Greg Bates, Leader Correspondent
It took Nate Laude an inning to settle in.
Once he did, the Shawano Community High School pitcher didn’t allow much to the Green Bay Preble hitters.
However, Laude gave up a double between two walks in the first inning and surrendered two runs. That’s all the Hornets would need as their pitcher, Caleb Schoenholz, tossed a four-hitter in a 3-0 victory in a WIAA Division 1 regional semifinal playoff game Thursday afternoon at Joannes Stadium in Green Bay.
“We just couldn’t put anything together,” Shawano coach Rob Wolff said. “We had three or four runners in scoring position, and we never came up with the big hit. You’ve got to tip your hat, their kid is a good pitcher.”
Shawano could not solve Schoenholz, who got 12 of the 21 outs via strikeout. The junior left-hander gave up just five base runners all day and didn’t allow a Hawks runner to get past second base. Schoenholz, the Hornets’ ace at the beginning of the season, just returned from an arm injury that sidelined him for four weeks.
“I crossed my fingers he would be a little bit rusty,” Wolff said. “If that’s rusty, I’d hate to see when he was on. He was on today. He didn’t look like he had lost anything.”
Preble coach Andy Conard thought Schoenholz would be ready to go after the long rest. Schoenholz gave up just one double, three singles and one walk.
“They’ve got some really good hitters in their lineup, and you know when the good hitters in another team’s lineup aren’t getting the best of swings and are maybe swinging at some pitches out of the zone that they’re having a hard time picking up the spin,” Conard said. “You could tell that he had his good stuff today.”
Preble, the No. 2 seed in the regional, got a leadoff walk to Andy Peterik in the bottom of the first inning. Connor Lemmens followed with a rope to right field and was trying to stretch a double to a triple, but was thrown out at third base. Peterik scored on the play. Ryan Dougherty walked with one out, stole second and came around to score on a wild pitch to make it 2-0.
“We kind of scratch and claw, that’s kind of how we play,” Conard said. “It was nice to get two right away. You don’t want to play from behind, obviously, if you can help it.”
The No. 7-seeded Hawks (16-11, 9-7 Bay Conference) got a one-out double from Laude in the second inning, but Schoenholz struck out Wai-Ta-Sa Grignon and Kasey Kristof to end the threat.
In the third, Shawano’s Daniel Hanauer singled to left to start the inning and later moved to second on a wild pitch. Tommy Stueck tried two sacrifice bunts, but ended up striking out. Zach Sousek and Ty Schmidt were also retired.
Preble (18-9, 13-7 Fox River Classic) tacked on an insurance run in the third as Dougherty tripled with two out and Schoenholz hit an RBI double.
Again in the fifth, Shawano got a leadoff single from Schmidt, but he couldn’t get any farther than second base.
Laude threw six innings and allowed three earned runs on eight hits while walking three and striking out five. Laude worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth and stranded seven runners for the game.
Offensively, Laude had two hits and Hanauer and Schmidt had the other two.
“You get into tournament play, you’ve got to come up with that hit,” Wolff said. “We get one or two runs and it’s a different ballgame – 3-1, 3-2, you never know. We never could put any pressure on them.”
The loss ended the careers of nine Shawano seniors: Chase Henning, Sousek, Schmidt, Jack Lacy, Grant Wainio, Brendan Cummings, Stueck, Mason Boogren and Brandon Warrington.
“It was tough to say goodbye, but that’s life. Life goes on,” Wolff said. “I know they’ll all be successful. They’re all going onto school and they’ll all come back and see me someday.”
The seniors made a huge impact on the baseball program, and for that Wolff will be forever grateful.
“One of our goals this year was to finish third in the Bay,” Wolff said. “Denmark was 14-2, West De Pere was 14-2, both quality programs. I want to get Shawano baseball there, and we finished third this year. This group, a lot of the have been three-year starters. To have finished 16-11 and we lost like five one-run ballgames during the year, so it could have been a lot different.
“They took a huge step of lifting Shawano baseball where I want it to get. I’m hoping the underclassmen saw that and take heart in that and we get the program up. I’d love to be in these games every year.”