By Murray Gleffe
Correspondent
WINNECONNE – Cameron Dupont hit two home runs and Connor Langreder pitched five complete innings as the West De Pere baseball team defeated Seymour 13-3 in six innings at Winneconne High School June 4.
The WIAA Division 2 sectional final win sent the Phantoms to the state tournament June 12-13 at Fox Cities Stadium in Appleton.
“We have 11 seniors on this team that have worked very hard for four years,” said West De Pere head coach Joe Rukamp. “It’s been awhile since we’ve been to state. I’m very proud for these guys to get the opportunity to experience the atmosphere. It will be a fun week.”
West De Pere continued its scorching hitting in the sectional final as a follow-up to their 11-0 victory over Waupun in the sectional semifinals just an hour prior.
Ben Hampton led the game off with a double off Thunder starting pitcher Kendal Lecker.
After consecutive outs, Dupont stepped in and laced a two-run homer to center field to open the scoring for West De Pere 2-0 and set off excitement from the Phantoms fan base.
Brayden Skenandore added a run in the top of the second, and Connor Dugre, Dupont, and Zach Ziesmer added three more runs in the top of the third to give the Phantoms a 6-0 lead.
Meanwhile, Langreder continued to throw cutters, fastballs and sliders that the Thunder hitters had no answer for.
Through four complete innings, Langreder didn’t give up a single hit.
“I felt the energy from my teammates today,” said Langreder. “I definitely felt good with my pitches early in the game.”
In the top of the fifth, West De Pere closed the door on Seymour’s season.
One home run is tough enough to hit during any game, let alone a sectional final.
Dupont followed up his two-run shot early in the game with a solo homer that hit the scoreboard in dead center to put the Phantoms up 7-0.
The West De Pere bats continued to find gaps in the Seymour defense as three more runs scored and suddenly the 10-run rule was fully in sight.
Fortunately, for the Thunder, they finally found their offense in the bottom of the fifth when time was running out.
The Phantoms, however, matched the three runs Seymour scored to go up 13-3 (including a Ziesmer dinger) in the top of the sixth and closer Ben Cherney finished the game in style leading the Phantoms to more baseball in 2019.
“Cameron picked the right day to hit the homers,” added Rukamp. “He’s a fantastic hitter that got ahold of a couple pitches and let the wind do the rest. Connor is our ace and continues to impress on the mound. We’ll be prepared for whoever we play. At this stage of the season everybody is good.”
Box score
West De Pere: 213 052—13
Seymour: 000 030—3
