MILTON - Seven errors usually are a sign of a loss - even if you manage to score 11 runs.
That was the case Wednesday night for Monroe in a 14-11 loss at Milton in a makeup game from May 5.
"There is no sense beating (our players) up, they know why it happened," Monroe assistant coach Scott Marty said. "We just didn't make plays. You would like to think that if you score 11 runs you're going to come away with a win."
The game got ugly in the second inning. Milton's Brady Ernst led off the inning with a double. The Redhawks finished the inning by plating four runs after a costly error in the outfield. Milton had three hits and a hits-batsman in the inning.
After a few stern motivating words from coach Steve Christensen, who later left the game to attend a playoff seeding meeting, Monroe's offense showed some life.
Scott Kline led off the inning with a walk in the nine-hole and moved around to third on a double down the right-field line by sophomore catcher Mitch Marty. Designated hitter Justin Rackow then tripled to deep left center to bring in both runners, then came around to score on a triple by Mike Demianiuk on the next pitch.
"That one inning we had three pitches in a row - boom, boom, boom. That's nice to do," Scott Marty said.
Demianiuk was left stranded on third after a reliever came in to strike out Monroe's four, five, and six hitters with low-velocity pitches.
"When they brought in their first reliever, a lefty, it just was not that good for us. They've got to figure out quickly how to handle a pitcher like that. They should know to shorten up their swing and take it the other way. But they kept swinging to kill the ball," Scott Marty said.
Milton picked up a run in the bottom of the third on a double steal from first and third with two outs, which allowed a run to score.
In the fourth, Monroe's offense got going again. Mike Rear hit a one-out single and Kline and Mitch Marty both walked to load the bases. With two outs, Mike Demianiuk was hit by a pitch to plate a run and Taylor Weckerly followed with a two-RBI double down the left-field line to give the Cheese a 6-5 lead.
That lead was short-lived.
Milton caught a few breaks in the home half of the fourth. Three of the first four batters reached on an error and a run scored with no outs. Then Ernst hit a grand slam to right center to give the Red Hawks a 10-6 lead. Later in the inning, Kline misjudged a ball in right field, and the batter moved to second, got to third on a single and scored on a fielder's choice.
"That gets to become the song and dance. We have one of those innings where we just can't turn off the faucet and they keep sending batters up that we can't send back down," Scott Marty said. "We paid for it."
Monroe went down 1-2-3 in both the fifth and the sixth and trailed 14-6 headed into the seventh.
The bats awoke again. Weckerly led off with a walk and Cory Kundert singled through the right side of the infield. Taylor Riese, who entered the game in the fifth inning when Kundert relieved starting pitcher Kris Rieder, walked to load the bases.
Matt Whipple fell into an 0-2 hole in the count before hitting a two-run single. Mike Rear then hit a bases-clearing double down the left-field line and scored when Kline ripped a shot off the fence in left center.
However, the top of the order went down to end the game.
"All we can do is come back tomorrow, go after it, and shoot for a .500 record in conference on Friday (at Stoughton)," Scott Marty said.
Rieder finished with three strikeouts and four walks in four-plus innings. In 30 batters, he allowed eight hits and 12 runs, through only three were earned. Rear was the only Cheesemaker with two hits. Kline reached all four times he stepped into the batters box. Monroe struck out eight times.
That was the case Wednesday night for Monroe in a 14-11 loss at Milton in a makeup game from May 5.
"There is no sense beating (our players) up, they know why it happened," Monroe assistant coach Scott Marty said. "We just didn't make plays. You would like to think that if you score 11 runs you're going to come away with a win."
The game got ugly in the second inning. Milton's Brady Ernst led off the inning with a double. The Redhawks finished the inning by plating four runs after a costly error in the outfield. Milton had three hits and a hits-batsman in the inning.
After a few stern motivating words from coach Steve Christensen, who later left the game to attend a playoff seeding meeting, Monroe's offense showed some life.
Scott Kline led off the inning with a walk in the nine-hole and moved around to third on a double down the right-field line by sophomore catcher Mitch Marty. Designated hitter Justin Rackow then tripled to deep left center to bring in both runners, then came around to score on a triple by Mike Demianiuk on the next pitch.
"That one inning we had three pitches in a row - boom, boom, boom. That's nice to do," Scott Marty said.
Demianiuk was left stranded on third after a reliever came in to strike out Monroe's four, five, and six hitters with low-velocity pitches.
"When they brought in their first reliever, a lefty, it just was not that good for us. They've got to figure out quickly how to handle a pitcher like that. They should know to shorten up their swing and take it the other way. But they kept swinging to kill the ball," Scott Marty said.
Milton picked up a run in the bottom of the third on a double steal from first and third with two outs, which allowed a run to score.
In the fourth, Monroe's offense got going again. Mike Rear hit a one-out single and Kline and Mitch Marty both walked to load the bases. With two outs, Mike Demianiuk was hit by a pitch to plate a run and Taylor Weckerly followed with a two-RBI double down the left-field line to give the Cheese a 6-5 lead.
That lead was short-lived.
Milton caught a few breaks in the home half of the fourth. Three of the first four batters reached on an error and a run scored with no outs. Then Ernst hit a grand slam to right center to give the Red Hawks a 10-6 lead. Later in the inning, Kline misjudged a ball in right field, and the batter moved to second, got to third on a single and scored on a fielder's choice.
"That gets to become the song and dance. We have one of those innings where we just can't turn off the faucet and they keep sending batters up that we can't send back down," Scott Marty said. "We paid for it."
Monroe went down 1-2-3 in both the fifth and the sixth and trailed 14-6 headed into the seventh.
The bats awoke again. Weckerly led off with a walk and Cory Kundert singled through the right side of the infield. Taylor Riese, who entered the game in the fifth inning when Kundert relieved starting pitcher Kris Rieder, walked to load the bases.
Matt Whipple fell into an 0-2 hole in the count before hitting a two-run single. Mike Rear then hit a bases-clearing double down the left-field line and scored when Kline ripped a shot off the fence in left center.
However, the top of the order went down to end the game.
"All we can do is come back tomorrow, go after it, and shoot for a .500 record in conference on Friday (at Stoughton)," Scott Marty said.
Rieder finished with three strikeouts and four walks in four-plus innings. In 30 batters, he allowed eight hits and 12 runs, through only three were earned. Rear was the only Cheesemaker with two hits. Kline reached all four times he stepped into the batters box. Monroe struck out eight times.
