Morgan Rode sports@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader photo by Morgan Rode Bonduel’s Jordan Boldt lays down a bunt during a Division 3 regional title game against St. Mary Catholic on Thursday.
The Bonduel baseball team entered the postseason with plenty of momentum, winning 10 of its final 11 games.
The Bears received a bye and a No. 2 seed in a Division 3 regional pod. Bonduel held off third-ranked Brillion in a game that featured 26 runs between the two schools, setting up a matchup against top-seeded St. Mary Catholic for the regional title.
Through the first five innings, stellar defense and timely hitting provided the Bears a 2-0 lead over the Zephyrs. St. Mary Catholic put together a rally in the bottom of the sixth, with Bryce Puls’ two-RBI single leading the hosts to a 3-2 win over Bonduel on Thursday evening in Neenah.
Bonduel did not go quietly in the top of the seventh. With two outs, Isaac Boldt struck out but reached first on a wild pitch. Jordan Boldt then followed with a single to center before Zephyrs’ reliever Christian Jack struck out his third batter of the inning to seal the victory.
The Bears posted three hits in the first inning to grab an early lead. Jordan Boldt singled to open the game before Cole Letter laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance him to second. A single from Wyatt Erb moved Jordan Boldt to third before Bryce Maule delivered a RBI single to score Jordan Boldt.
The inning could have been even bigger for Bonduel, but a line drive off the bat of Noah Beilfuss turned into a double play to end the frame.
In the third inning, the Bears tacked on a run on an Erb double that scored Letter from second.
“We had a couple big hits in the first couple innings to get up,” Maule said. “We also had some good baserunning to score those runs.”
From there, the contest turned into a pitcher’s duel between Bonduel’s Erb and St. Mary Catholic’s T.J. Skrzypczak.
Skrzypczak worked six full innings to earn the win for the Zephyrs. Erb pitched into the fifth inning, striking out five batters along the way.
“He pitched really well today,” Bonduel coach Donnie Gruenewald said. “Overall, Wyatt has shown us, all year long, all four years long, that he could come in and dominate just about any team. Today, this was a top-five team in the entire state.”
The starter also received plenty of help behind him in the field.
Isaac Boldt made a pair of athletic plays in the first inning to deny the hosts hits while Letter, the Bears’ catcher, threw out a runner at second on a steal attempt in the second frame. Bonduel turned a double play in the third to erase another potential threat.
In the fourth, with two-on and just one out, Maule fielded a chopper in front of the third base bag before beating the lead runner to the base for the force out. A deep fly ball in the fifth looked like trouble, but Riddik Bohm got a great read on the ball and made the catch rather effortlessly.
The Bears’ fortunes changed in the sixth. After the Zephyrs had their first batter reach base on an error, the hosts loaded the bases with one out, signaling the end of the day for Erb.
Isaac Boldt came on in relief and induced a high pop up that landed on the infield dirt behind first base. The play was ruled an infield fly, but with the ball hitting the ground, St. Mary Catholic had all three baserunners move up a base. In the next at-bat, Puls snuck a grounder in between third and short to plate the tying and go-ahead runs. The Bears escaped the inning by executing the cutoff play and threw out Puls, who was trying to advance to second.
“We played solid defense today,” Gruenewald said. “The game just came down to one play that we didn’t quite make and that’s how it goes sometimes.”
Jordan Boldt and Erb each provided two hits for the Bears in the game. Each of the team’s six hits came from the first four batters in the lineup.
The loss signaled the end of a impressive season for Bonduel. The Bears finished with a 16-6 overall record after winning the Central Wisconsin Conference-East Division title with a 10-2 record.
The team will need to replace six seniors, Bryce Weier, Jordan Boldt, Erb, Riley Allen, Maule and Dalton Cairns, next season.
“We’ve been playing baseball together since we were in little league basically,” Maule said. “I’ll remember all the laughs and jokes that we told and making memories by winning big games.”
“This year, all the guys came with good attitudes,” Gruenewald said. “They are going to be really hard to replace but our underclassman learned from some of the best.”