West closes season in state semifinals

The lights never quite came on for the Waukesha West baseball team. After a power outage delayed the Wolverines state quarterfinal one day, after which West rallied to defeat Germantown in exciting fashion, Waukesha remained without a team ever reaching the WIAA baseball state finals. Eventual champion Franklin eliminated the Wolverines last Thursday, 5-1, holding West to just three hits.

"Our bats never came to life today, even in the first game," West coach Chad Montez said. "The first game we had three hits and pitched and played good defense, but this game we just couldn't get the hits when we needed. We hit some hard balls but could never just put two, three hits together."

Waukesha West finished the season 28-7 with a Classic 8 Conference title in its back pocket.

"We were 17-17 a year ago," Montez said. "To be 28-7 with a conference championship and you make it to the final four in state, that's not too shabby."

Early night

The tournament started inauspiciously, when rains delayed the Wednesday schedule a few hours at Bukolt Park in Stevens Point. Games finally got going, but West's meeting with Germantown - the final contest of the quarterfinal round - fell victim to darkness when the field's lights went dark.

"People were kind of frustrated with the lights situation, all of us," Montez said. "I said, 'On the way home we can complain and be frustrated with the situation, but as soon as we get back to the hotel, no more complaints. If we focus on the lights, we can't control that.'"

The daunting task before West: win three games in one day to win a state championship. With the 2-1 win over Germantown on Thursday morning, that challenge started out favorably.

Neumann!

Jeff Neumann allowed only one run in six innings on the hill, and West scored twice in the bottom of the sixth to take command.

Ryan Solberg hit a one-out triple to center field, plating the game-tying run, and Aaron Jushka followed with an RBI single to give the Wolverines a lead. Solberg then came to the mound to close it out, and he stranded the tying run at second base.

"That's what we expect, especially from Ryan Solberg," Montez said. "He's a four-year starter and the only player on this team that was at state in '07. He kind of had a bad outing in '07 and said this is redemption time. I expected that out of him, and Aaron has been key all year. Hitting behind Ryan is not an easy task and he's done a phenomenal job of that. They've been great for us all year and I can't say enough about their leadership, especially Aaron as a junior. He has taken on a leadership role on this team and then puts it into action on the field."

Solberg was also Montez's security blanket on the hill.

"He's been our closer all year and his leadership and experience and his presence - I mean, you put a 6-5 guy on the mound that throws fairly hard - he makes me relax a little more," Montez said.

End of the road

Solberg was needed against Franklin, as well, allowing one run in five relief innings. But after three hits was all West needed against Germantown, the same offensive output was too little in the semifinal.

Brandon Berghoefer tied the game at 1-1 with an RBI single in the bottom of the first, but Jushka was thrown out also trying to score on the play, and West never put a runner as far as third base the rest of the way against Franklin starter Ian Malmstadt.

"He did a very good job; he threw strikes," Montez said. "He didn't get himself in trouble a whole lot. They made plays behind him, and their outfield is pretty good. They're a good baseball team."

-- David Cotey is a reporter for NOW Newspapers.

Box score

Waukesha West 2, Germantown 1