The Prairie du Chien Grasshoppers 16U junior legion baseball team concluded its 2026 season this past weekend at the Wisconsin American Legion Baseball Association 16U State Tournament at the Beloit Youth Sports Complex.
The Hoppers first game was last Thursday, July 23 against G-E-T Post 354 16U. The two teams are both members of the Coulee Region American Legion Baseball League but play in separate divisions. G-E-T was in the Hockenbery Division this summer while the Hoppers were in the Trott Division with the two teams not scheduled to face each other this summer…until this week’s state tournament.
Game one belonged to G-E-T from the start as Post 354 scored six runs in the top of the first inning to take an early lead they would maintain the rest of the game. They would add two runs in the top of the second, third and fourth innings and three runs in the top of the fifth inning to take a 15-1 lead into the bottom of the fifth inning and put PdC three outs away from a loss via ten-run rule.
After trading two outs for two runs, Prairie du Chien found itself down to its final strike when Cooper Simmons was hit by the pitch to keep the Hoppers alive trailing 15-3. The Hoppers next hitter Kadyn Erdenberger was also down to his final strike when he too was hit by a pitch, loading the bases for PdC.
The Hoppers offense responded with an RBI single from Brady Ingham, an RBI double from Zach Quick, another RBI single from Channing Erickson and a run scored on a wild pitch by courtesy runner Brice Krachey before the inning ended with eight Prairie du Chiens to make it a six-run game at 15 to 9 heading into the sixth inning.
That was as close as the Hoppers would get. A scoreless sixth inning by both teams was followed by G-E-T scoring eight runs in the top of the seventh as they went on to defeat PdC by the score of 23 to 9. Erickson went 2-for-2 with two walks, one run scored and one RBI to lead the Hoppers at the plate. Quick added a double in the loss.
The loss moved the Junior Hoppers to the elimination side of the bracket, where they would be pitted against division opponent Sparta in an elimination game this past Saturday at 12:30 p.m. The two teams had faced off in Prairie du Chien back on July 9 with Sparta claiming a 16 to 2 win in five innings.
Sparta scored first with one run in the bottom of the second inning and four more runs in the bottom of the third as the score stood at 5-0 heading into the fourth inning. After a scoreless fourth by both teams, PdC got on the scoreboard with one run in the top of the fifth inning to make it a 5-1 game. Sparta would add two insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and they would certainly need those runs as the Hoppers rallied in the top of the seventh inning by scoring six runs (including two with two outs) to send the game to the bottom of the inning tied 7 to 7.
Unfortunately for the Hoppers, a lead-off single by the Sparta pitcher ended up hurting PdC four batters later when a one-out single with the bases loaded gave Sparta the 8-7 win, ending the Hoppers season.
Erdenberger (2-for-4 with a double, one run scored and one RBI) had multiple hits in the loss for Prairie, while Parker Bedward (1-for-4 with one run scored and one RBI) doubled for the Hoppers only other extra base hit of the game.
The Junior Hoppers finish the season with an overall record of 9-13 following a 2-8 start to the season. They also claimed the program’s third ever regional championship (it’s first in eight years) as they advanced to the 16U state tournament for the fourth time in program history (2008, 2009, 2018 and 2026).
