Two batters into the top of the first inning of the 2015 Wisconsin state championship game against Antigo Little League, Burlington Little League had snuffed out a potential early threat by turning a 4-6-3 double play.

Four batters into the bottom of the first, Burlington was well on its way to victory.

Burlington opened its first offensive inning with singles by Markus Thomsen and Chase Ketterhagen, then home runs from the bats of Kale Dietz and Ethan Safer. Eight pitches into the game, Burlington had a commanding 4-0 advantage, and had Antigo's coaching staff rallying the bullpen.

The strong start propelled Burlington to a 13-1, four inning victory over Antigo, as the league claimed their third consecutive state championship in the major baseball division, and their fifth in a six-year span. Burlington went on to become just the second Wisconsin league in the 68-year history of Little League Baseball's international tournament to reach a region championship game, and finished as the Great Lakes Region runner-up.

"I have been lucky to have been a coach and manager for the 2011, 2013, and now 2015 state championship teams with each of my three sons playing on the team," said Burlington manager Scott Safer after the game. "The excitement it brings doesn't grow old."

Before making the familiar trek to Indianapolis for the Great Lakes Region tournament, Burlington needed to secure the state championship. The District 6 winners won four of their five round robin games in the six-team tournament, and advanced to the semifinal round as the second seed. Burlington then fended off a strong challenge from Appleton National Little League in a 10-8 semifinal round victory, and dispatched Antigo in the championship round.

Burlington scored eight runs during that first inning burst against Antigo. After Ethan Safer's home run gave his team a 4-0 lead, Joe Zugler reached on a catcher's interference call, then scored when Dylan Minnich doubled to left field. Mason McIntyre followed with an infield single that scored Minnich, and two more errors plated a pair of additional runs.

Ethan Safer retired the side in order in the bottom of the first inning, then Burlington went back to work in the second. Zach Wallace's double to center field scored Ethan Safer, and Zugler followed with a run-scoring single.

Ethan Safer and Wallace both had run-producing hits as part of a three-run third inning rally. Antigo broke through in the fourth, when Mason Burkhart singled with one out and later scored on Dakota Matuszewski's single.

Ethan Safer had three of Burlington's thirteen hits, and also threw a 60-pitch complete game. Wallace and Dietz each added a pair of hits.

Burlington led for much of its semifinal round win over Appleton National, but the Nationals narrowed the deficit on three separate occasions as the District 2 winners kept the game close until the end. Appleton led 2-0 in the second inning when a trio of Burlington home runs fueled a six-run rally. Wallace opened the scoring with a solo shot to center field to lead off the inning, then Cody Carlson added a two-run shot to left field, and, after the second out was recorded, Dietz slammed a three-run shot to left.

Appleton got home runs from Parker Kroll and John Carew in the fourth, and narrowed Burlington's lead to a single run, but Ketterhagen and Ethan Safer responded with solo shots in the bottom of the inning to make the score 8-5.

Appleton again pulled to within a run in the fifth, but Dietz delivered a two-run single to restore Burlington's three run advantage. The Nationals brought the tying run to the plate in the top of the sixth inning, but Burlington threw out a runner at third base to end the game.

Ketterhagen and Carlson had three hits in the win for Burlington, while Dietz was 2-for-4 with five runs batted in.

The win lifted Burlington into its matchup with Antigo, which surprised top-seeded Whitefish Bay Little League in the other semifinal round matchup. Whitefish Bay had won the Wisconsin championship in the 10-11 year old age division in 2014, and blitzed through round robin competition with five consecutive victories, including a 17-6 win over Antigo on the tournament's fourth day. But Antigo struck for six runs in the top of the second inning to take command of the game, and added five more in the top of the fourth en route to a 15-6 win.

Antigo reached the state championship game for the second time in the league's history, and the first time since 1992. They were the first District 5 league to reach the Wisconsin title game since Wausau Northern Little League in 2007.

Eli Fleischman's solo home run in the first opened the scoring, and Antigo then used a station-to-station attack in their big second inning rally. An error and two singles loaded the bases, before consecutive walks to Kaden Steckbauer and Matuszewski forced in a pair of runs. Neil Bretl later added a two-run single, and Tyler Schroepfer capped the inning when his two-out single plated a pair of runs.

In the third, Bretl, Fleischman, Schroepfer, and Burkhart opened the inning with consecutive singles, and two batters later, Caleb Kautza slammed a three-run home run to give Antigo a 13-1 lead.

Jack Stecker added a two-run homer for Whitefish Bay in the fourth inning, before Antigo added single runs in the fifth and sixth to seal the victory.

Fleischman and leadoff hitter Elliot Orgeman each had three hits for Antigo, while Bretl, Schroepfer and Cole Musloff added two each. Schroepfer and Musloff both drove in three runs.

Brady Marget and Matthew Ebersole had three hits apiece for Whitefish Bay.

Burlington's only defeat against Wisconsin competition was a 9-8 loss to Whitefish Bay on the tournament's first day. The eventual champions broke to an early 8-3 lead, but Whitefish Bay climbed back into the game, and won it when a trio of singles pushed across the winning run in the bottom of the sixth.

His team responded to the defeat with six consecutive wins, and Scott Safer saw a silver lining in the loss.

"The players learned through the experience how to battle and not get down on themselves," said the Burlington manager.

Burlington hit a collective .503 against Wisconsin competition, and nine different players contributed to the team's total of 39 home runs.

Following the state tournament win, Burlington equaled Wisconsin's best-ever finish at a region tournament. Burlington opened the Great Lake Region tournament with a pair of mercy rule-shortened victories, as Thomsen threw a four inning perfect game in a 10-0 victory over Olney (Illinois) Little League, and Ethan Safer followed with a shutout in a 10-0, four inning win over Bowling Green Eastern Little League (Kentucky) in the winner's bracket final. Bowling Green earned a rematch in the championship game, and rode an eight-run second inning rally to a 13-0 victory over Burlington to advance to the Little League World Series.