MONROE - The Monroe baseball team had Madison Edgewood ace pitcher Cody Link on the ropes with a rally in the bottom of the seventh inning Tuesday.
Edgewood led by five runs to start the seventh and the Cheesemakers battled back scoring three runs before losing to the Crusaders 8-6. Link was at 114 pitches before getting the final out. With the loss, Monroe drops to 9-9, 3-7 Badger South.
"We were a couple of hits away from knocking him out," Monroe coach Dustin Huffman said. "If they would have went to their bullpen who knows what would have happened."
Edgewood led Monroe 8-3 entering the seventh. In the bottom of the seventh, Monroe seniors Carter Adkins and Chase Hellenbrand each singled. Junior teammate Garrett Gogin reached on a fielder's choice. Senior Sean Saxby delivered an RBI double to center to score Adkins to cut the Crusaders' lead to 8-4. Sophomore Hogan Edwards reached on an error and Gogin scored. Monroe senior Desmond Ford hit a rocket for a sacrifice fly to drive in a run to cut the Crusaders' lead to 8-6. Link got a strikeout to get out of the jam.
"They didn't quit," Huffman said of the Cheesemakers. "I was proud with how they battled back. We hit a lot of baseballs hard that were not hits. The wind was blowing in hard and a lot of the line drives got held up in the wind."
Edgewood (5-2 Badger South), which is tied atop the conference in the loss column with Oregon (7-2), broke the game open with a five-run fourth.
"We had a couple of misplayed balls and one error," Huffman said. "If we make the play on the fly ball we probably give up only one run. They still hit the ball hard."
Monroe junior Jaron Kuester went 2-for-3 to lead the Cheesemakers. Hellenbrand went 1-for-2, while Saxby and Ford were each 1-for-3 with one RBI.
Monroe senior Lucas Neuenschwander pitched 3 1/3 innings and gave up five earned runs on six hits. He struck out two and walked two.
Monroe junior Taylor Meir pitched 1 2/3 innings in relief and gave up just one run on three hits. Senior teammate Logan Weckerly pitched two innings and gave up two runs on three hits. He struck out two and walked one.
"He (Neuenschwander) started the game off great and he got ground balls," Huffman said.
Edgewood led by five runs to start the seventh and the Cheesemakers battled back scoring three runs before losing to the Crusaders 8-6. Link was at 114 pitches before getting the final out. With the loss, Monroe drops to 9-9, 3-7 Badger South.
"We were a couple of hits away from knocking him out," Monroe coach Dustin Huffman said. "If they would have went to their bullpen who knows what would have happened."
Edgewood led Monroe 8-3 entering the seventh. In the bottom of the seventh, Monroe seniors Carter Adkins and Chase Hellenbrand each singled. Junior teammate Garrett Gogin reached on a fielder's choice. Senior Sean Saxby delivered an RBI double to center to score Adkins to cut the Crusaders' lead to 8-4. Sophomore Hogan Edwards reached on an error and Gogin scored. Monroe senior Desmond Ford hit a rocket for a sacrifice fly to drive in a run to cut the Crusaders' lead to 8-6. Link got a strikeout to get out of the jam.
"They didn't quit," Huffman said of the Cheesemakers. "I was proud with how they battled back. We hit a lot of baseballs hard that were not hits. The wind was blowing in hard and a lot of the line drives got held up in the wind."
Edgewood (5-2 Badger South), which is tied atop the conference in the loss column with Oregon (7-2), broke the game open with a five-run fourth.
"We had a couple of misplayed balls and one error," Huffman said. "If we make the play on the fly ball we probably give up only one run. They still hit the ball hard."
Monroe junior Jaron Kuester went 2-for-3 to lead the Cheesemakers. Hellenbrand went 1-for-2, while Saxby and Ford were each 1-for-3 with one RBI.
Monroe senior Lucas Neuenschwander pitched 3 1/3 innings and gave up five earned runs on six hits. He struck out two and walked two.
Monroe junior Taylor Meir pitched 1 2/3 innings in relief and gave up just one run on three hits. Senior teammate Logan Weckerly pitched two innings and gave up two runs on three hits. He struck out two and walked one.
"He (Neuenschwander) started the game off great and he got ground balls," Huffman said.
