Bonduel rolls past Coleman in regional semi

The Bonduel High School baseball team traveled to Coleman as the lower seed, hoping to score an upset win over the Cougars.

The Bears left with a convincing 13-1 victory in the Division 3 regional semifinal on Tuesday.

Third-seeded Bonduel grabbed the momentum early on with a three-run first inning before tacking on its final nine runs from the fourth through six innings. Junior Noah Beilfuss handled the rest on the mound, going the distance after a tough start.

“To tell you the truth, our guys just played really well today,” said Bonduel coach Donnie Gruenewald. “Noah threw strikes, he adjusted after the first inning. Our defense played well, I think we maybe had one error. We’ve been playing really good for about the last week-and-a-half, been scoring a lot of runs. I knew we had a chance to beat them, I just didn’t think it would be a 10-run rule game, but I’m kind of glad it was.”

Bonduel accepted the underdog role and put the pressure on Coleman from the start.

“We love to battle. There’s no challenge we don’t want want to take on and we just love winning,” said senior Riddik Bohm of the Bears upset win.

“We are an extremely confident team. They came in with a better record, higher seed but we weren’t scared for a challenge and we played very well tonight,” said senior Parker Bohm.

Parker Bohm and Beilfuss delivered back-to-back singles to set the table in the Bears’ three-run first. Riddik Bohm delivered a two-run triple before being brought home by sophomore Garrett Engel’s single with two outs.

Coleman answered with a run in its half of the first, but Beilfuss and the Bears defended an attempted double steal perfectly to end the inning without any further damage.

After the first, Beilfuss settled in, and Coleman switched pitchers in the second to slow the Bears’ charge.

The game remained a 3-1 advantage for Bonduel until the fourth when Parker Bohm singled in junior Cole Letter with two outs. Letter had reached on an infield single before moving to second on a passed ball.

After Beilfuss tossed another 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the fourth, the Bears blew the game open with a six-run fifth.

Riddik Bohm walked before moving to third on a single down the right-field line by junior lefty Dylan Burch. Senior Joey Wagester followed with an infield chopper, but the Cougars throw to the plate was late, allowing Riddik Bohm to score.

Senior Aaron Margelofsky followed with a single to load the bases before an error allowed each runner to move up a base and Burch to score. Letter and Parker Bohm then followed with bases-loaded walks to score two more runs.

Beilfuss followed with the big hit in the inning, doubling in two runs to make it 10-1.

“They had just put a new wing (pitcher) in, so I was kind of watching him a little bit before the at-bat,” Beilfuss said. “I saw that he had some decent speed, but nothing that I couldn’t handle. I just stayed back, relaxed and just drove the ball. I was just focused on barrelling it up and driving it somewhere.”

Bonduel was unable to reach the 10-run rule in the inning, as a strikeout and groundout ended the frame.

Beilfuss continued to dominate on the mound with another three up, three down bottom of the fifth inning to get the Bears right back in the dugout.

Bonduel tacked on three runs in the sixth to seal up the convincing win.

Engel was hit by a pitch to open the inning before Wagester reached on an error while trying to bunt. Margelofsky walked to load the bases.

Sophomore Carson Robaidek drove in the Bears 11th run on a fielder’s choice before Wagester scored on a throwing error after a groundout. Parker Bohm capped the big inning with his third RBI of the night, scoring Robaidek with a single

The Cougars got a runner on in the sixth, but a groundout and two flyouts ended the frame and contest. From the second inning on, Coleman only had two batters reach base.

“He was trying to trust me and I’m always trying to set up on the corners and I guess he was hitting them,” said Engel of Beilfuss’ strong pitching performance. “We got a really good chemistry since we are cousins and have been best friends for a really long time.”

The win advanced Bonduel into the regional final, where they faced top-seeded Peshtigo on Wednesday. Results were unavailable by press time.