GRAND CHUTE – Marathon seniors Bobby Blume, Brent Krautkramer and Tyler Hamann were not about to let this season end here and not now.

The three led off the top of the seventh inning for the Red Raiders, trailing by two runs to La Crosse Aquinas and helped ignite a three-run rally to erase a two-run deficit with all three scoring the runs to keep Marathon’s season alive and take a 7-6 WIAA Division 3 state semifinal victory over the Blugolds.

“The same thing happened in the Pacelli (sectional semifinal) and somehow, someway, we all come through,” Hamann said. “Bobby, Brent and I all got together like we did in that Pacelli game and said ‘This is not ending.’

“Everyone came through and found a way to get it done and that’s all that matters.”

The win give the Red Raiders (30-1) now have a chance to defend its WIAA Division 3 state title and will do so at noon Thursday against Kenosha St. Joseph.

Aquinas (23-8) took a 4-0 lead after the fourth inning, with three of those runs coming on Bobby Kachel’s towering three-run homer down the left field line that easily cleared the 325-foot mark.

Marathon would not pack it in and start chipping away with two in the two of the fifth and two more in the top of the sixth to tie the game.

“All we wanted to do was battle on the next pitch and if we continued to do that, it might go our way, or we might run out of innings,” Marathon coach Steve Warren said of the team’s approach after falling behind. “What I try to instill in the kids is that it’s not over until the last pitch and until that time, we’re going to battle the other team.”

Then the rollercoaster of emotions took over both teams as Aquinas scratched out two runs in the bottom of the sixth, taking advantage of two Red Raiders errors to take a 6-4 lead.

“Those innings like the one Marion had has usually gone our way, where we’re the ones that are scoring a bunch of runs,” Aquinas coach Scott Bagniefski said. “Those are pressure situations for pitchers and hitters and their guys came through.”

But in the seventh, Marathon’s will proved to be too much as it went in search of win No. 3o in a row.

The go-ahead run scored on Will Reiche’s sacrifice fly to right field that Hamann beat Kachel’s throw to the plate and Nic Barnes’ tag.

“He’s got one heck of an arm and I didn’t think I was going to be able to tag up,” Hamann said. “Coach Warren said to tag up and I somehow got in there.”

It was fitting for Hamann after giving up both of the runs in the top of the sixth inning.

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