GRAND CHUTE — Heading into Tuesday, the Reedsville Panthers baseball team had already made program history by reaching its first state tournament appearance. Unfortunately, the Panthers wouldn’t advance any farther, falling in a heartbreaker to Potosi/Cassville, 2-1, in an 11-innings state semifinal.
“I think we're very proud to be regional champions, sectional champions, and appear at state," said senior shortstop Ben Prochnow, who helped the basketball team win a state title a few months back. "This whole group we were brought in, we really wanted to get to that championship game, bring home hardware, but it didn't happen.”
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Potosi/Cassville scored the first run of the game in the first inning. The next run in the game came in the top of the sixth when the Panthers tied it at 1 on a run-scoring groundout by Nathan Christensen to score Prochnow.
The Chieftains had a few opportunities to score in extra innings, but they finally broke through in the 11th. With the bases loaded and two outs, Reid Weber hit a slow grounder to second. The Panthers' second baseman saw the ball hop up and off his glove, allowing all runners to be safe and the winning run to score.
Potosi/Cassville received a masterful pitching performance from Kolton Vogelsberg and Weber. Vogelsberg threw the first seven innings, allowing just two hits and one unearned run while striking out six Panthers. Weber came on in relief and threw four innings of no-hit ball to keep the Panthers off the board.
“We took some poor approaches sometimes, swinging early or just rolling over, and it was just kind of a group effort that wasn't at our best or where we needed to be to get it done,” Prochnow said. “You can't blame it on one or two plays in the field or even on pitchers not throwing strikes. It was on the bats, all nine guys. We just didn't get it done.”
Junior Lucas Lodel, who came in to pitch for the Panthers in the second inning, gave it his all to keep his team in the game. He finished with 7.2 innings pitched, giving up no runs and allowing five hits.
“He knows when the moment's right and he meets it,” Reedsville head coach Luke Ubersox said. “And you know, really in the position that he came in and to give us the length that we needed. I'm really looking forward to having him back next year.”
For Ubersox, he hopes this experience continues to propel the Panthers program forward.
“There's a lot we can take from it as a program," Ubersox said. "Last year, qualifying for sectionals, this year taking the next step. We just told the kids use it—the underclassmen especially—get better. Hopefully, we can be back here again sometime soon.”
For Prochnow, leaving a legacy alongside a senior class that found success in both basketball and baseball meant a lot.
“I think we stamped our presence on Reedsville High School, and I think we did it academically and in sports," Prochnow said. "So I mean, it's a special class. We hang out all the time outside of sports, so I think that was crucial for us to just be so close together. Everyone was bought into each other, and we could be honest with each other if someone's having a bad day and we needed to just help them out in any way, because we know how to help each other out. So it's awesome. Love those guys.”
