MERRILL — Despite mounting a late charge against host Merrill, Beaver Dam Post 146 saw its season end with a 6-5 loss Monday at the Class AA Legion state tournament.
"It was a good year," BD coach Joe Loizzo said. "This was a very tough tournament. There were several evenly matched teams and it was like who was going to blink first.
"We did and it ended up costing us."
Merrill (20-10), jumped out quickly against BD starter Nick Rechek, taking advantage of five walks to hold a 5-0 lead.
Cody Schmitt came on in relief and held Merrill, the defending Class AA state champions, in check the rest of the way. Entering with no outs in the third inning, Schmitt allowed one run over the final four innings.
Meanwhile, BD (30-10) got a big boost in the fourth inning from Cory Martin as he slammed an opposite field, three-run homer to get Post 146 back in the game.
"That home run was huge," Loizzo said.
Martin then added an RBI in the seventh with two outs to cut the deficit to one. Kyle Lee added three hits in the season finale.
Though BD ended its year on a loss, it could not take away from what the team had accomplished.
Combining the high school season, BD finished with an overall record of 46-18, won two conference titles and made two trips to state.
"I am awful proud of our teams," Loizzo said. "This is one of the most decorated baseball classes to come through Beaver Dam in my 31 years here.
"To make the final four is quite a tribute to those guys."
MERRILL 6, BEAVER DAM 5
Beaver Dam 000 301 1 - 5 10 1
Merrill 032 010 x - 6 8 1
WP: Mueller (4 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 0 K)
LP: Rechek (2 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 5 BB, 1 K)
S: Lammert (2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K)
Leading hitters: BD - Lee 3-4, 2B; Schmitt 2-3; Martin 2-3, HR, 4 RBI. M - Lammert 3-4; Yarde 2B; Thiel 2-3.