GRAND CHUTE (NBC 26) — No. 3 Waupun's season came to an end Wednesday with a 5-3 loss to No. 2 Kenosha St. Joseph Catholic in a WIAA Division 2 state semifinal at Neuroscience Group Field.
The Warriors grabbed an early lead in the second inning when Sutton Nelson scored on a fielding error, but the Lancers answered in the third when LSU commit and potential MLB Draft pick Dominic Santarelli crushed a two-run home run to put Kenosha St. Joseph in front.
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Waupun tied the game at 2-2 in the fourth inning on Brennen Redeker's sacrifice fly that scored Trey Schmidt. The Lancers responded with sacrifice flies in the fourth and fifth innings before adding another run on Jack Schmitz's RBI triple in the sixth to build a 5-2 lead.
Despite trailing by three runs entering the seventh, the Warriors continued to fight.
Landon Derksen's groundout scored Emmett Hull to make it 5-3, and Waupun put pressure on the Lancers before Santarelli made a pair of defensive plays in center field to help secure the win.
"They never quit. That's what they are," Waupun Head Coach Travis Hull said. "You saw it the last two outs of the game. If you don't have an elite athlete like that in center field, you've probably got a couple of base hits, and it's a whole different ballgame. I wasn't concerned they were going to go up there and strike out. They were going to battle."
That effort reflected the mentality Waupun carried throughout the season, according to senior Graham Gopalan.
"We knew we were going to fight until the last pitch was thrown," Gopalan said. "From the first inning to the last inning, we had grit, and we just played our butts off. There's not much more you can do about that."
Hull also praised freshman pitcher Sutton Nelson, who started the state semifinal and struck out Santarelli in his first at-bat before surrendering the go-ahead home run later in the game.
"He is mature beyond his freshman year," Hull said. "Otherwise, I wouldn't be starting him in game one of the state tournament. That's how he's been all year. He'll continue to get better, and he's already pretty good, so we're lucky to have him for a few more years."
Waupun accomplished its goal of scoring first, something Hull said is an emphasis for the Warriors.
"It's one of our goals to always score first," Hull said. "It was good to see. I think we could battle. We just didn't execute in a couple of little things, and you've got to be close to perfect when you play a team like that."
For Gopalan and the Warriors' seniors, the loss marked the end of a memorable run together.
"I'm going to love this for the rest of my life," Gopalan said. "It was crazy. It was a miracle season, but it came up short. At the end of the day, we love each other more than anything."
Gopalan said the team spent months working toward the opportunity to play on the state stage.
"Going from late November last year, we were always working every single day, striving for this goal," he said. "To be able to get here is truly the dream. We didn't get here by accident. We earned every second of it."
While the defeat was difficult, Hull encouraged his players to appreciate the journey they shared.
"It hurts because you're passionate about it," Hull said. "When you put so much into something and love something this much, it's going to hurt when it comes to an end. But at some point, they're going to be able to look back and say, 'Look at all we did. Look at all the fun times we had.'
"Just an amazing season with an amazing group of kids."
