RIVER FALLS — A long season that included a lot of winning, 32 times to be exact, all resulted in the River Falls Fighting Fish reaching their ultimate goal, winning the Wisconsin Baseball Association (WBA) Division A State Championship.

River Falls did so in front of their home crowd the whole way, as both the pool play and final eight bracket portions of the playoffs were in River Falls.

“Amazing, absolutely amazing,” shortstop Trey Larson said. “All the money you spend on gas, and food, and travel, and time, and time away from everybody’s families. There’s a lot of sacrifice that goes into it.”

Larson said since First National Bank of River Falls Field was built, things have only gotten better for the team and baseball in River Falls.

The Fish won the title in 2022, 2020 and 2011, but in front of the home crowd it felt all the more special.

“It was awesome doing it at home. Lots of people here that have supported us in everything we do with the concessions and setting everything up for the whole weekend,” long-time Fish star Brian Giebel said. “All that is pretty special and well-deserved for everyone here.”

The championship game was against the 2023 champion Tilden Tigers. Tilden came into the playoffs as the No. 4 seed of 24 Division A teams and has a long history of successful town baseball. The Fighting Fish showed their true might in the finale, cruising to a 13-2 win. Designated hitter Lucas Luedtke was glad the team got to take on one of the state’s best with everything on the line.

“I’d rather have our team beat a team that’s worthy than a team that we just kind of steamroll over, and they’re a very competitive, very talented team,” Luedtke said.

While the road ended in a title, there was no shortage of notable performances and names.

Quarterfinals

After winning 11-1 and 11-0 in pool play, Cadott was the first team to give the Fish a tough game in the playoffs. Through some solid pitching and timely hitting, River Falls took an 8-2 win Friday over the Cadott Red Sox.

The tournament’s offensive MVP, Luedtke, posted four hits including a home run and a double.

“I was working on my swing all summer, and I was just kind of seeing the ball well and they were throwing me pitches to hit,” Luedtke said. “I want to call out my teammates for flipping the lineup over so that I could keep getting those at-bats.”

Catcher Chase McQuade, who is fresh off a strong high school senior season, had a double and a single that each brought a run in while also gunning down a runner that strayed too far from second base.

“He brings a lot of energy,” outfielder Spencer Diedrich said.

That was far from the most energy he would bring, as while he did not know it yet, he was a day away from becoming a hometown hero.

Diedrich also sent a two-run homer over the wall and had an RBI double, providing a perfect complement to Luedtke, who bats just before Diedrich in the lineup.

“We just kind of vibe off each other,” Diedrich said. “Once one of us gets rolling, we tell each other what we see from the pitcher.”

This middle of the order chemistry carried over to the rest of the lineup, with McQuade being one of the players to take notice.

“It’s huge because they’re kind of the leaders on this team,” McQuade said. “To see them succeed at this level is awesome.”

On the mound, the Fish turned to a player they have counted on all year, Jake Lindsay. Each time Lindsay takes the mound, his teammates have the same things to say about the performance: Lindsay throws strikes, blows the fastball by and controls the game. That is exactly what Lindsay did, pitching seven and a third innings in the team’s win.

The big takeaway from the players was that the pressure of the single elimination bracket was not going to get to them, they were going to play the same stress-free baseball their fans know and love.

“We’re just having a good time out there,” McQuade said. “We just go out there and treat it like any other game. At the end of the day it’s baseball, you’re supposed to have fun.”

Diedrich said as long as they keep the mindset, they have all the other necessary traits of a championship-caliber team.

“When we play the way we play and just trust ourself, I think we’re a good team,” Diedrich said. “It’s when we worry about what the other team does that we get in trouble.”

Semifinals

Next up, it was the Spooner Cardinals on Saturday, and it was a rare low-scoring offensive performance from a Fish team that is often good for a big number. Fortunately for River Falls, they did not need much as starting pitcher Kyle Fritz went the distance in a 3-0 win.

“My team has played really good behind me all year,” Fritz said. “If we’re not going to put up runs early, I gotta put them on my back for the first time all year. They don’t make me do that very often, but it’s fun when they do, and I get to play with a little bit of emotion.”

After coming up empty for five innings, it was McQuade who would step up to the plate with a runner on and two outs in the sixth.

“Lucas came up to me as I was stepping up to the plate and he was like, ‘Hey, just get your pitch,’” McQuade said. “Sure enough, I just got lucky enough to find my pitch.”

McQuade absolutely crushed one over the left field wall, capped off with a loud ovation from the team and fans.

An inning later, the red-hot Diedrich launched another home run for what would be the final run for either side.

“It’s been crazy. It’s like every time he gets up there we’re just like ‘Ope, well, here comes a home run,’” McQuade said.

For Fritz, who was dominant all day, it was nice to have a best friend in Diedrich also have a big day.

“First off, he’s my best friend my entire life, so beyond baseball it means a lot to me,” Fritz said. “He’s come up huge for us ever since he started playing for the Fish… We weren’t losing that game after 3-0.”

The slower offensive game did not worry Fritz, who knew the 11 hits and many loud outs were a good sign that they were just a bit unlucky on the day.

“I don’t think we need to right the ship, we hit a lot of balls hard today,” Fritz said. “We just gotta get on top of it a little bit, less pop flies, and we’ll be hitting the ball around the park like we do. Really confident in our abilities to do that tomorrow.”

Finals

Despite Tilden avoiding the River Falls long ball, the Fish posted 13 runs in a 13-2 championship win Sunday.

The game was back and forth early, sitting at 2-2 after two innings of play, but starting pitcher Charley Griffin went the distance with those two runs being the only two to cross the plate.

Tilden had five errors to help the Fish bring a few across, but it was also a hitting showcase for the team. Nearly everyone in the lineup had their moment, and the emotions started to kick in for the whole team.

“It feels better than I thought it would,” Griffin said. “It’s been a rush, and I gained more confidence as the game went on as we scored more runs.”

Griffin was trusted to start the championship game of the league tournament, and again in the state tournament, and Griffin wanted to reward that trust.

“I’m just really thankful that they let me pitch in this final state game,” Griffin said.

“I told Charley Griffin last night he was going to just shove it and he said he was gonna and he did,” Larson said.

Luedtke said having three starters that the team is confident can go out there and post lengthy shutdown starts proved to be one of the team’s biggest strengths.

“It’s the best. We have three pitchers we can roll out any weekend, and we don’t have to worry about the bullpen cause most of them go the full game like they did this weekend,” Luedtke said.

Class B Finals

The Division B final bracket included eight teams, five of which came from the St. Croix Valley Baseball League. Osceola, New Richmond, Bay City, Elmwood and Ellsworth each made the bracket, with Osceola ultimately bringing it home with an 11-6 win over Elmwood.