Following the postponement of the opening day of the 2026 Wisconsin American Legion Baseball Association Class A State Tournament from last Friday, July 31 to Saturday, August 1, the Prairie du Chien Grasshoppers entered their opening round game against the Westby/Coon Valley Bandits this past Saturday night looking to start the tournament on the right foot.
The Hoppers got runners to first and third base with two outs in the bottom of the first inning but could not get them any further as the Bandits got out of the inning unscathed. Prairie du Chien got a double play in the top of the second inning to work out of a jam and send the game to the bottom half of the inning. PdC would get a runner on base with a two-out walk before it was determined that the Hoppers had batted out of order, ending the Hoppers half of the second inning. Prairie du Chien got a one-out walk in the bottom of the third inning but were once again unable to capitalize on the opportunity as the game quickly moved into the top of the fourth inning.
Westby/Coon Valley’s offense worked a walk with one out off of PdC starting pitcher Bryce Lenzendorf before getting a base hit from the next batter to put runners at first and second base. A ground out to second base moved those runners into scoring position. The next Bandit batter fell behind on the count, picking up two quick strikes before fighting back to earn a walk and load the bases, which the Bandits took advantage of three pitches later with a two-run, two-out RBI single to right field to give Westby/Coon Valley a 2-0 lead going into the bottom of the fourth inning.
Following a 1-2-3 inning by the Hoppers, Westby/Coon Valley’s offense added two more runs in the top of the fifth inning thanks to an error, a double, a ground out and a passed ball to make the score 4-0. Prairie du Chien’s half of the fifth inning saw the Hoppers’ Jack Simmons draw a walk with one out. Simmons would advance to second base on an infield ground ball by Carter Copsey that was misplayed by the Bandits second baseman. Next up for PdC was first baseman Cael Koenig, who smacked the first pitch he saw to left field for a base hit. However Simmons would be thrown out at the plate for the second out of the inning. That out would come back to haunt the Hoppers immediately as on the very next pitch second baseman Blake Reynolds would belt a three-run home run to left field to make it a one-run game in favor of Westby. The score would remain the same for the rest of the game as Westby/Coon Valley held on to defeat Prairie du Chien 4-3 and send the Hoppers to the elimination bracket.
Lenzendorf took the loss on the mound for Prairie du Chien, allowing four runs (two earned) on five hits and four walks with eight strikeouts in 6.1 innings pitched. Copsey finished the seventh inning on the mound for the Hoppers, allowing zero runs on zero hits and zero walks with zero strikeouts in 0.2 innings pitched.
Prairie du Chien was held to three hits as a team with Reynolds having two of them (2-for-3 with a home run, one run scored and three RBIs). Koenig (1-for-2 with two walks and one run scored) had the other hit for the Hoppers while Copsey had the Hoppers third run of the game.
The opening round loss dropped the Hoppers into an elimination game on Sunday afternoon against Campbellsport. The Cougars (who won the Class AA State Championship in 2025) were making their Class A State Tournament debut after being dropped down a class this year. They had been defeated by Little Chute 7-0 in their opening round game the previous afternoon.
The game was scoreless going into the bottom of the second inning when the Cougars got a leadoff walk and back-to-back singles to load the bases with one out. The Hoppers’ Reynolds then struck out the next Cougar batter for the second out of the inning. Just as it looked like PdC would get out of the inning unharmed, Campbellsports’ Trent Schladweiler delivered a two-out single to left field to score two runs, giving the Cougars an early 2-0 lead. Reynolds would escape further damage by striking out the next batter for the third out of the inning.
Prairie du Chien would get those two runs back right away. Carter Tonne led off the top of the third inning with a single to center field. Koenig doubled to left field two batters later to get the Hoppers into scoring position for Reynolds. Following a passed ball that allowed Tonne to score, Reynolds continued his hot tournament at the plate with an RBI single to center field to score Koenig and tie the game 2-2. The Cougars would get a double play to end the inning.
Following a 1-2-3 bottom of the third inning and quick first two outs of the top of the fourth inning, the Hoppers’ Alan Hernandez reached base via error before a walk by Simmons moved Hernandez into scoring position. Tonne then gave the Hoppers their first lead of the tournament when he singled to left field to score Hernandez before Simmons was thrown out at third base to end the top of the fourth inning with PdC now leading 3 to 2.
Scoring was once again at a premium as the score remained 3-2 until the bottom of the sixth inning. Campbellsport’s Braden Bothe drew a walk with one-out before being courtesy run for by Nathan Reigle, which would be an important move by the Cougars as Reigle would come around to score from first base on a two-out double by Levi Bentz to tie the game 3-3. The Hoppers would get a fly out to left fielder Westin Marx by the next batter to get out of the inning.
Prairie du Chien’s offense would be retired in order in the top of the seventh inning as the game went to the bottom of the seventh still tied at 3-3. The Cougars offense got an infield single to third to start off the inning before a sacrifice bunt by Schladweiler moved the runner to second base with one out. PdC then intentionally walked Cullen Reis to create a force out at first, second and third base before an infield error loaded the bases for Campbellsport with only one out. Gage Kohlmann, the next batter for the Cougars, singled to left field to drive in the winning run as the Hoppers were defeated by a score 4 to 3 for a second straight game to end their season. PdC finished the year with an 11-11 record.
Reynolds started on the mound for Prairie du Chien, allowing three runs (all earned) on five hits and three walks with five strikeouts in 6.0 innings pitched before being relieved by Copsey (one run allowed (unearned) on two hits and one walk with zero strikeouts in 0.1 inning pitched), who suffered the pitching loss.
The Hoppers were held to six hits in the loss, with Reynolds having his second multi-hit game of the tournament after going 2-for-2 with a double, one walk and one RBI. Tonne also had a multi-hit game for Prairie du Chien, going 2-for-3 with one run and one RBI in the game. Koenig (1-for-3 with a double and one run scored) and Copsey (1-for-4) had the Hoppers’ other two hits.
With the win Campbellsport (16-7) advanced to face Gays Mills in an elimination game this past Monday morning.
