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The 2026 Xavier High School baseball team. (Submitted photo)
Xavier

Little Chute outlasts Xavier in 12 innings to win WIAA Division 2 baseball sectional semifinal

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AppletonSportsPage.com

CHILTON – The Xavier baseball team’s bid for a first-ever trip to the state tournament ended in heartbreak as it suffered a 5-4 loss to Little Chute in 12 innings in a WIAA Division 2 sectional semifinal Tuesday at Chilton High School.

Three-straight singles, the final by Little Chute’s Reece Joten, plated a run in the bottom of the 12th inning to end the marathon and send the Mustangs to the sectional final.

Waupun (24-5) went on to defeat Little Chute 5-4 in the sectional final to advance to next week’s WIAA State Baseball Tournament in Appleton. Waupun last made it to state in 2018 when it won the Division 2 state title.

Xavier took the early lead, scoring single runs in the first, third and fifth innings.

Matt Potter doubled, went to third on an errant throw, and scored on a groundout to give the Hawks a quick 1-0 lead in the first inning.

Xavier tacked on a run in the third thanks to two Little Chute errors, and went up 3-0 in the fifth when Kyler Bleck led off with a double and scored on another error.

Little Chute finally got to Xavier pitcher Quinn Comerford with the bottom of the fifth, scoring twice, and went ahead in the sixth on a two-run double by August Hawthorne.

In potentially its final at-bat, Xavier tied the game in the top of the seventh when Evan Wittmann was hit by a pitch, moved to third on an error and scored on a groundout by  Bleck.

Both teams’ pitching settled in after that, with neither team scoring for the five innings before the Mustangs knocked in the game-winner in the 12th.

Gavin Wiese tossed 4 2/3 innings of scoreless relief, allowing just one hit while walking four and striking out five for the Hawks.

Xavier finishes the season with a 17-9 record, and Bay Conference and regional championships.

Mustangs 5, Hawks 4 (12 inn.)
Xavier   101   010   100   000   –   4   6   5
Little Chute   000   022   000   001   –   5   8   7
WP: Reece Joten. LP: Kyler Bleck.
SO: Quinn Comerford (5 1/3 inn.) 4, Gavin Wiese (4 2/3 inn.) 5, Bleck (1 2/3 inn.) 2;
Hermsen (6 inn.) 5, Joten (6 inn.) 7. BB: Comerford 2, Wiese 4, Bleck 1; Hermsen 2, Joten 4.
Top hitters: X, Bleck 2B, 2 runs, RBI; Matt Potter 2B, run; Wiese RBI. LC, Gerrit Wittmann 2×6, RBI; August Hawthorne 2×4, 2B, 2 RBI; Blake Ruesch 2 runs; Hermsen 2B, run.
Records: Xavier 17-9; Little Chute 20-7.