The Northwestern High School baseball team saw its season end with a 12-7 loss at Ashland Wednesday evening.
The Tigers (13-7) jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the second inning, but the Oredockers answered with eight runs in the bottom of the second and then rode the arm of Jake Erickson to the WIAA Division 2 regional championship.
Northwestern finished with seven hits. Drew Stribley doubled, singled and knocked in two runs; Sam Martinson had a hit and two RBIs; Tanner Klobucher doubled in an run; Carter Spangenberg had a RBI single; Anthony Lupa had a hit and two stolen bases; and Reagan Ruffi had an RBI.
Lupa pitched all six innings, allowing seven hits with three strikeouts and four walks.
Ashland (11-5) will now play Prescott in one sectional semifinal game at 11 a.m. in West Salem. The other semifinal is West Salem hosting Adams-Friendship. The winners play for the sectional championship at 5 p.m.
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The Tigers advanced to Wednesday’s game by winning a pitcher’s duel 7-2 over the Hayward Hurricanes Tuesday evening at Somerville Field in Hayward.
Martinson and Hayward’s Brady Christianson went toe-to-toe through five scoreless innings, and neither team managed a hit until the Tigers broke through with a six-run sixth inning.
The Tigers took a 7-0 lead in the seventh inning when Martinson walked and eventually scored on Ruffi’s single.
Both of Hayward’s runs came in the seventh inning.
Martinson walked the first two batters and was replaced by Lupa. After Willie Zawistowski singled for Hurricanes’ only hit, their first run came in on an error, and the second came in on Austin Wessel’s groundout.
Martinson’s hitless six innings included nine strikeouts and five walks. Lupa allowed one hit with a strikeout, a walk and a hit batter in one inning.
The Tigers sent 12 batters to the plate in the sixth inning, which included Stribley’s bases-loaded walk; Ryan Huray’s two-run single; singles by Lupa and Klobucher; and walks to Carson Holsclaw and Jake Brill, who also got hit by a pitch.
Christianson, Dak Doyle and Hunter Hessel pitched for Hayward, allowing five hits with nine strikeouts and eight walks.
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Northwestern........... 000 006 1 - 7
Hayward.................. 000 000 2 - 2
Northwestern........... 520 000 0 - 7
Ashland.................. 082 020 x - 12
