Appleton East baseball keeps season alive with late rally to top Kaukauna in WIAA Division 1 regional semifinal

AppletonSportsPage.com

KAUKAUNA – Down to potentially its final at-bat of the season, the Appleton East baseball team rallied, scoring three times in the top of the seventh inning to eke out a 4-3 win over Kaukauna in a WIAA Division 1 regional semifinal on Wednesday at Kaukauna High School.

The win sends the No. 12 seed Appleton East (9-15) into a D-1 regional final at home Thursday against No. 13 Appleton West (7-16), which upset No. 4 Appleton North on Tuesday. No. 5 seed Kaukauna finishes the season with a 13-13 record.

Kaukauna scored three times in the fifth inning to take a 3-1 lead and that held until East came up one final time.

Two walks, around a single by Cade Prestigiacomo, loaded the bases to lead off the inning. Jackson Bines-Sabrowsky delivered a sacrifice fly and T.J. Parker followed with a single to tie the game at 3-3.

Daniel Dieck then cracked a single to right to plate Alex Thompson with the go-ahead run for the Patriots.

Prestigiacomo entered on the mound in the bottom of the seventh and sent Kaukauna down in order to save the win for starter Rylan Winkler.

Patriots 4, Ghosts 3
Appleton East   000   100   3   –   4   8   1
Kaukauna   000   030   0   –   3   6   0
WP: Rylan Winkler. LP: Bron Schaefer. SV: Cade Prestigiacomo.
SO: R. Winkler (6 inn.) 2, Prestigiacomo (1 inn.) 0; Owen Jenkins (3 inn.) 2, Paxton Schuh (1 inn.) 2, Schaefer (3 inn.) 1. BB: R. Winkler 1, Prestigiacomo 0; Jenkins 0, Schuh 2, Schaefer 2.
Top hitters: AE, Daniel Dieck 2×4, RBI. K, Schaefer 2×3, 2 2Bs; Isaac Maas 1×3, 2 RBI.
Records: Appleton East 9-15; Kaukauna 13-13.