 11 hits in the rematch of last year’s state championship game, and every Arrowhead starter had at least one hit.
Arrowhead took an early 2-0 lead in the second inning on RBI singles by Jack Becker and Matthew Brockish.
The Warhawks broke it open in the third. Collin Thiel hit an RBI single and Bryce Toussaint nailed an RBI double, and another run scored on a throwing error to spell the end for Burlington starting pitcher Trey Krause.
The Demons couldn’t do much better in relief against Arrowhead, as Becker hit a two RBI single later in the inning to push the Warhawks’ lead to 7-0.
Burlington showed a little bit of life in the fourth, as Trent Turzenski grounded into a fielders’ choice for an RBI to plate the lone run of the game for the Demons.
Arrowhead drove the final stake into the heart of the defending state champs with four runs in the fifth inning. They scored a run on an error, as well as RBI walks from Blake Cottrell and Jeff Holtz and an RBI single by Tanner Williams.
The Arrowhead offense will enter the semifinals firing on all cylinders. Toussaint finished 2-for-3 with two doubles, while Becker was 2-for-2 with three RBIs. Eight of the Warhawks’ starters had an RBI.
Derek Crawley was solid on the mound for Arrowhead to earn the win. He pitched a complete game and scattered five hits, leading to one earned run.
Krause took the loss in 2.1 innings of work for Burlington. He allowed seven runs, six of which were earned. Zach Campbell pitched in relief, surrendering four runs (three earned) in 1.2 innings.
Jacob Lindemann led the Demons’ offense with a 1-for-2 performance with a run scored. Turzenski went 1-for-2 with an RBI.
Arrowhead (22-4) will face the winner of the game between Sun Prairie and Beloit Memorial in the semifinals on Tuesday night. Burlington finishes the season at 21-5 and as the champion of the Southern Lakes Conference.
