2 out of the 3 Class C State Champions in the past 5 years met in a Class B matchup at Hellie Field – Pierz Legion Park on Sunday as the Pierz Lakers, the 2026 Class C Champs, hosted the Sobieski SKis, who hoisted the trophy in 2021. The Lakers took a 6-4 lead heading to the 9th inning, but it was the Ski that were able to plate 3 runs in the top of the 9th to come away with the 7-6 win on Opening Day.
Getting the Opening Day starts on the mound were Preston Rocheleau for the Lakers and Joey Welinski for the Skis.
After a scoreless 1st inning, the Lakers got on the board in the bottom of the 2nd when Preston Rocheleau led off with a double to right, then advanced to 3rd on a ground out. Brady Petron then drove in Rocheleau with a ground out to make it 1-0 after 2 innings.
Noah Cekalla took over the pitching duties for Pierz in the top of the 3rd and after striking out the first 2 hitters he faced, Beau Thoma, who just finished his season at Bemidji St., lined a Home Run to left to tie things up at 1-1.
The Lakers quickly regained their lead in the bottom of the 3rd when Kamden Happke walked and Kolton Happke reached on an error. A Chase Becker single then loaded the bases. Skis right Joey Welinski then got a strikeout before Noah Cekalla delivered a sacrifice fly to bring in Kamden Happke from 3rd and make it 2-1. Preston Rocheleau then ripped an rbi single to plate Kolten Happke and give Pierz a 3-1 lead. after 3 innings.
After a scoreless 4th inning, the Skis scored in the top of the 5th against new Lakers pitcher Chase Becker. Hudson Filippi led off with a walk, followed by a Riley Czech single to center and Sobieski had runners at the corners with no outs. After Chase Becker got a strikeout of Beau Thoma, Matt Filippi flew out to center for a sacrifice fly to score Hudson Filippi and it was 3-2.
The Lakers answered back with a run in the bottom of the 5th when Kamden Happke singled against new Sobieski pitcher Jake Kapphahn. Then Kolten Happke put down a sacrifice bunt that moved Kamden Happke all the way to 3rd. A Chase Becker ground out to 2nd brought home Kamden Happke to make it 4-2 after 5 innings.
In the bottom of the 6th, Noah Cekalla led off by reaching 2nd on an error. Preston Saehr came in to pinch-run for Cekalla, and Preston Rocheleau drove in his 2nd run of the game with an rbi single to right to score Saehr and make it 5-2 after 6 innings.
In the top of the 7th, the Lakers brought in last season’s State Tournament MVP Ryan Chmielewski to pitch. He got a quick ground out and a strikeout, but then the Skis got a baserunner on a Lakers error, bringing up Matt Filippi, who launched a 2-run Homer to right and suddenly it was a 5-4 game.
In the bottom of the 7th, the Lakers made it 6-4 when Kolten Happke was hit by a pitch. Chase Becker then advaced Happke to 2nd with a ground out. Danny Litke came into the game as a pinch-runner at 2nd for Kamden Happke, and Litke then moved to 3rd on a ground out by Ryan Chmielewski. Noah Cekalla then doubled to right to score Litke and make it 6-4 after 7 innings.
In the top of the 8th, Sobieski put Alex Thoma on base with a 2-out error but Ryan Chmielewski ended the inning with a strikeout.
The Lakers got a 1-out baserunner when Brady Petron was hit by pitch but that was it as pitcher Dusty Parker pinch-hitter Mason Athman to strikeout and then got an inning-ending ground out to 3rd baseman Alex Thoma off the bat of Kamden Happke.
In the top of the 9th, the Lakers brought in David Kroger topitch and the first man he faced was Riley Czech, who reached 1st on a dropped pop up for an error. After a wild pitch moved Czech to 2nd, Beau Thoma took a walk to put the tying run on base. Matt Filippi then sent a single to right to load the bases with no outs. David Kroger got Zach Opatz to pop up to catcher Brady Petron for the 1st out, but then Dusty Parker singled to drive in Riley Czech and make it 6-5 with the bases still loaded. Joey Welinski then tied thigs up with an rbi single to center, as Beau Thoma scored to make it 6-6. Kroger then hit Collin Eckman with a pitch to force in the go-ahead run as Matt Filippi scored to make it 7-6. David Kroger then got a pair of strikeouts to send the game to the bottom of the 9th.
The Skis brought in Beau Thoma to attempt to close things out on the mound, and he got Kolten Happke to ground out to Alex Thoma at 3rd, then Chase Becker went down on strikes for out #2 and Ryan Chmielewski then grounded out to 2nd baseman Jake Kapphahn to end the ballgame with the Skis prevailing 7-6 in comeback fashion. The 5 different Pierz Lakers pitchers combined to strikeout 18 hitters but also walked 3, hit 4 and served up a pair of Home Run balls. 4 Pierz errors didn’t help either.
Sobieski 7 8 2 – 7
Pierz Lakers 6 6 4 – 6
WP: Dusty Parker 2.0 IP 1 run 1 hit 1k 0bb 2hp
SV: Beau Thoma 1.0 IP 0 runs 0 hits 1k 0bb
Joey Welinski 4.0 IP 3 runs 3 hits 3k 2bb
Jake Kapphahn 2.0 IP 2 runs 2 hits 1k 1bb
LP: David Kroger 1.0 IP 3 runs 3 hits 2k 1bb 1hp
Preston Rocheleau 2.0 IP 0 runs 1 hit 2k 1bb
Noah Cekalla 2.0 IP 1 run 2 hits 6k 0bb 1hp
Chase Becker 2.0 IP 1 run 1 hit 4k 0bb 1hp
Ryan Chmielewski 2.0 IP 2 runs 1 hit 4k 0bb 1hp
Sobieski:
Beau Thoma 1-4 Hr, bb, rbi, 3 runs
Matt Filippi 3-3 Hr, sac fly, hp, 3 rbi, 2 runs
Jake Kapphahn 0-2 bb, hp
– Zach Opatz 0-1
Dusty Parker 1-4 hp, rbi
Joey Welinski 2-5 rbi
Collin Eckman 0-4 hp, rbi
Alex Thoma 0-5
Hudson Filippi 0-4 bb, run
Riley Czech 1-4 run
Pierz Lakers:
Chase Becker 1-5 rbi
Ryan Chmielewski 0-4 bb
Noah Cekalla 1-4 2B, 2 rbi
– Preston Saehr 0-0 run
Preston Rocheleau 3-4 2B, 2 rbi, run
Ryan Diers 0-2 bb
– Carter Petron 0-1
Brady Petron 0-3 hp, rbi
David Kroger 0-3
– Mason Athman 0-1
Kamden Happke 1-3 bb, 2 runs
Kolten Happke 0-2 hp, run
– Danny Litke 0-0 run
