Muskego wins first WIAA spring high school baseball state title on walk-off error
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GRAND CHUTE − The Muskego baseball team came back from a 4-2 deficit as late as the fifth inning to win the program's first WIAA spring state title over Badger, 5-4, on June 19 at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium.
A late pitching injury for Badger forced a freshman into action with a one-run lead in the bottom of the seventh, setting the stage for a Muskego comeback culminating in a walk-off error.
Muskego head coach Jacob Paige said the comeback was emblematic of a team that had overcome slow starts all season.
“Made some adjustments throughout (the season), and credit to the guys that they just keep playing,” Paige said. “The ball wasn’t necessarily falling our way (tonight). We didn’t help ourselves on a couple situations, but just the belief that we were going to get that opportunity again. When it did come, the guys came through.”
Two unearned runs in the top of the third inning looked like they would be the difference for Badger, also making its first appearance at the WIAA spring baseball tournament. Badger had taken a 2-0 lead in the top of the first on a wild pitch that scored one run from third and an RBI groundout by Matthew O'Grady.
Muskego answered on a Callen Tomsyck RBI single in the bottom half of the inning, then tied the game in the bottom of the second on a Kyle Rogosienski RBI single to center.
The Badgers took back the lead after a leadoff single by Ryan Albanese came around on a one-out error off the bat of Trent Ertmann. The catcher Ertmann later advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on another O'Grady RBI groundout to extend the lead to 4-2.
That score held until the sixth, when Muskego mounted a rally that threatened a fledgling Badger bullpen. With Bradley McCarthy on in relief, Aidyn Mueller reached with two outs on a muffled underhanded throw by McCarthy to first. Nine-hole hitter Dean Staudacher kept the line moving with a base hit, and Rogosienski came through with his second RBI base hit of the game to pull Muskego within one while moving the tying run to third. Staudacher thought he had an opening on a passed ball that trickled away from Ertmann on the ensuing at-bat, but Ertmann got the flip off to McCarthy covering home for a tag.
The potential game-saving play was not without consequence for Badger, as McCarthy was down for several minutes with a lower leg injury that would cause him to be removed from the game. After a scoreless top of the seventh from Muskego's Jake Kardelis, his fourth of the game with five strikeouts mixed in, Badger sent freshman Connor Kavanaugh on for the save.
Kavanaugh walked Maddux Lessard, who was pinch-ran for by Aiden Perlberg. A wild pitch allowed Perlberg to get into scoring position at second, and he stole third as Ben Kuglitsch reached first on a base on balls. Kavanaugh got the next hitter via strikeout, before Kuglitsch put the winning run in scoring position by advancing on a passed ball. Tomsyck was walked to load the bases and set up the force at home, but things unraveled from there for the Badgers. Kavanaugh hit Danny Hauboldt to force in the tying run, which also put the winning run on third. The Badgers brought in an outfielder to set up a five-man infield, but it was not enough for a team with four errors defensively already in the game.
“Once Carter (Nicolato) goes to the plate, he’s definitely a contact guy. He doesn’t strike out a whole lot. So we like the idea that he’d at least put it in play,” Paige said. “And we had definite speed on third base, so just put the ball in play and see what happens.”
“Obviously I’m hella nervous because it’s the state championship. I knew just get the ball in play, they have to play the ball," Nicolato said. "They’d been making errors all game, I knew something was going to happen if I just put the ball in play, and it did.”
Nicolato sent a bouncing ball toward a charging Brendan Kellar, who was unable to field it in his haste to get the force at home.
Carter Nicolato WALKS IT OFF, @BaseballMuskego are STATE CHAMPIONS in D1. 5-4 after the tying run scored on a bases loaded hit by pitch to set this play up. pic.twitter.com/8leTNw4Dmp— Zac Bellman Ⓜ️ (@ZacBellman_WNY) June 20, 2025
The walk-off made a winner out of reliever Kardelis, who Nicolato said has "been a dog for us all year."
“The fact that our depth showed here as a pitching staff doesn’t surprise me, and a guy like Jake, who’s been in a relief role for most of the season outside of a start or two, for him to be able to come in and do that just speaks to not only the team concept, but the depth of our pitching staff," Paige added.
Muskego had won a 2018 summer title in the final season of WIAA summer ball before the move exclusively to spring, but had never won a spring title prior to this season. Paige said this year was one the program had been building toward with steady investment by players and the community at large.
“I just feel like we just continue to grow as a program, and that speaks again to the community in Muskego, the players and definitely our school," Paige said. "The resources have given us what we need to be successful as a program, so my thanks definitely goes out to the Muskego baseball community.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin high school baseball: Muskego wins WIAA Division 1 title
