Kimberly wins Division 1 state championship
Kimberly celebrates after winning the state title (Alex Strouf/Wisconsin Baseball Central).
GRAND CHUTE—Three years.
Three straight years of state tournament heartbreak left the Kimberly Papermakers feeling raw every June. They came so close to the ultimate prize, only to see it snatched away time and time again.
This year, they’d finally had enough.
Kimberly won its first Division 1 state championship since 2007 with a 4-2 win over Sun Prairie in the title game on Thursday evening at Fox Cities Stadium.
A well-rounded team effort allowed the Papermakers to overcome the Cardinals in a matchup of two of the state’s perennial powerhouses. That should come as no surprise to anyone who knows the Kimberly program.
In a state filled with teams that boast star power, Kimberly didn’t need anything showy to win it all. Just a collection of good players that wanted to win for each other, their school, and their community. The Kimberly baseball way.
Things started out well for Sun Prairie. The Cardinals pushed across the first run of the game in the bottom of the first inning on an RBI groundout by Ben Hauser.
The Papermakers rallied with a run in the third to tie up the game. Drew Lechnir hit an RBI single to get Kimberly on the board.
Kimberly loaded the bases in the fourth inning, but Cardinals reliever Joe Hauser induced a fly out to get out of the jam.
The Papermakers threatened again in the fifth with two runners on, but again couldn’t break the tie.
They finally broke through in the sixth.
Lechnir tallied his second and third RBIs of the game with a two-out single. Zach Carney followed with an RBI single to push Kimberly’s lead to 4-1.
With their season down to its final three outs, the Cardinals refused to go down quietly. Carson Holin singled in a run to cut the lead to 4-2, but a fly out to left field ended the game with the score stuck there.
Cade Hunstiger delivered a workmanlike performance on the mound to get the win for Kimberly. He pitched six innings and allowed just two runs on five hits and two walks. Ryan Carney got the save for the Papermakers.
Lechnir led Kimberly with two hits, while Holin also finished with a pair for Sun Prairie.
With the championship, Kimberly (23-8) successfully ended a string of state tournament appearances that saw them come up just short. They finished as state runner-up in both 2014 and 2015, and fell in the semifinals in 2016.
Sun Prairie (25-7) brings home some hardware from the state tournament for the fourth time in the last six seasons.
