MONROE - Gripping a baseball or hitting a baseball in the rain proved to be a challenge the Monroe High School baseball team couldn't overcome Friday.
The Cheesemakers suffered a 19-1 five-inning loss to Fort Atkinson at the high school.
With first place on the line in the Badger South Conference, the Cheesemakers had an uncharacteristic stumble. Monroe drops to 10-9, 5-4 Badger South, one game behind Madison Edgewood (6-3) and Fort Atkinson (6-3) in the race for a Badger South Conference championship. The Blackhawks have swept the season series from the Cheesemakers.
Monroe junior starting pitcher Hogan Edwards lasted just 32⁄3 innings. He gave up nine runs - two earned runs on four hits. Edwards struggled with his control and walked nine.
The Blackhawks scored two runs on wild pitches, two on walks, one run on a passed ball and one on a balk.
"You make the decision to play, and it doesn't matter what the weather is like," Monroe coach Dustin Huffman said. "You have to go out and compete. We let the weather affect us. We played kind of like the weather - not very good. All of the credit goes to Fort Atkinson. Matt Romens threw strikes and didn't let the weather affect him."
The Blackhawks had a four-run second inning off Edwards to jump out to an early lead. Fort Atkinson's Josh Bilau doubled down the right field line. Logan Koch singled to right. Bilau scored when a pickoff throw got away at first base. Ty Scheiber then blooped an RBI single to right to give the Blackhawks a 2-0 lead. The Blackhawks scored on a passed ball, and Jake Willey, who went 2-for-3 with two walks and three RBI, knocked in a run on a groundout to give the Blackhawks a 4-0 lead.
Romens tossed a complete game and gave up just one earned run on two hits.
Monroe junior Carter Sawdey lined a single to right in the third. Senior Garrett Gogin lined an RBI single to left to score Sawdey to cut the Blackhawks' lead to 4-1.
"It sucks with the weather on a day like this," Gogin said. "It didn't matter. We didn't show up ready. We have to work harder and get better. All we can worry about is ourselves. We can't worry about someone else. We have to worry about how we play from here on out and see how everything pans out."
The Blackhawks scored five runs after two outs in the fourth. Edwards walked four straight batters and Nick Maple in relief walked in a run.
Pitches on the edges of the strike zone by Edwards often were called balls.
"Not getting the ball over early on maybe that is why he didn't get the benefit of the doubt," Huffman said. "There were some pitches that were close. That's baseball."
The Blackhawks put the game away by batting around the order in a 10-run fifth. Fort Atkinson's Grayson Coleman went 2-for-3 with three RBI and Romens was 2-for-4 with two RBI. Three of the Blackhawks' four extra-base hits came in the fifth.
Huffman isn't worried about Monroe playing its way back into the conference title picture.
"It will be a lot tougher now," Huffman said of winning at least a share of the conference with three Badger South games to go. "We need to play better and get some help. We have to worry about getting better. When we get to our regional we want to make sure we are playing our best and peaking."
The Cheesemakers suffered a 19-1 five-inning loss to Fort Atkinson at the high school.
With first place on the line in the Badger South Conference, the Cheesemakers had an uncharacteristic stumble. Monroe drops to 10-9, 5-4 Badger South, one game behind Madison Edgewood (6-3) and Fort Atkinson (6-3) in the race for a Badger South Conference championship. The Blackhawks have swept the season series from the Cheesemakers.
Monroe junior starting pitcher Hogan Edwards lasted just 32⁄3 innings. He gave up nine runs - two earned runs on four hits. Edwards struggled with his control and walked nine.
The Blackhawks scored two runs on wild pitches, two on walks, one run on a passed ball and one on a balk.
"You make the decision to play, and it doesn't matter what the weather is like," Monroe coach Dustin Huffman said. "You have to go out and compete. We let the weather affect us. We played kind of like the weather - not very good. All of the credit goes to Fort Atkinson. Matt Romens threw strikes and didn't let the weather affect him."
The Blackhawks had a four-run second inning off Edwards to jump out to an early lead. Fort Atkinson's Josh Bilau doubled down the right field line. Logan Koch singled to right. Bilau scored when a pickoff throw got away at first base. Ty Scheiber then blooped an RBI single to right to give the Blackhawks a 2-0 lead. The Blackhawks scored on a passed ball, and Jake Willey, who went 2-for-3 with two walks and three RBI, knocked in a run on a groundout to give the Blackhawks a 4-0 lead.
Romens tossed a complete game and gave up just one earned run on two hits.
Monroe junior Carter Sawdey lined a single to right in the third. Senior Garrett Gogin lined an RBI single to left to score Sawdey to cut the Blackhawks' lead to 4-1.
"It sucks with the weather on a day like this," Gogin said. "It didn't matter. We didn't show up ready. We have to work harder and get better. All we can worry about is ourselves. We can't worry about someone else. We have to worry about how we play from here on out and see how everything pans out."
The Blackhawks scored five runs after two outs in the fourth. Edwards walked four straight batters and Nick Maple in relief walked in a run.
Pitches on the edges of the strike zone by Edwards often were called balls.
"Not getting the ball over early on maybe that is why he didn't get the benefit of the doubt," Huffman said. "There were some pitches that were close. That's baseball."
The Blackhawks put the game away by batting around the order in a 10-run fifth. Fort Atkinson's Grayson Coleman went 2-for-3 with three RBI and Romens was 2-for-4 with two RBI. Three of the Blackhawks' four extra-base hits came in the fifth.
Huffman isn't worried about Monroe playing its way back into the conference title picture.
"It will be a lot tougher now," Huffman said of winning at least a share of the conference with three Badger South games to go. "We need to play better and get some help. We have to worry about getting better. When we get to our regional we want to make sure we are playing our best and peaking."
