WIAA state baseball: Walk-off single caps eighth-inning comeback as Muskego downs Pius to win title

MEQUON - High school summer baseball in Wisconsin just didn’t want to end.

Frankie Cistaro and Muskego, however, had a different plan.

Cistaro lined a two-out, walk-off single to complete a dramatic eighth-inning comeback and lift the Warriors to a 2-1 victory over Pius XI in the state championship game on Friday night at Kapco Park.

Pinch-runner Richard Wauer slid safely into home plate with the winning run to give Muskego its first summer baseball state title as well as its last, as it was the final game of WIAA summer baseball with the organization only offering spring baseball beginning next season.

"This is our first state championship in baseball. This happens to be the last summer one also, and the fact that’s it’s our first one is something that they will never forget," Muskego head coach Jacob Paige said. "I don’t know if anyone can say they’ve seen a better high school baseball game than that."

If anyone has -- and those at the 2002 title game that Muskego lost to West Bend East might want a word -- then it wasn't by much.

Trailing 1-0 entering the bottom of the eighth a Gino D’Alessio sacrifice fly put the Popes (30-4) on top, the Warriors had two outs to spare when they made one final, desperate push.

Facing D’Alessio, who entered as the pitcher in the eighth to close out the game having not allowed a run in 9⅓ innings on the season, Muskego junior Cooper Tamblyn sparked the rally with a one-out double to right and immediately advanced to third on a wild pitch.

Paige didn’t have to think about what to do next. He just went with his gut.

Despite multiple failed bunt attempts by the Warriors on the day, senior Drew Iverson dropped down a suicide squeeze, scoring Tamblyn from third to tie the game at 1-1.

"The bunt wasn’t exactly working for us the entire game, but I felt like that was our best chance to get our run across and extend the game," Paige said. "It was just an instant reaction. I didn’t give it a ton of thought."

The Warriors then got walks from junior Hunter Fredrick and junior Sam Chovanec, forcing Pius to make a pitching change and bring in right-hander Kayde Thiele.

Cistaro, the team's senior captain, drove a pitch right back up the middle and Wauer beat centerfielder Sam Treffert’s throw to the plate.

"He fell behind me 1-0 so I was thinking he was going to throw a fastball," Cistaro said. "I just took it right back the chute. My team’s looked up to me before. I didn’t let the moment get to me, didn’t do too much with the ball, just wanted to put in play and make something happen.

"I put a good barrel on it and it went through."

While Iverson’s execution and Cistaro’s heroics put Muskego over the top, it was the team’s pitching that carried the load all day.

The Warriors allowed just one run on three hits combined over their two games at state, highlighted by senior Rob Zolecki's no-hitter in a 1-0 semifinal win against Plymouth.

Sophomore Jacob Leszczynski picked up right where Zolecki left off, starting the title game and throwing five scoreless innings with just one hit surrendered.

"I didn't think of it as the state title game," Leszczynski said. "We tried to get the ball down. We played similar opponents all year, so we were ready for this kind of task. We just tried to get the ball down and let our defense take care of the rest." 

Including reliever Zach Schulz’s sixth and seventh innings, the Warriors opened the tournament by allowing just one hit and no runs through the first 14 frames.

The offense, meanwhile, managed just one hit against the Panthers and couldn’t figure out Pius right-hander TJ Driver in the nightcap.

"A sophomore going on the mound and, to take that start today and throw up five zeroes, it’s just incredible," Paige said. "The defense behind him was outstanding. I can’t say enough about our staff and our defense. We did just enough -- just enough -- offensively, but we’ll take it."

Driver, who entered with a 0.68 ERA on the year, matched Muskego pitch-for-pitch, throwing five scoreless innings of his own while allowing five hits and two walks. 

Both teams still had plenty of chances to put a run on the board before extras, however.

In the second, the Warriors’ first two batters reached base before a failed sacrifice bunt attempt and double play ended the threat. In the third, they stranded two more runners. Two innings later, they loaded the bases with one out, but Zolecki grounded into a force at home and Leszczynski flew out to right.

In the third, fourth and sixth innings, the Popes put a runner in scoring position with one out, but couldn’t scratch across any runs. In the sixth, Pius had D’Alessio, its top hitter, at bat with a runner at second, but he flew out and an ensuing groundout dissipated the threat.

Perhaps Pius’ biggest what-if on the night came in the eighth. The Popes loaded the bases with no outs against Schulz and, although they went up 1-0 on D’Alessio’s sacrifice to score Reyshawn Sprewer, left three runners stranded.

"We had a lot of opportunities and we didn’t take advantage like we usually did in the past," Pius head coach Kevin Kehoss said.  "That’s baseball. Not always does the best team win. Muskego came out, fought hard and did what they were supposed to at the end. I give them all the credit in the world."

Credit is also due to the Popes, who came up one game short of their school's second summer baseball title but were the top-ranked team for much of the season and won both the Woodland Conference regular season and tournament titles.

In the end, though, it was Muskego dogpiling in the infield as the sun set behind Lake Michigan, walking off summer baseball in the state in unforgettable fashion.