‘It means the world’: Redbirds make first state baseball appearance since 2006

KIMBERLY (NBC 26) – The De Pere baseball team overcame an early 2-0 deficit to defeat Bay Port 9-3 in Tuesday’s WIAA sectional final, securing a berth in the state tournament for the first time since 2006.

• After trailing 2-0 in the top of the third, the Redbirds converted an inning-ending double to run the bases loaded, then tied the game in the bottom half of the inning.
• De Pere struck out three more runs in the fourth inning and finished the game with four runs in the sixth, including two doubles by Landon Raygo; Raygo also finished the game on the mound.
• Senior star Easton Arendt took the win on the mound and hit a key home run in the third inning to tie the game.
• De Pere appears at the state baseball tournament for the first time since 2006; the school is seeking its first state baseball championship.
• Menasha and Bonduel also qualified for the state tournament, which begins next Tuesday at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute.

After losing in the sectional final round in each of the last two seasons, De Pere finally broke through.

“Just the fact that I’ve been with these guys my whole life means the world to me, man,” said senior Axel Donaldson, who had an RBI single in the fourth inning. “I just love these guys so much.”

“To be able to play another game with these guys just means the world to me,” Donaldson added. “We fought so much to get here. It’s an amazing feeling.”

Longtime head coach Bob Van Rens praised his team for bouncing back from early setbacks.

“We put pressure on ourselves every year, but with the group of seniors we have, I was very confident,” Van Rens said.

“We didn’t want to lose 2-0, but we talked about it from day one: there’s nothing wrong with falling behind, you have to keep fighting,” he added. “That’s what we did today. “I think our guys are getting better as time goes on and they work hard all year round.”

De Pere enters the state tournament with a 24-3 record; According to. The Redbirds are the No. 1 team in the state Power of baseball prep report 25.