Merrill baseball dominates Lakeland 9-1 in playoff opener

The Merrill Varsity Bluejays opened the playoffs on Thursday, May 29, 2025, defeating Lakeland 9-1 at home to advance to the Regional Semifinal.
“On Thursday, we opened the playoffs with a 9-1 victory over Lakeland,” said Merrill Varsity Boys Baseball Team Head Coach Shawn Schultz. “We will play Medford in the Regional Semifinal in Merrill on Tuesday at 5 p.m.”
The Bluejays dominated from the mound, with EJ Weix and Carter Kaminski combining for a stellar pitching performance.
“EJ Weix and Carter Kaminski were dominant on the mound,” Schultz said. “EJ started and pitched the first four innings giving up just 1 run on 3 hits. Carter finished with 3 shutout innings. Both did a great job of throwing strikes and making things easier for the offense.”
Weix (4.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 SO) earned the win, while Kaminski (3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 2 SO) closed out the game with three scoreless innings.

Merrill jumped out to an early lead and never looked back.
“On offense, we got out to an early lead with 3 runs in the first,” Schultz said. “We did a great job taking advantage of 8 Lakeland errors. Ben Thom had a big 3-hit day driving in 3 runs as well. As a whole, the offense did a great job of getting guys on and bringing them around.”
Thom led the offensive attack, going 3-for-4 with 3 RBIs and a double. Cooper Wendorf contributed with a 1-for-5 performance, scoring 3 runs and driving in 1. Brady Norton (1-for-3, 2 R, 2 BB) and Cam Wallin (1-for-2, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB) also had solid games at the plate.
The Bluejays’ defense was equally impressive, committing zero errors while capitalizing on Lakeland’s eight miscues.
“Defensively, we had a great game,” Schultz said. “Cole Rudie made a couple of excellent plays at 3rd base and the rest of the team was flawless as well. We are really looking forward to the matchup with Medford on Tuesday.”
Box Score
Lakeland 1 @ Merrill 9