MONROE - When you play a team like Monona Grove - which year in and year out is a conference title contender - you need to make sure you bring your 'A' game. What the Cheesemakers brought to Tuesday's game was far from a passing grade.
"As a team and as coaches, we could see how we were preparing. During infield-outfield we were tentative and sluggish. That's not something we do in this program," Monroe coach Dustin Huffman said, after his team's 13-0 six inning loss to the Silver Eagles. "We don't teach them to just go through the motions. We teach them to be sharp and get ready to play. It wasn't there and we could see right away that we didn't have the fire."
The Cheesemakers were held to just one hit by senior Bobby Blakley, who struck out three yet fooled the entire lineup.
"We're not coming out ready to play," senior Dylan Schwitz said. "It's a tough loss to take, but we just have to get back on the horse."
The lone hit against Blakley came in the bottom of the fifth, and will forever be debated in Cottage Grove. Austin Burandt stepped to the plate with one out and hit a squib towards the gap between first and second base. Second baseman Caleb Choate got his shoulders in front of the grounder, but the ball caromed off his chest and Burandt reached first base safely, breaking up what had been a perfect game.
Though many thought the ruling should have been an error and not a hit, no Silver Eagle defender tried to cover first base - meaning, even if Choate made the play, he had no one to throw it to.
"I thought maybe it had a chance to go through the hole, but then the second baseman got to it. I looked at first though and there was nobody covering and I knew it was a hit. There was no way they could get me out," Burandt said. "A hit's a hit; you have to take what you can get."
Blakley shut down Monroe the rest of the way, allowing only one other baserunner - Dylan Schwitz walked with two outs in the bottom of the sixth.
"He had pretty good stuff. He was pounding the outside corner a lot," Schwitz said of Blakley pitching.
But Blakley was far from Monroe's only problem. Ace Mitch Marty was shelled by the Silver Eagles for 16 hits and nine earned runs in 3 2/3 innings.
"He didn't throw his best game. He battled through it and tried to get outs, but he left a lot of pitches up and you can't do that against MG. A lot of what they hit was hard," Huffman said.
Not only did Monona Grove hit the ball hard, they ran hard too. Even late in the game the Silver Eagles were stealing bases and bunting men over with two strikes. The epitome of the tough play came in the bottom of the second when Graham Schroeder-Gasser plowed through Burandt, Monroe's catcher, at home plate. Burandt blocked the plate and Schroeder-Gasser lunged forward his forearm and elbow, colliding with Burandt, then threw Burandt on top of the plate in a street-fight-style move. There was no effort made to slide, and Schroeder-Gasser was immediately ejected - then called out because Burandt held onto the ball.
"We coaches told the kids in the huddle after it happened," Huffman said, "that Austin did a great job blocking the plate and tagging the runner out. He sacrificed his body for the team and we thought that would get the guys fired up."
Burandt said he'd taking hits before, but this particular one took top honors.
"I've been collided into two or three times in my whole life, but nothing as bad as that," said Burandt, who had three plays at the plate in two innings. "I didn't have time to react to it. I grabbed the throw, saw him go outside of me, so I blocked the plate and tried as best as I could to get the out. I just held onto it (the ball)."
Monona Grove scored two runs in each of the first two innings, but Monroe's only offensive chance to gain any runs was a bang-bang play at first in which Drew Nafzger was called out in the bottom of the second inning. The Silver Eagles then scored four more runs in the third to make it 8-0, and another run crossed in the fourth to put the Cheesemakers down nine.
"It all comes down to being ready for the game, and we weren't," Burandt said.
Huffman turned to reliever Dylan Cleaveland after Marty, but Cleaveland had to be pulled in the top of the sixth after opening the inning with three straight walks.
"Cleaveland is a nice inning or two type of guy. He was sharp right away and then got a little wild," said Huffman, who put in Jared Weber for the first time this year.
Weber's first pitch was grounded into a double play, but he later allowed three more runs.
Monroe has two days to regroup before traveling to Oregon on Friday.
"As a team and as coaches, we could see how we were preparing. During infield-outfield we were tentative and sluggish. That's not something we do in this program," Monroe coach Dustin Huffman said, after his team's 13-0 six inning loss to the Silver Eagles. "We don't teach them to just go through the motions. We teach them to be sharp and get ready to play. It wasn't there and we could see right away that we didn't have the fire."
The Cheesemakers were held to just one hit by senior Bobby Blakley, who struck out three yet fooled the entire lineup.
"We're not coming out ready to play," senior Dylan Schwitz said. "It's a tough loss to take, but we just have to get back on the horse."
The lone hit against Blakley came in the bottom of the fifth, and will forever be debated in Cottage Grove. Austin Burandt stepped to the plate with one out and hit a squib towards the gap between first and second base. Second baseman Caleb Choate got his shoulders in front of the grounder, but the ball caromed off his chest and Burandt reached first base safely, breaking up what had been a perfect game.
Though many thought the ruling should have been an error and not a hit, no Silver Eagle defender tried to cover first base - meaning, even if Choate made the play, he had no one to throw it to.
"I thought maybe it had a chance to go through the hole, but then the second baseman got to it. I looked at first though and there was nobody covering and I knew it was a hit. There was no way they could get me out," Burandt said. "A hit's a hit; you have to take what you can get."
Blakley shut down Monroe the rest of the way, allowing only one other baserunner - Dylan Schwitz walked with two outs in the bottom of the sixth.
"He had pretty good stuff. He was pounding the outside corner a lot," Schwitz said of Blakley pitching.
But Blakley was far from Monroe's only problem. Ace Mitch Marty was shelled by the Silver Eagles for 16 hits and nine earned runs in 3 2/3 innings.
"He didn't throw his best game. He battled through it and tried to get outs, but he left a lot of pitches up and you can't do that against MG. A lot of what they hit was hard," Huffman said.
Not only did Monona Grove hit the ball hard, they ran hard too. Even late in the game the Silver Eagles were stealing bases and bunting men over with two strikes. The epitome of the tough play came in the bottom of the second when Graham Schroeder-Gasser plowed through Burandt, Monroe's catcher, at home plate. Burandt blocked the plate and Schroeder-Gasser lunged forward his forearm and elbow, colliding with Burandt, then threw Burandt on top of the plate in a street-fight-style move. There was no effort made to slide, and Schroeder-Gasser was immediately ejected - then called out because Burandt held onto the ball.
"We coaches told the kids in the huddle after it happened," Huffman said, "that Austin did a great job blocking the plate and tagging the runner out. He sacrificed his body for the team and we thought that would get the guys fired up."
Burandt said he'd taking hits before, but this particular one took top honors.
"I've been collided into two or three times in my whole life, but nothing as bad as that," said Burandt, who had three plays at the plate in two innings. "I didn't have time to react to it. I grabbed the throw, saw him go outside of me, so I blocked the plate and tried as best as I could to get the out. I just held onto it (the ball)."
Monona Grove scored two runs in each of the first two innings, but Monroe's only offensive chance to gain any runs was a bang-bang play at first in which Drew Nafzger was called out in the bottom of the second inning. The Silver Eagles then scored four more runs in the third to make it 8-0, and another run crossed in the fourth to put the Cheesemakers down nine.
"It all comes down to being ready for the game, and we weren't," Burandt said.
Huffman turned to reliever Dylan Cleaveland after Marty, but Cleaveland had to be pulled in the top of the sixth after opening the inning with three straight walks.
"Cleaveland is a nice inning or two type of guy. He was sharp right away and then got a little wild," said Huffman, who put in Jared Weber for the first time this year.
Weber's first pitch was grounded into a double play, but he later allowed three more runs.
Monroe has two days to regroup before traveling to Oregon on Friday.
