The Cougars ran into a buzzsaw in Wednesday's sectional semi-final as their conference rival, the Dieterich Movin' Maroons, walloped four home runs and got a solid pitching performance from senior Alex Wright in the 10-1 victory.

 

After losing the coin toss, the Cougars had first chance to get on the scoreboard and when they loaded the bases on back-to-back singles by Will Crain and Shea Burton followed by a walk to Zac Cain, the stage was set.

 

But Justin Armstrong grounded his 2-0 offering back to the pitcher for a 1-2-3 inning-ending double play and Dieterich was off the hook.

 

After two outs in Dieterich's first at-bat, the always dangerous Tyler Campbell lined a shot over the wall in right to put the Maroons up 1-0.

 

Then in the fourth, they struck again as Mitch Nosbisch and Kurt Berg each drilled two-run homers to extend the lead to 5-0.

 

After scoring four more in the fifth on a combination of walks, two hits, and a pair of Cougar errors, the game was quickly slipping away at 9-0.

 

The Cougars did manage to score a run in the sixth, but the Maroons got it right back in their half of the inning when shortstop Blake Kuhl lofted the fourth and final home run over the boards in left-center for a solo shot.

 

The Cougar offense managed only five hits for the game and starting pitcher Aaron Robb (4-4) suffered the loss as he went the distance.

 

Even though the Cougars had to battle through a season filled with many adverse situations, they still managed to post 19 wins and record their third straight regional championship.

Sigrist.....4 0 0  0 

Crain..... 4 0 2  0 

Burton.....2 0 1  0 

Cain.....2 0 0  0 

Armstrong.....3 0 1  0 

Robb.....3 0 1  0 

Smith.....2 0 0  0 

Grapperhaus.....3 0 0  0 

Monical.....2 1 0  0 

 King.....0 0 0  0 

Total.....25 1 5  0