Legion baseball: Schaller's perfect game sends Eau Claire to regional championship round

Jul. 20—After catching a pregame bullpen session from Christian Schaller, Eau Claire Pizza Hut Post 53 catcher Jonah Hanson approached manager Mark Faanes with a simple message on Wednesday.

"He said, 'Coach, if he throws strikes, he's really got it. He's got some nasty stuff going,'" Faanes said.

It was a ringing endorsement, but it turned out to be an understatement. Fifteen Chippewa Falls batters stepped up to the plate against Schaller, and all 15 were sent back to the dugout. The right-hander threw a five-inning perfect game, lifting Eau Claire to a 14-0 postseason victory over Chippewa Falls Post 77 at Carson Park. Seven of the 15 outs came via strikeout.

Even if Hanson was confident in his pitcher before the game, Schaller himself wasn't so sure. He proved that notion wrong quickly.

"I was pretty sore coming into the day and didn't feel great," Schaller said. "But once I got warm and got the first inning out of there, I started to get into a groove. It felt good."

Schaller seemed to get better as Eau Claire's lead kept growing. He had two strikeouts in the third and two more in the fourth.

"I felt better as the game went on," he said. "(My velocity) definitely wasn't there the first couple of innings, but I got more riled up and found some of it toward the end."

One run would have been enough to send Eau Claire to Thursday's championship round of the Class AAA regional. Instead the lineup produced 16 hits, including a couple of homers, to support Schaller on the mound. Dylan O'Connell and Mason Kostka had three hits each, and Gabe Richardson and Luke Erickson both homered.

Eau Claire (18-13) broke the game open with four runs in the third inning and eight more in the fourth. The big frames meant Schaller spent long stretches of time in the dugout, but he managed to stay loose and on task. He needed only 60 pitches to finish the perfect game.

"The guys were definitely hitting the ball well today," Schaller said. "I did some tossing between innings, trying to stay as warm as possible."

The barrage came a day after Eau Claire put up 10 runs against La Crosse in its regional opener.

"We've had that capability all year and haven't really put it together," Faanes said. "We've had a lot better focus at the plate the last two days. I think they know what's at stake here. We're just doing a better job at the plate, better at-bats all the way around. When they get their pitch, they're barreling it up."

Erickson's solo home run opened the scoring in the third, and Richardson blasted a two-run shot a couple of at-bats later. Erickson, Richardson, Hanson and Kostka all drove in two runs each. O'Connell and Kostka both doubled as part of their three-hit days.

Chippewa Falls will face either Superior or La Crosse in an elimination game at 11 a.m. on Thursday. Post 77 defeated Superior 6-5 in its first regional game on Tuesday.

Eau Claire will face a to-be-determined opponent on Thursday at 2 p.m., needing only one more victory to clinch the regional title and advance to the state tournament. Whichever team joins Eau Claire in the championship round would need to beat them twice to win the regional crown.

Eau Claire's pitching is in good shape heading into the final days of the regional, with starters Henry Wilkinson and Schaller both going deep into the first two games.

"We're in good shape. We've got a number of guys ready to go," Faanes said. "We'll see who we play. ... We'll hopefully win one more ball game."

The state tournament is in Sheboygan this summer and is set to begin next Tuesday.

Eau Claire 14, Chippewa Falls 0

EC 004 82 — 14 15 0

CF 000 00 — 0 0 4

WP: Christian Schaller (5 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 7 K, 0 BB). LP: Parker Coach (3.2 IP, 12 H, 12 R, 11 ER, 1 K, 2 BB). Leading hitters: EC: Dylan O'Connell 3-4 (2B, RBI), Mason Kostka 3-4 (2B, 2 RBI), Luke Erickson 2-3 (HR, 2 RBI), Jack Redwine 2-4 (RBI), Gabe Richardson 1-2 (HR, 2 RBI).