Spartans, Tigers, Eagles all advance

The Superior High School baseball and softball teams both kept their playoff hopes alive with one-point victories, while the Solon Springs and Northwestern baseball teams both pulled off upsets to advance in their brackets Tuesday.

Spartan softball

Superior only had four hits against Menomonie Tuesday, but the Spartans made them count.

All of Superior’s scoring came in the fourth inning, when Emily Hansen led off with an infield single, and Juliana Polson bunted and reached on an error. Taylor Thompson followed with a single to drive in Hansen, and Polson came in on a throwing error from catcher back to third base on an attempted pickoff play.

Menomonie made up one run in the fifth inning with a leadoff double followed by a walk.

Superior’s Alison Wainionpaa came in to pitch at that point, and an error followed by a single from Morgan Lecheler scored Menomonie’s run.

Wainionpaa then go out of the inning with the bases loaded and no outs on two fly balls and a line out.

The last threat Superior faced came in the bottom of the seventh inning. A walk and an error put runners on first and second with one out, but Hansen caught a line drive and doubled up to Polson at second to end the game.

“The girls played great defense tonight,” said SHS coach Amy Zembo. “Our pitchers also did a good job keeping the ball around the plate. We had two key double plays that were difference makers. The first one in the third inning followed up with our two runs in the top of the fourth. Then of course the big double play to end the game.”

Superior next plays No. 1 seed Chippewa Falls at Casper Park at 5 p.m. Thursday.

Spartan baseball

The Spartan baseball team defeated Eau Claire Memorial in a 5-4 upset Tuesday at Carson Park.

Superior held an early lead after scoring one run in the third and two more in the top of the sixth. Rob Dembroski doubled in the third and moved up on a single by Taylor Olson before scoring on a double steal.

In the sixth inning, the Spartans scored two runs with two outs. Trent Olson got things started with a single, and Dembroski drove him in with another a single. Nick Sitek made it 3-0 when he scored after an errant pickoff attempt.

ECM came back in the bottom of the sixth with four runs to take the lead, starting with an inside-the-park home run by Palmer Buss that scored two runs. The Old Abes then added two more runs on a wild pitch and a passed ball to take the 4-3 lead.

In the seventh inning, Nik Mattson walked to get on base for Superior, and Grant Rindal moved him up with a sac bunt. Dylan Ramage put Mattson across home plate with an RBI double, and Spencer Severson provided the game-winning hit with a single to score Ramage.

Superior closed out in the bottom of the seventh with a 6-4-3 double play and a fly out to end the game.

Ryan Myhre earned the win in relief for Superior, giving up three hits and walking one in 1 1/3 innings. Rindal pitched the first 6 2/3 innings, allowing five hits while striking out five, walking four and hitting one batter.

Severson was 3-for-3 with an RBI, Dembroski was 2-for-4 with an RBI and Trent Olson went 2-for-3. Taylor Olson and Rindal both had a single apiece, and Ramage added an RBI double.

Superior plays Chippewa Falls at 2 p.m. Friday at Casper Park.

SPARTAN SPIN: Superior stranded 10 runners on base, including bases loaded in the second and fourth innings. ... Superior defeated Chippewa Falls 2-1 and 2-1 in a home doubleheader earlier this season. ... Chippewa Falls is the No 4 seed and received a first-round bye. ... In other regional games, River Falls defeated Menomonie, 7-4; Merrill nipped Hudson, 4-3; and Wisconsin Rapids downed New Richmond.

Northwestern baseball

The Tigers scored four runs in the eighth inning to claim a 6-4 over the Hayward Hurricanes Tuesday.

Northwestern scored twice in the third to take a 2-1 lead, but Hayward tied the game at 2-2 in the sixth inning to send the regional semifinal game into extra innings.

Sam Schiff then led off the eighth inning for the Tigers with a single, and T.J. Polkoski was intentionally walked. Cody Kontny followed with another single and Isaiah Smith reached on a fielder’s choice. All four would go on to cross home plate as Tanner Follis singled, Andrew Perry doubled and Nolan Graff was hit by a pitch.

Hayward made up two runs in the bottom of the eighth before a fly out to right field and an out at first ended the game.

Northwestern plays Spooner today at Spooner. The Rails advanced with a 10-0 win in five innings over Ashland.

Eagles baseball

The Solon Springs baseball team defeated the Mellen Granitediggers 9-1 Tuesday to advance to the regional final against Drummond today.

“I thought we played really well,” said Eagles coach Nathan Ahlberg. “Errors have been our problem all season, and only had one error.”

Ahlberg also said the Eagles got a boost in confidence from the pitching of Tyler Long. Long was the winning pitcher in five innings, striking out 10 while allowing just two hits.

Cody Utyro had three hits and two runs scored; Kevin Zamzow had two doubles and two RBIs; and Cole Klinzing had three hits and three RBIs.

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