Batting their way to baseball school history

Now they’re happy.

Checking that box off their lofty and only season goal brought permanent smiles to the faces of Cedar Grove-Belgium High School baseball players last Thursday.

The Rockets did it. They won the first baseball championship in school history.

Cedar Grove-Belgium beat Dodgeville, 13-9, for the Division 3 title at Neuroscience Field in Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute.

The Rockets had won the Big East Conference South Division, their regional and sectional. Those were nice, but the team wasn’t satisfied. Until now.

“Oh, I’m happy. Yup. We’re all happy,” star pitcher and shortstop Ira Hileblink said.

“We’re finally happy,” catcher Connor Waters said. “All the playoffs we’re like, we’re not happy, we’re not happy. If we settled for where we were, we weren’t going to win today. So now we’re happy.”

Senior Carter Schmitz took the mound for the championship game and allowed two runs in the first inning, but all that seemed to do was wake the Rockets up and get out any jitters.

They scored four runs in each of the first, second and third innings, then added one in the fourth.

“We’ve been saying it since the beginning of the season, our best ability is the hitting,” senior Jonah Banton said.

“We got down two and we’re like, pffffft! We’re going to put up more than that. All the guys walked into the dugout and said we were going to score more than two anyway. It doesn’t matter at all.”

It was 13-3 in the top of the fifth inning and the Rockets were in position to end the game via the 10-run mercy rule through five innings.

The Dodgers responded with four runs on four hits and a Rockets’ error.

“I wanted the ball. It was pretty good early on,” Schmitz said. “They got to me in the fifth or sixth. That’s going to happen sometimes. They’re obviously a great team. They’re in the state championship.”

Schmitz went five innings, allowing nine runs (seven earned), 11 hits, walking three and striking out two.

“I don’t even think Carter had his best stuff, but that’s just how he is,” coach Tom Race said. “I give him the ball. I know no matter what, he’s just going to keep pitching. He’s such a competitor.”

For the second straight game at state, Race turned to Austin Knapp to close it out. The junior was again up to the task, allowing two hits and a walk while striking out two in two scoreless innings.

“It was a little bit more nerve-wracking with runners on and they were closing the gap. I stayed confident, knew I’d been there before. I stayed calm and did what I could,” Knapp said.

Knapp induced a fly to Griffin Knight in center to end the game. Knight calmly closed his glove and the Rockets closed the championship.

“Right when it was hit, I knew it was over. It was coming right to me. I knew I had it. But yeah, it felt like it was up there a while,” Knight said.

“In my head I was just, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh,” Knapp said. “As soon as it went inside his glove, emotions hit. The best feeling in the world. We finally did it.”

Knapp fired his glove into the air and hugged Seth Race. The two were soon mobbed by their teammates in a pile of jubilation near the first-base line.

“It was ecstatic. I don’t even know what I was feeling. I was getting ready to toss the glove,” junior first baseman Josh Anzia said.

Anzia had an RBI triple and a walk. All nine Rockets in the batting order had at least one hit.

The first of the four-run innings was sparked by Race, the coach’s son.

Waters hit a one-out double down the right field line, and Hilbelink was intentionally walked. With two outs, Waters stole third and Hilbelink swiped second. Anzia drew a walk to load the bases.

Race clobbered the ball over the right-fielder’s head for a bases-clearing triple. He later scored on a passed ball.

“We know that we can score runs. We’re a hitting team. We just knew all we had to do is put bat on ball and good things would happen,” Race said.

It was more of the same in the second inning.

No. 9 hitter Griffin Posthuma hit a one-out single to right center on the first pitch, and Knight reached on a fielder’s choice for the second out.

Waters drew a walk, and this time the Dodgers pitched to Hilbelink, and he made them pay. He blooped a double down the right-field line to score one run.

Knapp, who has been so hot of late that coach Race said it’s OK if opponents don’t pitch to Hilbelink, hit a two-run single to right field. Anzia followed by banging an RBI triple to right field.

“We knew that they would get on us. We just battled back. We hit great those first few innings,” Anzia said.

The Rockets kept it going in the third inning.

Schmitz opened with a single to center, and Banton walked. Posthuma safely bunted to load the bases with no outs.

Knight followed with a fielder’s choice that scored one run, then stole second. Waters shot a grounder to right field for an RBI single, and Hilbelink then made his first out at state with an RBI sacrifice fly to center.

Waters then stole second and took third on a throwing error by the catcher. Knapp reached on a fielding error by the shortstop, scoring Waters.

“Everybody was just so confident. We were playing it one pitch at a time. It was awesome,” Posthuma said.

Nine of the Rockets’ first 12 runs came after two outs.

“That’s how we’ve been all year. We just keep fighting. Our whole mindset at the plate is just battle,” Schmitz said. “When you get a pitch you can drive, you drive it. Seth got his pitch and hit it to the fence. Josh had another one.”

Hilbelink said, “It’s just outstanding. We had that last game too. That’s just who we are. It’s awesome.”

After the Dodgers scored one run in the fourth inning, the Rockets answered.

Schmitz drew a one-out walk on four pitches and stole second. Banton hit him home with a single to left field.

The Dodgers scored four runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth, but the Rockets’ weren’t about to let this one get away.

Seth Race made two key plays at third, snagging a grounder headed for the hole for one out and making a backhanded stab down the line, then tagging the base for another.

“I’ve made that play a million times, so I figured just stick to what I know,” Race said of the second play.

It made up for accidentally getting in the way of a runner and being called for interference that led to a run. Race finished with three putouts and two assists.

“He came right back. It’s not just him, it’s the whole team,” his father said. “They flush it right away and it’s movin’ on. That would be an example of it. He didn’t let that bother him, then he came back and made a really good play.”

The coach said he felt comfortable going to Knapp for the second time in two days to close it out.

“Look at what Knapp did when he came in. He was solid. The moment was definitely not too big for him,” he said.

Knapp pitched a total of 3-2/3 scoreless innings in relief at state, allowing two hits and three walks, striking out one and hitting a batter.

On defense, Cooper Schmidt played right field, and Banton batted in his spot in the order, returning from a hand injury that sidelined him for a month.

“Thirty-one days. Whoa, long time, man,” Banton said after the June 16 semifinal win. “Just more than blessed, more than grateful.”

Race broke the news to Schmidt that Banton would hit for him.

“That’s tough to do because that kid did nothing but bust his butt all year. Then I gotta tell him Jonah’s going to hit,” Race said. “You know what he did? He cheered, he didn’t care.”

Schmidt showed his value on the first batter of the game, making a leaping catch for the first out.

Knight had the last, and the Rockets had their first baseball championship in history. And they’re happy.

“So happy we are satisfied. We are great,” Knapp said.