Stratford baseball blanks Stevens Point Pacelli in WIAA Division 3 regional semifinal

STRATFORD – Stratford earned its second-straight shutout of the playoffs, topping Stevens Point Pacelli 3-0 in a WIAA Division 3 baseball regional semifinal Tuesday at the Tiger Stadium Baseball Field.

Stratford (17-2) moves on to a D-3 regional final at Marathon (17-2) on Wednesday as the two Marawood Conference South Division teams will battle for a spot in next Tuesday’s sectional at Crandon. Stratford and Marathon split a pair of conference games earlier this season.

Stratford scored a run in the first inning and two more in the third, giving starting pitcher Lance Heidmann more than enough support.

Heidmann threw 6 1/3 innings, striking out three and walking two, while allowing just two hits.

Chandler Schmidt struck out the final two batters to earn the save for the Tigers.

Dawson Moen had a double and a home run, and drove in two runs for Stratford. Eli Drexler, Kade Ehrike and Ty Pankratz each added singles for the Tigers.

Tigers 3, Cardinals 0
Stevens Point Pacelli 000 000 0 – 0 2 1
Stratford 102 000 x – 3 5 0
WP: Lance Heidmann. LP: Helms. SV: Chandler Schmidt.
SO: Helms 4; Heidmann (6 1/3 inn.) 3, Schmidt (2/3 inn.) 2. BB: Helms 1; Heidman 2, Schmidt 0
Top hitters: S, Eli Drexler 1×3, run; Dawson Moen 2×2, 2B, HR, 2 RBIs, run.
Records: Stevens Point Pacelli 19-8; Stratford 17-2.