HEARTBREAKER: Elk Mound falls 12-11 in sectional finals

AUGUSTA — Paul Andrea envisioned a much different ending to his coaching career.

He had hoped to lead his Elk Mound Mounders back to the state baseball tournament before ending a memorable 26-year run as the school's head coach.

Andrea and the Mounders looked on track to achieve that objective halfway through the Division 3 sectional finals against Barron on Tuesday afternoon at Memorial Park.

Elk Mound bolted to a five-run lead through three innings, but the Bears rallied to gain the lead and then held off the Mounders in a wild 12-11 contest.

Elk Mound, ranked fifth in the state, finished a strong season with a 21-3 overall record.

"We played really good baseball for a lot of innings and our kids came out ready to go today," said Andrea, who informed his team after the game that he is retiring from coaching. "It's tough having to play two games in one day. It's a grind, but we knew we had to win twice today to reach our goals. We played with great effort, but we just came up a little bit short."

Barron, which knocked off two No. 1 seeds Tuesday, advances to next week's state tournament.

It was a grueling day with four teams in Augusta for the D3 sectional semifinals and finals.

After the second-seeded Bears knocked off No. 1 Spooner to reach the sectional finals to start the day Tuesday, the Mounders took the field.

Elk Mound junior Victor Noller excelled on the mound and received plenty of support in an 11-1, six-inning rout of No. 2 Marathon in the other sectional semifinal.

"I had a lot of confidence going into that game. I felt great out there and got into a really good rhythm on the mound," Noller said. "We scored a bunch of runs early and that support helped a lot."

Junior Peyton Vieth ended the semifinal game by ripping a bases-loaded double into right-center field to drive in the game's final three runs.

The Mounders, a No. 1 seed from the bottom of the postseason bracket, continued to roll about an hour later in the first three innings against Barron.

Elk Mound jumped to a 7-2 lead through three innings, but the advantage could have been more. The Mounders left numerous runners on base during the early innings.

Noller connected on a two-run triple with no outs in the first, but was left stranded at third.

"We had some good opportunities to really break the game open more in the first three innings," Noller said. "We should have had a bigger lead than we did. We left too many runners on base. We didn't have enough timely hits."

The Bears eventually came storming back, scoring seven runs in the top of the fourth inning to take their first lead.

Barron's advantage grew to 12-9 before the Mounders mounted one final charge in the bottom of the seventh.

With their season on the line, Elk Mound sophomore Parker Rhude blasted a solo homer to left field to make it 12-10.

The Mounders were then down to their last strike before they stayed aliver when Noller lined an RBI single to right field to make it 12-11.

"We kept battling until the end," Noller said. "We have great competitors on this team and we never quit."

Junior Kaden Moyer was next and made solid contact, but he flew out to right field to end the game.

Barron players tossed their gloves high into the air before jumping up and down in victory.

It was the final game for Elk Mound senior star Kamron Diermeier, an all-state center fielder who also excelled on the mound.

"It's tough. It's really tough having our season end this way," he said. "We wanted to finish our season at state. To come this close and fall short, it's a tough way to finish. It just hurts."

For Andrea, it was the conclusion of more than a quarter century leading the Mounder program.

His Elk Mound teams won 10 regional titles and qualified for state twice in his tenure at Elk Mound.

"Coach has meant everything to our program," Diermeier said. "He trusted me as a freshman to come in and bat leadoff and play center field. We've had a great relationship over the years and I completely trust him. He's a great man."

Noller had a similar view.

"Coach has done so many great things for us and this program," Noller said. "He's had a lot of success and a lot of wins."

Andrea stood on the infield grass a few minutes after the game and pondered what could have been.

"We were so close," he said. "Give credit to Barron. They can really hit the ball. But I'm really proud of our kids for how they battled back and for the great season that they had.

"This one is going to sting for a while. But I can't fault the effort of our kids. We've had a lot of really good players over the years and we had another good run this year. I loved every minute of my time at Elk Mound."