Sauk Prairie tops Dells in playoff opener

Austin Pagel wasn’t ready to go home. Neither was Jackson Breunig. Sauk Prairie’s duo both threw extremely well and led the Eagles past Wisconsin Dells, 5-2, in a WIAA Division 2 regional quarterfinal on May 23. The eighth-seeded Eagles improved to 9-15 and traveled to top-seeded Reedsburg Tuesday for a regional semifinal. The ninth-seeded Chiefs ended the year 10-6. Pagel allowed two earned runs in 4 2/3 innings and picked up the win. Pagel gave up eight hits, walked four, struck out three and worked out of a bevy of jams. Breunig relieved Pagel and threw the final 2 1/3 to pick up the save. Breunig gave up just one hit, walked two and struck out one. Boden Frosch led the offense going 2-for-4, scored twice and had an RBI. Breunig also had a double and two RBI. Sauk Prairie took control of the game with a three-run first inning. Breunig’s double scored Frosch and Marty Hanna, then Breunig scored on an error as the Eagles took a 3-0 lead. Wisconsin Dells scored a run in the second and closed within 3-1. The Eagles then answered with two runs in the bottom of the fourth as Sauk Prairie stretched its lead to 5-1. Frosch had an RBI single that scored Mason Kaufman and Brason Ballweg had an RBI single that plated Frosch. Dells scored once in the fifth and pulled within 5-2, but the Eagles’ shut the Chiefs down from there.