By Craig Marx, Editor

Antigo baseball finished its more-than-impressive regular season with a 6-2 road win over the Mosinee Indians last Tuesday night. The Red Robins finished conference play as the outright champs of the Great Northern Conference and now head into the Division II playoffs next week.

“What a great way to end the regular season with a nice team win,” said Coach Scott Farmer. “Everyone had a major stake in this game as we used a lot of different players all around the diamond to get an opportunity for them and us to see what guys are made of come playoff time. [We] really had an opportunity for a lot of our non starters to see the field tonight and get ready in case they are called on.”

Antigo had already scored six runs by the time Mosinee attempted a comeback in the bottom of the sixth. The Indians scored two runs as they tried to get back into the contest, where they were eventually shutdown in the seventh inning by closer Sebby Noskowiak.

Jesse Jankowski secured the win for the Robins’ pitching staff, lasting four innings in which he struck out five batters and walked just one, giving up three hits and no runs. Collin Meinert was brought in as relief, throwing 35 pitches before Coach Farmer made the switch to Noskowiak.

Offensively, the Robins were once again entirely dominant, posting nine hits. Antigo has perfected the small ball this season as only two hits going for extra bases.

Garret Held finished 2-2 on the day with two RBIs and a double, while Jankowski was 1-2 with a double as well before being substituted. AJ Kirsch was 2-3 with a run scored in the DH role and Matt Arndt finished 2-4 with an RBI in his top of the order slot.

“It was nice to see Garret and AJ come back tonight and have good days at the plate. Jesse had a big at bat for us early on and Matt Arndt had a nice one late in the game. They threw two of their three better pitchers and that is great because that is what we are going to have to see if we want to move on during tournament time,” Farmer said.

Zach Bednar took the loss on the mound for Mosinee, throwing 95 pitches before being relieved by Ben Vandehey.

“There still are some things we need to shore up for the playoffs and we can cover those this week so we can be ready for next week. Time to start season two. We accomplished our goal for season one. I think these guys are ready to build on that,” Farmer said in closing.

Antigo has the No. 1 seed in its Sectional #2 of the WIAA Division II Playoffs and will play host on Tuesday, May 30 to the winner of No. 5 Tomahawk at No. 4 Medford. Check back with the antigotimes.com for updates and schedule information as the postseason begins soon.