Fall Creek, Eleva-Strum wins regional titles

You may think chess is the ultimate stress sport mentally when so much is at stake. But a low scoring, one-run ballgame can take its toll on the mind too.

Who's going to make that mistake? Will it be an error in the field, the wrong pitch, a mistake running the base path, a dropped ball, that could make the difference in the outcome?

No. 7 ranked and top-seeded Fall Creek along with Eleva-Strum faced all those dilemmas last week in their respective WIAA regional tournaments last week and answered them effectively to both win titles and play in sectionals this week. The state tournament in Grand Chute is next week.

Fall Creek topped rival Osseo-Fairchild 13-3 in six innings on Tuesday, June 2 at home. The Crickets led early 5-0 thanks to back-to-back triples by Heath Rosemeyer and Cass Short - Rosemeyer's coming with the bases loaded. O-F (13-10 overall) came back to cut the lead to 5-3, scoring all their runs in the fourth and batting through their line-up. Yet, when the pressure grew tight, FC (22-3-1) responded in the fifth for four runs then added four more in the sixth to end the game.

FC responded to the heat even more so 24 hours later at home vs. No. 4 seed Durand-Arkansaw in the finals. Rosenmeyer battled D-A in pitcher's duel with Dylan Berger, notching a complete game one-hitter. The Crickets had to hold that lead for seven straight innings from the first inning as their lone run came from Ethan Westrate on hit-by-pitch followed by a throwing error that allowed him to score from second base.

"I have to give our guys a ton of credit for staying composed in the big moments--there are so many layers to being successful in a close, high pressure game, here are a few of the things we emphasize," FC head coach Matt Prissel said. "We often talk about 'staying the course' and never being too high or too low because performing at a high level is difficult when you are too emotional or feeling too negative. We have been a more cohesive team this season which has helped, we know we have each other's backs, so if something bad happens we can support each other and recover sooner by playing together and playing for each other so we are never feeling like we have to do it alone out there. Our fielders know our pitchers are going to give maximum effort to challenge the batters and our pitchers know if they pitch to contact our fielders are going to give maximum effort to make a play for the pitcher. We also talk about competing on every pitch and every play and to keep competing until they tell us we can't compete any longer--when we break the game down to "one pitch or one play at a time" it is easier to just focus on the play rather than the fact we are living and dying in a 1 run game. Also, we really try to put the guys in pressure situations throughout the season in both games and practices so when the moment is important, we have trained for situations like that throughout the season. Finally, we spend a lot of time working on '21 outs' in practice--it is both a drill and mindset, we emphasize making enough plays in the field and "hunting the out" that we try to get to 21 outs as effectively and efficiently as possible because we know if we limit extra outs and opportunities for the other team that gives us a better chance to be successful."

FC wins its first regional title since 2012 and its 11th in school history. The pressure will continue this week as their Division 3, Cumberland Sectional semifinal opponent is No. 2 ranked and No. 2 seed Elk Mound, who they split with during the regular season and shared the conference title. Also in the tournament is No. 1 seed and No. 4 ranked St. Croix Falls and No. 3 seeded Maple Northwestern.

Eleva-Strum has had a few more recent regional titles and added to their total last week in Division 4. The No. 3 seeded Cardinals got a walk-off win over No. 6 seed Hillsboro at home June 2 then won at No. 2 seed Brookwood 4-1 thanks to winning pitcher Calvin Barneson's outing: zero earned runs, giving up just three hits and striking out four to earn WHTL 102.3 FM's Player of the Week designation. E-S (15-7) played in the River Ridge Sectional on June 9 against Dairyland Conference rival and No. 8 seed Cochrane-Fountain City. The other semifinal has No. 9 ranked and No. 1 seed Potosi/Cassville against No 6 seed Seneca.

Osseo-Fairchild didn't have a great end to its season but it showed it was under-seeded at No. 9 as they walloped No. 8 seed Chippewa Falls McDonell 9-0 in a first-round match-up on May 28 at Casper Park. Colton Williams struck out four in the complete game shutout. Emmerick Korger was the Thunder's top hitter going 3-for-4 with a double. Williams, Blaine McCune and Brooks Koxlien all had two hits with McCune driving in two runs.

Augusta was playing its best ball at the end of its season, going 4-6 in its last 10 contests and even its final loss to Spring Valley on May 28 in the first round of the regionals was a close 2-1 decision. The Beavers (5-16) won its final game over TOW (Thorp/Owen-Withee) by a 14-8 score at Thorp. Colton Winsce had three hits and drove in two runs for AHS, Aiden Barnett drove in three runs off a double and Owen Lee struck out three batters to get win. Augusta rallied down 8-7 scoring seven runs in its at bats in the sixth.

Speaking of the two regional champions from the Tri-County Area, Fall Creek defeated Eleva-Strum in the regular season final back on May 26 in Strum at Spangberg Field by a 3-1 score.

Division 3 bracket: https://halftime.wiaawi.org/CustomApps/Tournaments/Brackets/HTML/2026_Ba...

Divsion 4 bracket: https://halftime.wiaawi.org/CustomApps/Tournaments/Brackets/HTML/2026_Ba...