No. 10 Golden Raiders haven’t been this far since 2003

Peyton Voight and the North baseball team needs two more wins to reach state for just the third time. – Photo by Katie Goebel

For the first time since 2003, the Sheboygan North baseball team has reached the sectional semifinals.

Tenth-seeded North upset second-seeded Slinger, 5-4, in a Division 1 regional final Thursday and faces No. 3 West Bend East at 1 p.m. Tuesday at Schneider Field in Oshkosh.

If the Golden Raiders win, they will play No. 4 West Bend West or No. 8 Fond du Lac at 3:30 p.m. in the sectional final for the chance to go to the state tournament.

The only time North reached state was in 2001 and 1955.

The Golden Raiders are the lowest seed remaining in Division 1 and their record is 10-14.

“With this team, our record could easily be flipped,” second-year coach Steve Goes said. “We lost nine games by one or two runs. It’s been one or two huge mistakes every game that has hurt us. In the last week or so, we haven’t had the catastrophic mistake. We’re getting smarter as a team, we’re not making mental mistakes anymore. We’re coming together.”

North took a 3-0 lead over Slinger after a solo home run by Ryan Traas in the top of the second inning.

The Owls took a 4-3 lead in the fifth but the Golden Raiders responded in the sixth. Bennet Becker scored on a single by Owen Dominguez and James Scherer gave his team a 5-4 lead when he scored on a line drive up the middle by Nathan Hendrikse. It was the 13th pitch he saw in his at-bat.