BIG SLIDE – The De Pere Redbirds keep going.
“It was amazing, but (that) feeling is gone, we have to work on the next game,” senior second baseman Axel Donaldson said. “(The work) is not finished yet. We have to win the rest of the games.”
Thanks to senior Easton Arendt’s stellar pitching performance, great hitting and compact ball, the No. 1 Redbirds defeated No. 8 Menasha 2-0 in the first round of the state baseball tournament.
“We’re preparing the guys very well mentally,” De Pere head coach Bob Van Rens said of his team’s defense. “We knew we were facing a serious situation at the end of the year. We’ve been talking about this for a long time, such a quiet intensity. I think the guys just really want it and they’re going to do whatever it takes.”
Quinn Ludvigsen had a phenomenal game for Menasha, but his catcher’s three-base error in the fifth inning allowed De Pere’s Brett Weckwerth to score on a bunt by his older brother Jake. Later in the inning, Donaldson brought him home with a single to left field to give the Redbirds a little more respite.
Arendt finished the game with a complete game for the Redbirds, throwing all seven innings, striking out four batters and giving up six hits.
“We have tremendous confidence in Easton,” said Donaldson, who expects to start pitcher in the semifinals. “He’s a great player. I think he’s one of the best players in the state. Without a doubt”.
Ludvigsen threw six innings, giving up no runs and striking out six.
De Pere will face No. 5 seed Westosha Central in the Division 1 state semifinals on Thursday at 2:30 p.m.
