MADISON, WISC. - The Madison College baseball team left no doubt they were the best team at the 2021 NJCAA Region 4 Division II Baseball Tournament at Robin Roberts Field, earning wins over each of the other three teams in the field to finish as the champions on Saturday. The top-seeded WolfPack, who got by fourth-seeded College of Lake County 4-3 on Thursday, defeated third-seeded Kankakee Community College 7-6 in a semifinal game that was suspended for 18 hours, and finished the weekend with a 6-2 victory of second-seeded Black Hawk College. Sophomore catcher Kameron Laskowski was named the Region 4 Tournament Most Valuable Player, while Mike Davenport received his ninth Region 4 Coach of the Year award. The third straight region championship and 15th in program history sends Madison College to the 2021 NJCAA Division II World Series in Enid, Oklahoma, for the tenth time.

Region 4 Semifinal: #1 Madison College 7, #3 Kankakee Community College 6

Madison College held off the Cavaliers in a game that started on Friday and ended Saturday morning. Kankakee Community College struck first with a solo home run in the opening half inning off starter Luke Hansel. The WolfPack answered with runs in five of the next six innings. Gunnar Doyle got things started with a run-producing single to left that scored Zach Storbakken in the first. The home team took the lead for good in the second when designated hitter Eduardo Saucedo sent the opening pitch around the foul pole in right and out for a solo home run.

After not tallying any runs in the third, Madison College used two hits and three Cavaliers errors to tack on three in the fourth for a 5-1 advantage. Right fielder Spencer Bartel hit a hard ground ball through the left side, sending Saucedo and Jake Nelson in to score, and an error by the left fielder on the play was enough for Taiten Manriquez to race all the way around from first. The fifth inning saw Saucedo draw a two-out walk, advance to second on a passed ball, and make it home thanks to a KCC error on a throw from third.

The five-run lead was cut to 6-3 in the sixth on the second home run of the game by Kankakee Community College. The 'Pack answered in the home half as catcher Kameron Laskowski drove a line drive single to left, bringing home Manriquez. After Madison College recorded the first out in the top of the seventh, the game was suspended due to rain and resumed the following morning. Following the 18 hour break, Madison College maintained it's 7-3 into the ninth inning, when the Cavaliers applied some pressure with three runs. Righthander Jack McNeil, who took over on the mound when the game returned to action, walked two of the first three batters and was replaced with closer Jett Thielke. After the WolfPack closer walked the bases loaded, a single brought in two runs, and an error on a fielder's choice allowed a third to cross, cutting the margin to 7-6. The error also moved the tying run to third and the go-ahead run to second, with two outs, however, after a hit-by-pitch again loaded the bases, Thielke got a fly out to Eli Kramer in center field to end the game.

Hansel (8-1) was credited with three earned runs on eight hits and three walks in his 6.1 innings prior to the rain interruption. The former Union Grove HS athlete set a career-high eight eight strikeouts en route to his sixth straight win. McNeil worked 2.0 innings, issued three walks, struck out two batters, and surrendered two earned runs. Thielke's final line was for two-thirds-of-an-inning, one earned run, one hit, a walk, and a hit batter. 

Of their eight hits, Doyle and Manriquez each had two, with Doyle driving in a run and Manriquez scoring twice. Saucedo, a native of Oregon, Wisconsin, touched home a team-best three times and drove in a run with his first career homer. Bartel registered a team-leading two RBI with his lone hit. 

Madison College is now 21-18 all-time against Kankakee Community College (37-19), and boast an 11-2 mark in postseason meetings.

Region 4 Championship: #1 Madison College 6, #2 Black Hawk College 2

In a rematch of the 2019 championship game, Madison College methodically went about their business one base at a time, posting their third-highest hit total in a game this season. The first three batters of the game reached with singles, including back-to-back bunts, which set up Gunnar Doyle to drive in a run and he did with a fielder's choice. First baseman Logan Mantz followed with a line drive to left and Kameron Laskowski scored to make it 2-0. Three more hits, the first of which was a bunt by Taiten Manriquez, led to another run in the second inning. Spencer Bartel produced the run with a single to right and Manriquez came in from second.

After the Braves generated their first run on a wild pitch by starter Alex Redman, the WolfPack went ahead 4-1 in the fourth. Laskowski singled to right and advanced to second on an errant throw on a pick-off attempt. Two batters later, it was Doyle driving a two-out line drive to center to bring Laskowski home. Two hits and two errors in the fifth inning culminated with Manriquez singling in Jake Nelson to push the lead to 5-1. The final Madison College run happened in the sixth with a two-out rally. Doyle got it started with a ground ball single through the right side, moved to second on a walk of Mantz, and was able to score when the left fielder was unable to make the catch on a fly ball down the line that would have ended the inning.



Redman gave up a hit in the seventh and was removed after a one-out walk in the eighth, closing the book on a three-hit effort. Sophomore Patrick Foldy took over, but ran into trouble in the ninth after loading the bases with no outs. Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, native Carson Fluno retired three straight batters to finish out the WolfPack's ninth run to a Region 4 crown in the last 12 years.

Redman, a native of New Berlin, Wisconsin, limited Black Hawk College to one run on three hits and four walks, while striking out two. He improves to 9-0, with all nine wins coming in his last nine appearances. Foldy was tagged for a run on one hit, one walk, and one hit batter in his two-thirds-of-an-inning. 

The hit parade saw batters one through six, as well as number nine, in the WolfPack lineup all register multiple hits. Doyle, a product of Oak Creek, Wisconsin, was 3 for 5 with a team-best two runs batted in and one scored, while former Sun Prairie HS athlete Spencer Bartel used his three hits to register a run scored and one driven in. Laskowski, Zach Storbakken, Mantz, Eduardo Saucedo, and Manriquez all enjoyed two-hit games.

The WolfPack are now 21-13 in their all-time series with Black Hawk College (43-13), and improved to 5-1 in postseason meetings with the Braves.

Up Next:

Madison College (43-12) will begin the 2021 NJCAA Division II World Series in Enid, Oklahoma, on Saturday, May 29. The tournament's seedings, pairings, and game information will be released on Monday, May 24.

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