NEW GLARUS - The disadvantage of March baseball in Wisconsin is the lack of great weather where a team can be outside and face live pitching. New Glarus coach Chris Rear decided to send his players outside anyway, and that decision is starting to pay dividends.
"We have been outside for most of our days, which has been pretty crazy for once. It is nice to get outside; you can do a lot more things. It's really been a big-time benefit to us," Rear said after his team's 5-1 win over Argyle Thursday.
The Knights pitched to a combined one-hitter, mostly thanks to senior Jared Carney. Carney was all-conference in the Capitol South last year and finished the season with a 2.33 ERA. But on Thursday his stat line was much more impressive: five innings, one unearned run, nine strikeouts, two walks and zero hits.
"Pitching is always ahead of hitting this time of the year," Rear said. "But it wasn't an easy one-hitter."
Carney was carving up the Orioles like a Thanksgiving turkey, only allowing runners to reach bases in three innings. In the second inning, Argyle's Miken Godfrey walked to lead off the inning, but then Carney said good morning, good afternoon and good night to the inning.
"It feels good to be back out on the mound," Carney said. "It was a long winter, and I was working hard, so it's paying off so far."
Carney was electric throughout the game, scoring three runs after drawing a pair of walks and smoking a double off the fence in left center. He also stole two bases. And all of this was from the leadoff spot. But what impressed him most about the game was his teammates.
"I'm really excited about this team this year. We have a lot of new players - some guys from the basketball team came - and we're just trying to change the culture here in New Glarus about baseball," Carney said. "I really like how this season's started."
New Glarus scored three runs in the top of the first to set the tone for the game. After Carney's leadoff walk, Andrew Nimtz and Noah Zimmerman cracked one-out doubles down the left field line. Connor Siegenthaler then hit a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0 Knights.
"We talked before the game that it would be nice to get out early and to play with the lead," Rear said.
Carney's double to open up the third put him in scoring positions, but he swiped third anyway. Nimtz then hit a sac fly of his own to make it 4-0 at the time.
"It's mostly mental. We've got a better mindset at the plate this year and (are) trying to stay inside the ball and hit the ball oppo (to the opposite field)," Carney said. "It really helps when you have that mentality and you're not worried about how far you're going to hit it or hitting doubles or anything - just worry about getting good contact."
Argyle's lone run came in the fourth. Gavin Johnson walked with one out and moved to second on a wild pitch. Two batters later he scored on an error.
"It's our first game of the year," said Jeff Solberg, Argyle coach. "This is our first time seeing live pitching off the mound. I knew our hitting would be slow, and it was. But their pitcher pitched a great game, and he's probably the best pitcher we'll see all year."
New Glarus would add an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth. Zimmerman led off with a single and then swiped second to move into scoring position. He scored a few batters later.
"And the one thing we talked about was that we had some at-bats that we had to battle through. We had some that we fell behind. We could have been easier on ourselves," Rear said.
Nimtz came on in relief for Carney in the top of the sixth. In the seventh, Argyle got its first hit of the season when Clay Ritschard hit a tough ball up the middle. The Orioles left two men stranded in the seventh and five total in the game.
"We started off a little slow, but it's the first game of the year and the guys had a few little jitters," Solberg said.
Mitch Flannery started on the mound for Argyle, allowing four runs (three earned) on three hits, two walks and a hit batter in four-plus innings of work. He also struck out four of the 19 batters he faced. Godfrey came on in relief and struck out three in two innings.
"Our pitchers threw pretty well, and defensively I think we played pretty well," Solberg said. "Mitch pitched well, and I told him that. He wasn't using his off-speed early, and when he started to trust it and throw it more, they weren't able to square it up as much as they were in the first inning."
Solberg liked what he saw from his two pitchers, from start to finish.
"Miken's going to be our No. 2 this year, Mitch is going to be our No. 1. So, we've got two lefties - and I like that - and both of them are consistent and getting better with their strikes and being around the plate," Solberg said.
Rear also has the benefit of having some solid arms to put on the mound when the need arises.
"Our pitching is going to be pretty solid all year, and it got us going. We've got three senior arms that can be really good when they're ready to go," Rear said.
Argyle takes the mound next on Monday in Darlington, where Solberg will coach against his brother, Brad, who is in charge of the Redbirds. New Glarus travels to Pecatonica on Tuesday for its next game.
"We have been outside for most of our days, which has been pretty crazy for once. It is nice to get outside; you can do a lot more things. It's really been a big-time benefit to us," Rear said after his team's 5-1 win over Argyle Thursday.
The Knights pitched to a combined one-hitter, mostly thanks to senior Jared Carney. Carney was all-conference in the Capitol South last year and finished the season with a 2.33 ERA. But on Thursday his stat line was much more impressive: five innings, one unearned run, nine strikeouts, two walks and zero hits.
"Pitching is always ahead of hitting this time of the year," Rear said. "But it wasn't an easy one-hitter."
Carney was carving up the Orioles like a Thanksgiving turkey, only allowing runners to reach bases in three innings. In the second inning, Argyle's Miken Godfrey walked to lead off the inning, but then Carney said good morning, good afternoon and good night to the inning.
"It feels good to be back out on the mound," Carney said. "It was a long winter, and I was working hard, so it's paying off so far."
Carney was electric throughout the game, scoring three runs after drawing a pair of walks and smoking a double off the fence in left center. He also stole two bases. And all of this was from the leadoff spot. But what impressed him most about the game was his teammates.
"I'm really excited about this team this year. We have a lot of new players - some guys from the basketball team came - and we're just trying to change the culture here in New Glarus about baseball," Carney said. "I really like how this season's started."
New Glarus scored three runs in the top of the first to set the tone for the game. After Carney's leadoff walk, Andrew Nimtz and Noah Zimmerman cracked one-out doubles down the left field line. Connor Siegenthaler then hit a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0 Knights.
"We talked before the game that it would be nice to get out early and to play with the lead," Rear said.
Carney's double to open up the third put him in scoring positions, but he swiped third anyway. Nimtz then hit a sac fly of his own to make it 4-0 at the time.
"It's mostly mental. We've got a better mindset at the plate this year and (are) trying to stay inside the ball and hit the ball oppo (to the opposite field)," Carney said. "It really helps when you have that mentality and you're not worried about how far you're going to hit it or hitting doubles or anything - just worry about getting good contact."
Argyle's lone run came in the fourth. Gavin Johnson walked with one out and moved to second on a wild pitch. Two batters later he scored on an error.
"It's our first game of the year," said Jeff Solberg, Argyle coach. "This is our first time seeing live pitching off the mound. I knew our hitting would be slow, and it was. But their pitcher pitched a great game, and he's probably the best pitcher we'll see all year."
New Glarus would add an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth. Zimmerman led off with a single and then swiped second to move into scoring position. He scored a few batters later.
"And the one thing we talked about was that we had some at-bats that we had to battle through. We had some that we fell behind. We could have been easier on ourselves," Rear said.
Nimtz came on in relief for Carney in the top of the sixth. In the seventh, Argyle got its first hit of the season when Clay Ritschard hit a tough ball up the middle. The Orioles left two men stranded in the seventh and five total in the game.
"We started off a little slow, but it's the first game of the year and the guys had a few little jitters," Solberg said.
Mitch Flannery started on the mound for Argyle, allowing four runs (three earned) on three hits, two walks and a hit batter in four-plus innings of work. He also struck out four of the 19 batters he faced. Godfrey came on in relief and struck out three in two innings.
"Our pitchers threw pretty well, and defensively I think we played pretty well," Solberg said. "Mitch pitched well, and I told him that. He wasn't using his off-speed early, and when he started to trust it and throw it more, they weren't able to square it up as much as they were in the first inning."
Solberg liked what he saw from his two pitchers, from start to finish.
"Miken's going to be our No. 2 this year, Mitch is going to be our No. 1. So, we've got two lefties - and I like that - and both of them are consistent and getting better with their strikes and being around the plate," Solberg said.
Rear also has the benefit of having some solid arms to put on the mound when the need arises.
"Our pitching is going to be pretty solid all year, and it got us going. We've got three senior arms that can be really good when they're ready to go," Rear said.
Argyle takes the mound next on Monday in Darlington, where Solberg will coach against his brother, Brad, who is in charge of the Redbirds. New Glarus travels to Pecatonica on Tuesday for its next game.
