GRAND CHUTE, Wis. (WFRV) – Top-seeded De Pere baseball took down Menasha 2-0 in the WIAA Division I State quarterfinals on Monday thanks to runs scored by the Weckwerth brothers, Brett and Jake.
Menasha pitcher Quinn Ludvigsen had four strikeouts in the first three innings, but in the bottom of the fifth, the Redbirds got on the board.
Brett Weckwerth came into the game to pinch run at first base. His older brother Jake went to the plate next and hit a bunt, but the Bluejays throw to first was off base. Brett scored from first, then Jake scored off of an RBI single from Axel Donaldson.
“The guys, they want it so bad. They are going to do what it takes,” De Pere head coach Bob Van Rens said after the win. The Redbirds continue to compete in their first state tournament since 2006.
The Bluejays finished the season with a 19-7 record after qualifying for their first state tournament since 1995.
“I keep getting asked by a lot of people, ‘Are you the Cinderella team?’ Or ‘Is Menasha supposed to be here?’ Of course, we are supposed to be here. You guys have earned every second of this,” Menasha head coach Nick Carlson said of his Bay Conference championship team.
Next, one-seed De Pere will take on the fifth-seed Westosha Central at Fox Cities Stadium at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday in the state semifinals.
