Baseball: McDonell finally takes care of Immanuel in regional semifinals

June 05--CHIPPEWA FALLS -- Third time's the charm.

After falling to the Lancers in the regional semifinals two years straight, Chippewa Falls McDonell finally got its revenge, moving on to the WIAA Division 3 baseball regional finals with a 5-0 victory over Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran Wednesday at Casper Park.

"It just always seemed how it was set up the last couple of years that they had our number, but we were able to break out tonight," Macks coach Eric Wedemeyer said.

The Macks took an early 1-0 lead when senior shortstop Sam Sorensen</person> legged out a single that scored Zach Gilles from third in the first inning.

Sorensen added to that lead in the bottom of the third when he smacked a double to the gap in deep right center that brought home a pair of runs. Nolan Baier singled in the next at bat to score Dalton Hutton from third, giving the Macks a 4-0 lead.

McDonell would tack on one more insurance run in the sixth when Gilles singled home Kendall Dorn, who had advanced to third on Immanuel Lutheran pitcher Jack Mielke's third wild pitch of the night.

Gilles was 4-for-4 with two runs and an RBI.

McDonell was sharp in the top of the innings as well, snaring line drives and making double plays to keep the Lancers (12-9) off the basepaths and off the scoreboard. The Macks turned three double plays, preventing Immanuel Lutheran from getting a runner past second base.

"Ironically we probably hit the ball as hard as we have all year and we ended quite a few innings with hard hit balls that just didn't go to the right spot," Lancers coach Joe Lau said. "To their credit, they made a lot of good plays in the field."

Aaron Milkert earned the win, allowing just four hits and walking none in a complete game shutout. He only notched one strikeout, but with the Macks defense behind him, he didn't need more than that.

"When your pitchers are throwing strikes, making them put the ball in play and you make nearly every play -- turn a couple plays, double some guys off just to kill threats -- that was obviously key in this game," Wedemeyer said.

The Macks (15-7) will need to stay sharp on defense for their next matchup against No. 1 seed Greenwood -- which beat up on Owen-Withee, 15-0 Wednesday -- on the road on Friday.

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