Xavier baseball slams North Fond du Lac in WIAA Division 2 regional quarterfinal

By Paul Lecker
AppletonSportsPage.com

APPLETON – Xavier found a bunch of different ways to score runs early, then got its offense cooking and turned Wednesday’s WIAA Division 2 baseball regional quarterfinal into a rout.

The Hawks scored three times in the first two innings without a hit before smashing out 12 hits in the next two frames and rolled to an 18-0 shutout of North Fond du Lac at Don Hawkins Field at American Legion Post 38 on Wednesday afternoon.

The No. 6 seed Xavier (12-12) moves on to a D-2 regional semifinal at No. 3 seed Luxemburg-Casco (14-9) on Tuesday.

Matthew Potter reached on an error to lead off the bottom of the first inning, Luke Krull was then hit by a pitch, the two made a double steal, and Potter scored on a groundout by Reid Hietpas. Anthony Weyers followed with a sacrifice fly and the Hawks led 2-0.

In the second, Reed Flick was hit by a pitch, stole second and third and scored on a groundout by Potter to make it 3-0.

“We were fortunate early with a couple of walks and hit batters, and were able to get into scoring position, and we were able to get them across with a couple groundouts and a sac fly,” Xavier coach Tim Harikkala said. “The second time through the order, we swung the bats much better.”

Xavier pitcher Parker Bleck did the rest. He struck out the first six batters he faced and cruised, finishing with 14 strikeouts and no walks. He allowed just one hit, a double to lead off the fifth inning, before striking out the next three to finish off the shutout.

An error and an RBI single by Gavin Wiese pushed the lead to 6-0 in the third, before the Hawks blew it open, sending 18 batters to the plate in the fourth, scoring 12 times.

Krull had an RBI triple, Hietpas followed with a run-scoring double and Weyers knocked him in with a single to start the rally.

Tyler Brightman had a two-run triple and Titan Milhaupt ripped an RBI double later in the inning as Xavier piled it on.

“Parker has been pretty good all season and had some tough losses when our defense or hitting didn’t back him up,” Harikkala said. “He was almost perfect today. I’m hoping that he gets a couple more opportunities this season.”

Hawks 18, Orioles 0
North Fond du Lac   000   00   –   0   1   3
Xavier   213   (12)x   –   18   12   0
WP: Parker Bleck. LP: Drew Stettbacher.
SO: P. Bleck 14; Stettbacher (3 inn.) 2, Rhode (1 inn.) 1. BB: P. Bleck 0; Stettbacher 5, Rhode 2.
Top hitters: NF, Roberts 2B. X, Matthew Potter 2 runs; Luke Krull 3B, 2 runs, RBI; Reid Hietpas 2B, 2 runs, 2 RBI; Anthony Weyers 2 RBI; Tyler Brightman 3B, 2 runs, 3 RBI; Reed Flick 2 runs; Gavin Wiese 2×3, RBI; Titan Milhaupt 2B, RBI; Geofrey Brown 2B.
Records: North Fond du Lac 4-14; Xavier 12-12.