GRAND CHUTE (NBC 26) – The De Pere Redbirds finished first in the preseason poll, but they didn’t want to be a part of it. They wanted to prove that they were the best team in the country.
They made it on Thursday night, beating Sun Prairie East in the Division 1 state championship game 5-1.
“It means the world that I can do it with the guys I’ve been with since day one. It means the world to me — I couldn’t write a better script than that,” said senior pitcher and second baseman Axel Donaldson, who had three hits, three runs and an RBI in the title game.
The Redbirds got off to a speedy start thanks to three Cardinals errors and a pair of hits in the first two innings to lead to a 4-0 lead.
That would be enough support for Redbirds senior pitcher Landon Raygo. The senior would pitch the entire game, giving up just 1 run and 7 strikeouts. He finished the game with 100 pitches. He attaches great importance to the defense behind him.
“I felt really good knowing that our defense – which I think is the best in the state – just hits and can make plays,” Raygo said.
Raygo, Easton Arendt and Axel Donaldson started three state tournament games for De Pere and gave up just two runs in 20 2/3 innings.
For head coach Bob Van Rens, who has been with the program most of his life, this victory meant everything to him.
“I’ve been waiting for this my whole life,” he said. “I grew up in De Pere. This, of course, applies to the whole world. I don’t think it’s fully sunk in yet. I’m just proud of our children. “I’m just happy for our kids, they’ll be remembered forever as our first state baseball champion, I couldn’t be more proud of a group of kids.”
