Aquinas headed to the state championship

Blugolds have no trouble in D3 semifinals

GRAND CHUTE, Wis. — John Savoldelli pitched a shutout and Nick Schlicht hit a home run in leading the Aquinas High School baseball team to a state championship berth.

Savoldelli struck out five, while givng up six hits and a walk in the 7-0 Division 3 semifinal win over Cumberland on Wednesday from Fox Cities Stadium.

Schlicht went 3-for-3 with a solo homer and scored two runs, while Jess Ondell was 3-for-4 with two RBI in leading the Blugolds (20-10), who will play at noon Thursday against Laconia (13-11).

You can listen to that game on WKTY 96.7 FM/580 AM or by clicking here, including West Salem at 6 p.m. tonight.

This is Aquinas’ sixth appearance in the state tournament since 2007. The Blugolds won it all in 2007 and have played in three other championship games – losing twice to Marathon and once to Lake Country Lutheran – before Thursday’s matchup.

In Wednesday’s semis, Aquinas did most of its damage with a four-run second inning, taking advantage of three walks and a hit batter.

Sean Dee began the inning with a walk and advanced to third on a CJ Nolte double to center field.

Schlicht followed that up with an RBI single, before the Cumberland pitcher Reid Olson walked a pair, including once with the bases loaded, and then hit a batter – again with the bases loaded.

That made the score 3-0, before Jess Ondell’s RBI single through the right side gave the Blugolds all the runs they would need.

Schlicht followed up his hit in the second inning with a solo home run over the fence in left field in the third.

In the fourth, Aquinas got two more runs – one on a throwing error and the other on a Jacob Savoldel double with two outs.