Prep baseball: Regis clinches Western Cloverbelt title for first time since 2018
May 18—The Regis baseball team clinched its first Western Cloverbelt title since 2018 with a 9-7 win over Thorp Tuesday night at Mount Simon Park. The Ramblers needed to rally to do it.
Thorp got on the board with three runs in the opening half inning, then tacked on another trio of runs courtesy of Aiden Rosemeyer's three-run homer with two outs in the second. The Ramblers trailed 6-1 going into the third, but rallied by outscoring the Cardinals 8-1 the rest of the way to earn the conference championship.
"We have such a good team this year with the athletes," Regis coach Andy Niese said. "We have good baseball players, and tough competitors, blend that together, and we've got a pretty darn good team. I don't think the kids at times recognize that, and appreciate it, because it's not that often that you get a mix of kids like this who can play baseball so well in high school."
Regis scored three times in the fourth and four times in the fifth to complete their rally. Patrick Callaghan broke a 7-7 tie with an RBI single in the fifth to put the Ramblers ahead for good. It gave them the ninth conference title in program history.
Matt Vesperman had three hits for Regis, and Zander Rockow and Mason Kostka added two each. Caden Weber earned the win in relief, and Rockow notched the save.
Regis currently tops the Division 4 rankings in the Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association poll. The squad has four regular season games left to play before tournament games start. They travel to Elk Mound, Prescott, and Cadott before hosting Immanuel Lutheran. The Ramblers are just one year removed their last state tournament appearance where they were eliminated in a semifinal contest against Coleman. A significant portion of that team returned this year.
Niese recognized his team's chemistry as a contributing factor to the Ramblers' success.
"They enjoy being around one another," he said. "And there's good dugout banter and they enjoy one another's company, and that's certainly part of our framework for success this year."
Monday's victory kept Regis undefeated in the conference at 11-0 and 14-1 overall. The Ramblers have one Western Cloverbelt game left, ensuring they will finish ahead of Bloomer (10-2) atop the league.
The Ramblers drew the No. 1 seed for regional play, and will play the winner of the Flambeau/McDonell game on May 31.
Regis 9, Thorp 7
Thorp 330 100 0 — 7 9 4
Regis 101 340 X — 9 11 1
WP: Caden Weber (3 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 K, 2 BB). LP: Aiden Rosemeyer (5 IP, 11 H, 9 R, 8 ER, 3 K, 5 BB). Leading hitters: Thorp: Aiden Rosemeyer 2-2 (2 R, HR, 3 RBI, SB), Logan Hanson 2-3 (R, SB), Stephen Frankewicz 1-3 (2 R), Gavin Boie 1-3. Regis: Alex Leis 1-2 (R, 2 SB, 2 BB, RBI), Zander Rockow 2-4 (R, SB), Caden Weber 1-2 (R, BB, RBI), Mason Kostka 2-3 (2 R), Matt Vesperman 3-3 (2 R, RBI), Patrick Callaghan 1-1 (R, 2 BB).
