MONROE - Without Monroe senior center fielder Alex Dammen's web gem, there's no telling how the Monroe baseball team's Badger South Conference game against Fort Atkinson would have ended Thursday.
Dammen had a flair for the dramatic in the Cheesemakers' 9-2 win over the Blackhawks. He also gave the Cheesemakers a 2-0 lead when he lined a two-run double to left in the second inning.
However, it was Dammen's late-game heroics that saved the day. With the Cheesemakers clinging to a 3-2 lead in the sixth inning, Fort Atkinson's Dan Rowley roped a liner to the gap in right center. Dammen made a diving catch, preventing the Blackhawks from tying the score.
"I was trying to fly to the ball," Dammen said. "I didn't know if Jon (Elmer) was going to get it. I was just going my hardest to get to it."
The Cheesemakers (6-8, 4-2 Badger South) made the Blackhawks pay with a six-run sixth to put the game away. Monroe senior Taylor Weckerly, who was 2-for-3, delivered an RBI double to give the Cheesemakers a 4-2 lead.
"It happens all the time in baseball," Monroe coach Steve Christensen said. "Someone makes a play and it ignites the offense a little bit."
Monroe went 4-for-16 hitting with runners in scoring position and stranded 11 runners. However, three Fort Atkinson pitchers bailed out the Cheesemakers by walking 10 and the Blackhawks committed four errors, which led to four runs.
Monroe junior Matt Whipple reached base all four times he batted (2-for-2 with two walks). Whipple walked with the bases loaded in the sixth to give the Cheesemakers a 5-2 lead. With two outs and the bases loaded, Dammen hit a deep fly ball to center, which the Blackhawks dropped for a three-run error and gave the Cheesemakers an insurmountable 8-2 lead.
"A lot of the good things that happened today, Alex was in the middle of it," Christensen said.
Monroe senior lefty Mike Demianiuk pitched a complete game to get his fourth conference win. Demianiuk gave up two runs on five hits. He retired nine of the first 10 batters he faced and struck out eight. Fort Atkinson didn't hit a ball to the outfield until the fourth.
Whipple said it would have been nice to get Demianiuk more runs early in the game.
"It would have taken a lot of the pressure off," Whipple said. "I thought we would eventually get some runs. Mike held up. We weren't coming through for him, but we scored a bunch of runs."
Monroe had a golden scoring opportunity in the fifth after Fort Atkinson relief pitcher Luke Falk walked the bases loaded. The Blackhawks brought in Dwight Mueller, who pitched out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam. Mueller struck out Justin Rackow and Dammen. Monroe sophomore Mitch Marty smoked a liner to center for the final out of the fifth to end the threat.
Christensen said he didn't want to gamble by putting a squeeze bunt on to score another insurance run in the fifth.
"There are a lot of great plays in baseball and the squeeze bunt is one of them," Christensen said. "You really don't know what you will see from the second relief pitcher."
With the wildness of the Blackhawks' pitchers, Christensen didn't want one of his players to take the chance of trying to bunt a high pitch.
"He hadn't proven anything against one hitter," Christensen said. "At that point, you just want to score a run. The first two guys have to do a better job of getting the bat on the ball."
Dammen had a flair for the dramatic in the Cheesemakers' 9-2 win over the Blackhawks. He also gave the Cheesemakers a 2-0 lead when he lined a two-run double to left in the second inning.
However, it was Dammen's late-game heroics that saved the day. With the Cheesemakers clinging to a 3-2 lead in the sixth inning, Fort Atkinson's Dan Rowley roped a liner to the gap in right center. Dammen made a diving catch, preventing the Blackhawks from tying the score.
"I was trying to fly to the ball," Dammen said. "I didn't know if Jon (Elmer) was going to get it. I was just going my hardest to get to it."
The Cheesemakers (6-8, 4-2 Badger South) made the Blackhawks pay with a six-run sixth to put the game away. Monroe senior Taylor Weckerly, who was 2-for-3, delivered an RBI double to give the Cheesemakers a 4-2 lead.
"It happens all the time in baseball," Monroe coach Steve Christensen said. "Someone makes a play and it ignites the offense a little bit."
Monroe went 4-for-16 hitting with runners in scoring position and stranded 11 runners. However, three Fort Atkinson pitchers bailed out the Cheesemakers by walking 10 and the Blackhawks committed four errors, which led to four runs.
Monroe junior Matt Whipple reached base all four times he batted (2-for-2 with two walks). Whipple walked with the bases loaded in the sixth to give the Cheesemakers a 5-2 lead. With two outs and the bases loaded, Dammen hit a deep fly ball to center, which the Blackhawks dropped for a three-run error and gave the Cheesemakers an insurmountable 8-2 lead.
"A lot of the good things that happened today, Alex was in the middle of it," Christensen said.
Monroe senior lefty Mike Demianiuk pitched a complete game to get his fourth conference win. Demianiuk gave up two runs on five hits. He retired nine of the first 10 batters he faced and struck out eight. Fort Atkinson didn't hit a ball to the outfield until the fourth.
Whipple said it would have been nice to get Demianiuk more runs early in the game.
"It would have taken a lot of the pressure off," Whipple said. "I thought we would eventually get some runs. Mike held up. We weren't coming through for him, but we scored a bunch of runs."
Monroe had a golden scoring opportunity in the fifth after Fort Atkinson relief pitcher Luke Falk walked the bases loaded. The Blackhawks brought in Dwight Mueller, who pitched out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam. Mueller struck out Justin Rackow and Dammen. Monroe sophomore Mitch Marty smoked a liner to center for the final out of the fifth to end the threat.
Christensen said he didn't want to gamble by putting a squeeze bunt on to score another insurance run in the fifth.
"There are a lot of great plays in baseball and the squeeze bunt is one of them," Christensen said. "You really don't know what you will see from the second relief pitcher."
With the wildness of the Blackhawks' pitchers, Christensen didn't want one of his players to take the chance of trying to bunt a high pitch.
"He hadn't proven anything against one hitter," Christensen said. "At that point, you just want to score a run. The first two guys have to do a better job of getting the bat on the ball."
