WSS downs St. Anthony to advance to sectional finals behind strong showing from Kasey

May 28—Graham Kasey knew he had a lot of pressure on his shoulders.

The senior was pitching in a sectional semifinal. The season was on the line, and on the other side of the field was St. Anthony, who was playing a home game, although it was deemed neutral.

All those factors tossed together didn't matter, though.

Kasey pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowed 11 hits, five earned runs, and five walks with six strikeouts — most of the damage coming in the top of the seventh inning — to advance his team to a Class 1A sectional final after a 10-5 victory over the Bulldogs at Paul Smith Field.

"I was trying to do my job as a pitcher. Get up there; throw strikes," Kasey said. "I have no words right now."

The Hatchets scored most of its runs in the late-goings, plating eight from the sixth to the seventh.

St. Anthony took the initial lead of the contest, scoring one in the first before WSS responded with one in the second and one in the third.

Beau Adams started the bottom of the first for St. Anthony by drawing a walk. Colton Fearday and Eli Levitt then hit singles to load the stations before Angelo Mendella hit an infield fly for the first out of the frame.

Brock Fearday was then hit by a pitch, plating the first run before Kasey escaped by getting Eli Link to ground into a double play to retire the side.

WSS would then respond after Carter Chaney started a two-out rally with a single. Rhett Rincker then drew a walk before Kendall Morris hit an RBI single that scored Chaney to tie the game.

Kasey then worked a smoother bottom of the second, as he got Will Hoene to ground out before Brody Niebrugge doubled. Kasey then regrouped, striking out Connor Roepke and Adams to end the inning.

The Hatchets then took the lead in the top of the third after Austin Wittenberg hit a double, and Tyler Wetherell followed up with a single. Gavan Wernsing and Sam Vonderheide then struck out as Levitt looked to get out of the frame unscathed, but Jordan Wittenberg wouldn't let his team down, plating the go-ahead run on a single before Kasey ended the inning with a groundout.

Both pitchers managed to quiet one another's offenses after that until the top of the sixth when the Hatchets plated two runs to expand the lead.

Kasey started the inning with a double before Chaney responded with a single. Rincker then drove in the third run on an RBI single that would load the bases before Morris plated the fourth run on a bases-loaded walk.

WSS would then follow that up with a six-spot in the top of the seventh, all but securing the victory, even though St. Anthony made a valiant comeback in the bottom of the frame to make the final.

"Those last three outs are the hardest outs in the game to get, in my opinion," WSS head coach Brett Harmeier said. "So, I just told them, don't worry about the runners on; go at hitters. They put some good swings on in the seventh inning, and I'm glad we scored the runs we did in the top of the seventh."

WSS will play North Clay in a Class 1A sectional final today at 11 a.m.

The Hatchets plan to throw Wernsing — their ace — in that contest. Both teams last met on April 26, with North Clay winning, 8-1. This time around, though, Wernsing is confident that his team can pull it off.

"No one ever really thought we would make it this far, but I've felt we were going to get this game, and I feel that we will get the next game," Wernsing said.

As for the Bulldogs, head coach Tony Kreke's team ends the season with a 19-10 record.

St. Anthony loses five seniors off the roster.

"Each one, I can go on and on about; they kept the standard going, and those young guys got a lot to look forward to; a lot to live up to, not only as baseball players but as men in our program," said Kreke of his seniors. "A lot can be said about how good of teammates they were."

Even with those departures, though, Kreke is happy with where the program is heading, with experience being the keyword.

"As far as experience goes, you can see what experience does. Windsor Stew has a lot of guys that have been starting for several years now, and that proves pivotal in big games like this; same with North Clay," Kreke said. "When you got guys who start for a couple of years in a row, that helps. We have a couple of freshmen and a couple of sophomores that have been starting for us, and we got some guys returning that have been starting for three years. I'm looking forward to the future."

Contact EDN Sports Editor Alex Wallner at {span}618-510-9231{/span} or alex.wallner@effinghamdailynews.com.