WRIGHTSTOWN (NBC 26) — A 15-game win streak. A walk-off grand slam. A Division I commitment. And now, a chance at a deep postseason run.
Wrightstown baseball is rolling into the playoffs with confidence and experience — much of it coming from a group of seniors that has already battled deep into playoff territory in other sports.
Watch the full story here:
The Tigers finished the regular season 16-2 in conference play and secured the No. 2 seed in their half-sectional, along with a first-round bye ahead of Tuesday’s regional semifinal.
They clinched a share of the conference title in dramatic fashion with a 10-inning walk-off win over Little Chute, courtesy of a grand slam by Aiden Humphreys.
“Second or third pitch came in,” Humphreys said. “I just jumped on and felt it off the bat. I knew it was gone when it came off the bat.”
Wrightstown had to win again the next day to claim the title outright.
“That was just for a share of the conference championship,” head coach Eric Beard said. “To have to win the next day to win it outright, it’s just been great, and I’m real happy for the boys.”
The Tigers also went 6-1 in one-run games and 3-1 in extra innings this season — numbers that reflect the team’s resilience.
“I don’t care what level of baseball you’re in. Fifteen-game win streaks just doesn’t happen all that often,” Beard said.
Humphreys, who has struck out 87 batters in just over 46 innings this season, credits the team’s bond — built through multiple sports — as a key reason for their success.
“Everybody’s kind of one big family just like in football last year,” he said. “A lot of these guys played football, and it took us a long ways in football and it’s taken us a long way in baseball.”
The Tigers’ athletic success spans seasons. Fourteen of the 16 players on the roster were letter winners on Wrightstown’s football team, which finished as state runner-up the past two years. Four players also contributed to a basketball team that won a regional title this year.
“They just don’t give in,” Beard said. “The success they’ve had at football the last two years, the success they had at basketball — they made a sort of an unexpected run to a regional championship in basketball. They just don’t give in, and they just don’t like to lose."
Beard said that mindset carries over in high-pressure baseball moments as well.
“They’re also mentally tough — that, 'Hey. We’re down one. We can get one, or let’s get two and get out of here' type thing.”
Senior pitcher and center fielder Trevor Vande Hey, a Division I commit, is helping anchor Wrightstown’s postseason run. He is committed to play baseball at Iowa.
“It’s been twelve years since someone’s actually went to college for baseball,” Vande Hey said. “And last time it was Craig Nennig, and he did pretty good. And I’m just hoping I can do the same thing and live up to that.”
Senior Will Schoenwalder said the team’s energy was evident from the beginning of the year.
"I mean, I haven’t — the amount of people that, before even the season started, before open gym started, ready to play, who wanna get extra work in at batting cages — something I haven’t seen in a while,” Schoenwalder said. “So I was really excited for the season and knew that we could do something special.”
He added that the team’s friendship and shared purpose have made the experience even more meaningful.
“Every senior wants to play, just wants to be here as much as possible,” he said. “They love the sport. They don’t wanna stop playing the sport. And just we’re all together. Everyone’s friends on this team, which is really nice.”
The Tigers will host Marinette on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. for regional semifinals.
