​The 2026 season came to a bitter end for the Eau Claire Cavaliers on Sunday in Haugen.After besting the Washburn Sharptails 5-4 a day prior to begin regional play, the Cavs lost 9-7 to the Brill Millers on Sunday at Haugen Ball Park, ending their season in the Wisconsin Baseball Association regional final.“We were making some really good plays, and they were hitting the ball hard at guys,” Cavs coach Ryan Bembnister said. “They were able to string together hits against (starting pitcher) Aiden (Ecker) and (reliever James) Schutte).“But the guys never backed down. They didn’t quit.”With a chance to play in the WBA state tournament, the Cavs (14-10) started with a bang Sunday, as Trent Cornell blasted a two-run second-inning home run to give Eau Claire the early advantage.The Cavs built a 4-3 lead, but struggled to add onto their advantage, including not scoring in a bases-loaded, nobody-out seventh inning.Brill took the lead for good after scoring six runs off Cavs reliever James Schutte in the bottom half of the seventh, and held off the Cavs comeback attempt in the eighth and ninth.“The guys don’t have any quit in them,” Bembnister said. “I think this year’s team, in the fifth year I’ve been with the Cavs, seemed to just come together a little bit more than our teams in the past.”On Saturday, Bembnister relied on star ace pitcher Andrew Milner to open regionals.The former Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota pitcher dazzled across eight innings and allowed just two runs.Come the ninth, however, Washburn rallied from a run down and took a 4-3 lead off Milner, who ended his time on the mound one out from a complete game win.“I think we might have left Milner in there just a little bit too long trying to get that 27th out,” Bembnister said. “He had stuff left in the tank, but (with) a good team like Washburn, it gets harder to get those outs.”After Ecker relieved Milner, the Cavs put on a rally of their own for a walk-off win.Aiden Pankratz led off the ninth with a single, followed by a Cornell hit-by-pitch. Cole Tyman later bunted home the tying run thanks to a Sharptail error.A few batters later, Xavier Bembnister looped a fly ball into center field for a walk-off sacrifice fly.“The guys pulled together after losing the lead,” Bembnister said. “We strung together a couple of good hits and luckily came out on top.”The win showed how in unison the Cavaliers were as a team.“We had good ball players, good teams in the past, and they were all fun teams,” Bembnister said. “But, this one, the guys seemed to mesh together more and always have each other’s backs.”Despite the sour ending, Bembnister looked back fondly on the Cavs’ season.On the field, the Cavs clinched the Chippewa River Baseball League South Division title, reached the CRBL title game and earned numerous league honors such as Knickerbocker winning CRBL MVP and being one of three Cavs (Erickson, Milner) to earn first-team all-CRBL.But