GRAND CHUTE, WI- For the first time in 25 years, Hortonville won a game at the WIAA State Baseball Tournament.
Senior Thomas Burns shutdown Middleton and help the Polar Bears to a 3-0 win. The Arizona State recruit pitched a shutout, holding the Cardinals to three hits and struck out 8 in the victory.
“It feels amazing, we came together, we are a family,” Burns said. “It just feels great having everyone behind you.”
Before the game, Coach Greg Yaeger said he could tell he was on his game. “He showed why he is an all-state guy. That is good as I have seen Thomas pitch. He was dialed in and he had his best stuff.”
Burns did not give up a hit until the fourth inning. “I felt great the whole way.”
The Polar Bears got baserunners on throughout the game, but could not manufacture a run until the 5th inning. Brett Summer hit a ball that just missed clearing the left field wall. The hit drove in the first run of the game, giving the Polar Bears a 1-0 lead. Camden Kuhnke drove in the other run of the inning.
With a 2-0 lead and Burns running up against a pitch count that would prevent him from pitching anymore this tournament, Coach Yaeger decided to leave him and use him up. “If we would have jumped out more, we would have considered saving him, but you got to win that one.,” he said. “With a team like Middleton, anything can happen. You don’t want to be that guy that pulls him early and then they score three on you.”
Burns said he was okay with the decision. “This game stayed pretty close until the end, so might as well go the distance. We have Nate (Vila) on the bump next game, he is going to get the job done too.” Unless the games get pushed back to Friday, Burns will be spending the rest of the tournament, helping his team with his bat. “You run throw scenarios, but maybe we can do a rain dance and get our game pushed back to Friday,” Yaeger joked.
The Polar Bears were able to add one more run in the sixth inning, and held on for the 3-0 victory.
The Polar Bears will play Franklin on Wednesday in the Semifinals. The Sabers needed 9 innings to top Burlington in the Quarterfinals. “You get some information, but it is good to see them in person. They are resilient, they come up with clutch hits, they have good hitters but we will battle.”
The Polar Bears improve to 25-4 on the season.
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