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SUPPZ.COM SWNEWS4U ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Prairie du Chien's Maddox Cejka
Cejka strikes out 16 in 10–0 six-inning shutout of Fennimore
Cejka
Prairie du Chien's Maddox Cejka struck out 16 Fennimore batters in a 10–0 American Legion U19 PdC regional victory over the Railers last Saturday night. Cejka and the Grasshoppers (27–5) went on to win the regional title Sunday with an 11–1 win over Fennimore.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Swnews4u.com Athlete of the Week is a web-only feature that will publish each Thursday throughout the calendar year.

By Derick Kelly, Courier Press and Jason Nihles, Fennimore Times

Maddox Cejka, P/3B, Prairie du Chien U19 American Legion baseball
Cejka led the PdC U19 Grasshoppers to three wins and an American Legion regional title last weekend at Prairie du Chien's Dillman Memorial Field. Cejka went 3-for-4 with a double, two runs scored and three RBI in PdC's 11–1 five-inning championship game victory over Fennimore (12–11) last Sunday afternoon.

The night before Cejka dominated the Fennimore Railers from the mound in a 10–0 six-inning shutout. Cejka was absolutely lights out for the Hoppers as he retired 16 of the 18 outs he recorded via strikeout, including each of the first eight Fennimore batters of the game. He allowed just three total base runners (two hits and one walk) during the shutout victory. The sixteen strikeouts are most likely a new PdC Legion record, surpassing a total of 15 strikeouts by Travis Elvert during a 16–5 Hoppers win in six innings over Westby in July 1997. Cejka also went 1–4 with an RBI in Prairie's 5–0 first round win over Belleville last Friday night.

Next up for the Grasshoppers (27–5), is the 2023 Wisconsin American Legion Baseball Class A State Tournament at Dillman Memorial Field on St. Feriole Island in Prairie du Chien as they will play Little Chute at 7 p.m. on Friday, July 28. The other qualifying teams are Fennimore Arcadia, Viroqua, Denmark, Stratford, and Jackson.The tournament begins Friday at 10 a.m., with games at 1, 4, and 7 p.m. with the opening ceremony occurring between the third and fourth games. Admission for the tournament is $5 per day.


HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order)
Lucas Lendosky P/CF, Fennimore U19 American Legion baseball
Fennimore’s Lucas Lendosky delivered a performance for the record book when he pitched a 16-strikeout no-hitter to help the Post 184 Railers U19 American Legion baseball team clinch a berth in this weekend’s Legion Class A State Tournament. The recent WBCA All-Star, All-State selection and future UW–Stout Blue Devil, had all his best stuff last Saturday night when he fanned 16 of 23 batters he faced. The dominance led Fennimore to a 2–0 victory over Gays Mills in the second place game of the American Legion Class A Prairie du Chien Regional at Dillman Memorial Field at St. Feriole Island  Park. Lendosky (2–2) threw 67 of his 96 pitches for strikes and walked just one Gays Mills batter, the first batter he faced in the bottom of the first. The only other runner that reached against Fennimore’s lanky lefty was on a fielding error in the second inning. Lendosky retired the final 16 batters he faced, 12 on strikeouts.


Ty Wagner CF, Prairie du Chien U19 American Legion baseball
Prairie du Chien leadoff hitter Ty Wagner went 2-for-3 with three runs scored and an RBI in the Grasshoppers' 11–1 regional championship victory over Fennimore last Sunday. Wagner also went 3-for-4 with a triple, a home run, two runs scored and three RBI in PdC's 10–0 victory over Fennimore Friday night.