By Bud Milroy
Sports Correspondent
The Catholic Central High School baseball team fell Tuesday in the WIAA Division 4 Barneveld sectional final, unable to hold off Lake Country Lutheran 8-7 in the title game.
“It’s a tough way to end the season, but I’m so proud of how hard these kids played and worked every day,” said coach Tom O’Connell. “We came a long way this season. Nobody expected us to reach this point, but we made it to the elite eight and just as easily could be headed to Appleton.”
To reach the sectional championship, the Hilltoppers had to turn back the No. 3 ranked team in the state in Barneveld. Catholic Central scored single runs in each of the first four innings en route to a 6-1 victory.
Senior Matt Heiligenthal led the Hilltoppers at the plate with a 3-for-3 effort that produced four RBI. Heiligenthal’s first hit got the Hilltoppers off to a good start in the bottom of the first inning and drove in Kross Krueger.
Nolan Girard also went 3-for-3, scoring in the third following his one-out double just head of Heiligenthal’s single to left field.
Krueger was in charge on the mound, allowing just two hits and going the distance. The sophomore threw just 73 pitches to record the victory, and the lone blemish was a solo home run by Carson Carmody in the fourth inning.
In the championship game, CCHS rocked Lake Country ace B.J. Sabol for three runs in the first inning.
The Hilltoppers added a single run in the third and two more in the fourth when Zach Mehring led the frame off with a double. He would score on Girard’s fly ball to deep center, which was mishandled. Nick Seib, running for Girard, scored moments later on an errant throw.
CCHS led 6-1 after four innings, but Lake Country pulled to within 6-4 in the fifth – and then the wheels seemed to come off.
In the top of the sixth, a double and three singles – plus another CCHS error – led to four more runs, and Lake Country led 8-6.
Mehring and Girard teamed up in the sixth, with Mehring leading off with a single and then scoring later on Girard’s sac fly.
The Hilltoppers would get no closer. Tegan Miles took the loss on the mound.
“Miles was dominating with his curve ball and just missing with his fast ball,” O’Connell said. “It was a great effort.”
The Hilltoppers reached the sectional with a 10-3 win over top-seeded Black Hawk in the regional final May 30.
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