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East Troy suspended after 11 innings sectional final

East Troy High School’s baseball team had to wait yet another day to see if it could make it to the WIAA Division 2 state tournament.

After being rained out Tuesday, the Trojans took a step closer Wednesday by routing Racine Lutheran/Prairie, 11-4, in the semifinals of the Chilton Sectional. That paired the Trojans against defending state champion Waupun, a 6-1 winner over Winnebago Lutheran.

East Troy and Waupun battled to a 4-4 tie through 11 innings before the title game was suspended at 8 p.m. because of fog and darkness. It was to be completed at 4:30 p.m. today, with the winner advancing to next week’s state tournament at Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute.

The Trojans had a chance to nip Waupun in the ninth after Jory Tess drew a one-out walk and attempted a stolen base. The throw from Waupun catcher Zach Tavs sailed into the outfield, and Tess went to third.

After two intentional walks, Warrior starter Mitch Bille faced Taylor Pederson with the bases loaded. Pederson attempted a squeeze play but popped the bunt foul, and Tyler DeBoer easily caught the ball.

The threat then ended with a ground ball to shortstop Joe Dolgner, who stepped on second base for a force-out.

It wasn’t the first time Bille faced trouble. The senior right-hander allowed the first five batters of the game to reach base, leading to three first-inning runs for East Troy.

The Trojans went up 4-2 in the third when Jake Stollenwork’s single drove in Andy Kiesow, who had walked. After pulling within 4-3 in the fourth, Waupun tied it on a two-out homer to right-center field by Ryan Rasmussen on a 0-2 count in the sixth inning.

Kiesow, the Trojans’ ace senior left-hander, came in with his team up 4-3 in the fourth after pitching four innings in the first game. He worked six innings against Waupun, while Bille went the first 10 innings for the Warriors and threw an amazing 189 pitches.

East Troy overcame a 4-3 deficit against Racine Lutheran/Prairie on Mike Windle’s two-run single in the fifth inning.

The Trojans put the semifinal game out of reach with a six-run seventh. Dan Dougles opened with a triple and scored on Nick Douglas’ single. Kiesow, Mike Windle, Mitch Windle and Stollenwork followed with RBI hits as East Troy set up its rematch with Waupun.

Waupun rallied for three runs in the seventh inning to edge East Troy, 8-7, in last year’s sectional finals.

The third-ranked Trojans are 16-2 this year and conference champions in their final Southern Lakes season. They are the highest rated Division 2 team still in tournament contention, while unrated Waupun is 15-7.

n Michael Rogers of the Fond du Lac Reporter contributed to this report.