By Spencer Flaten

APPLETON, WI- The Jefferson Eagles and Viroqua Blackhawks squared off Thursday afternoon with the Division 2 state championship on the line. The Eagles topped Notre Dame 11-0 in the semifinals to reach the title game, while Viroqua beat Ripon 2-1.

The Eagles cruised to a 10-0 victory, giving the school its first ever baseball state championship.

Jefferson gave the nod to senior hurler Kevin Krause on the mound, while Viroqua went with senior southpaw Tyler Bentz.

The Eagles started out the game doing what they do best: hitting. They tallied 2 hits in the first inning to score 3 runs, with the help of two Viroqua errors.

In the 3^rd, Jefferson put up another big inning, pushing 5 runs across the plate. They bashed out 4 hits in the frame and chased Bentz (who only gave up 3 earned runs) from the game after two innings of work. Dustin Stalsberg, one of the heroes in the Blackhawk’s semifinal victory, came in for relief and stopped the bleeding a bit, allowing one run to score via a balk and another through more conventional methods.

A couple more runs scored in the bottom of the 4^th, and senior Jacob Nelson closed the door in the 5^th to give the Eagles the state championship.

Viroqua had runners reach base each inning, but were unable to bring any of them around to score.

Andy Brahier, Roby Schlesner, and Jacob Nelson all went 2-for-3 for Jefferson. Tanner Elbert went 2-for-2 for Viroqua.

The Eagles finished the season 28-3, while Viroqua finished 23-7.