Chickasaws blank Lake Mills in playoff opener

The New Hampton baseball team may not have gone into the postseason with a flourish, but the Chickasaws shook off four straight losses to end the regular season with a solid 3-0 win over Lake Mills Tuesday night in a Class 2A district semifinal game.
New Hampton improved to 26-9 as Keegan Kane and Max Babcock combined on a three-hit shutout and the Chickasaws used a couple of timely hits to score their runs.
Connor Hackman figured in both New Hampton rallies.
In the third inning, the senior first baseman led off the inning by getting hit by a pitch and was replaced by pinch-runner Nathan O’Donnell, who took second on an errant Lake Mills pickoff throw. He moved to third on a Will Clark sacrifice bunt and scored on a two-out single by Mason Cleveland.
Hackman drove in New Hampton’s two runs when he hit a double on a pop fly that neither the second baseman or rightfielder could get to and that stayed fair by inches.
Kane worked the first four innings, giving up one hit and working out of a bases loaded jam in the fourth. Babcock took the mound for the final three innings, giving up two hits and working our of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth.
New Hampton will play Osage on Saturday for the district title. The Green Devils trailed Forest City 5-0 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning before they scored seven runs on just one hit and eventually won the game 8-5.