For the first time in school history, the Waunakee Warriors win state in baseball.
On Thursday evening in Grand Chute, Waunakee took down Arrowhead 3-1 to claim the Division 1 WIAA State Championship.
It was a scoreless game until the fifth inning, when Dane Leubke hit a two-out double. Taiten Manriquez doubled him home for the first scoring of the game.
In the sixth inning, the Warriors would tack on two more. Nate Stevens tripled in Riley Ripp to make it 2-0 Waunakee, and the very next batter, Ben Nordloh, would single to bring Stevens home for a 3-0 advantage.
Arrowhead attempted to rally in the seventh against Waunakee starter Derek Lee, who was attempting to go the distance. Arrowhead would get one run back, but a ground-out to Ripp, the Badger North co-Player of the Year, ended the game, with a final score of 3-1.
Derek Lee, Waunakee's starter, is a senior who will play at MATC next season. He is the son of Waunakee coach Spencer Lee.
Riley Ripp, the Warriors' first baseman, had a scary moment before Tuesday's semifinal game when he was hit in the face by a batted ball during warm-ups, but was cleared to play in Thursday's championship.
The Big 1070 will have a one-on-one with Spencer Lee coming Friday to thebig1070.com.