By Natalie Dillon
ndillon@
themonroetimes.com
BELOIT — Monroe rose to the occasion, shutting out East Troy 6-0 on May 14 at ABC Supply Stadium, home of the Beloit Sky Carp. The Cheesemakers scored five of their six runs with two outs.
“We’ve had games where we haven’t been clutch, so it’s nice to bust it out like that,” Monroe head coach Jeff Newcomer said. “Putting our kids in pressure situations and having them come through is one of those great moments.”
Momentum was on Monroe’s side from the beginning, as starting pitcher Keegan Dahmen recorded three outs on eight pitches in the top of the first.
In the bottom of the frame, Ashton Hale led off with a 1-2 single to center. Alex Bruce attempted to pick him off, but Bruce’s throw went to the wall. Hale took second and drew a throw going to third. That throw went to the wall, too, allowing Hale to score on an error.
“You never know how the guys are going to react playing at a beautiful stadium like this — if they are going to be scared, nervous or just loose,” Newcomer said. “We’ve been preaching to come out and play looser every game, so finally today we showed up. Putting one up on the board in the first inning always helps.”
Dahmen kept East Troy at bay with three strikeouts over two innings and got help from a diving play by Blake Drafall in right.
The defense led to offense in the bottom of the third, where Monroe plated four runs and nearly batted around the order. Drafall led off the inning, reaching on an error by third baseman Jackson Pluess, and stole second.
The Trojans nearly escaped the inning unscathed, as Hale went down looking and Eli Schaefer grounded out. Dahmen helped himself out, though, hitting an RBI single up the middle.
“I knew I just had to stay back. The first at-bat I was way out in front, and I popped up,” Dahmen said. “I was trying to focus in on actually staying back and getting my hands to the ball. It was a good pitch, and I exploded.”
The hit sparked a two-out rally, as Ethan Rosenstiel and Cam Newcomer followed with singles of their own — both on the first pitches of their at bats.
“The last 10 days we’ve been harping on our mental approach and what we expect. The pitcher doesn’t want to fall behind, so you know they are going to throw a strike. …” coach Newcomer said. “Their first pitcher was around the zone a lot. Fortunately for us, he threw pitches that we could put a good swing on.”
Six-hole hitter Marcus Ott fell behind 0-2 before lining a two-out two-RBI double down the right field line, giving Monroe a 5-0 lead.
In the next frame, Dahmen faced just four batters in a shutdown inning.
“I knew if we wanted to win, we had to shut them down and keep the momentum going,” Dahmen said. “We didn’t let them get any spark or any hope. We kept them where they were.”
Monroe added an insurance run in the bottom of the fourth — again with two outs. After a failed hit-and-run attempt, Hale drew a walk and stole second. Schaefer then hit an RBI single up the middle.
Ian Berg relieved Dahmen in the sixth inning, recording the final out on a strikeout. In the seventh, Hale threw on the run to retire Nolan Apriesnig. Berg hit Ryan Meehan, but catcher Logan Meier had his back. Meier caught a ball in foul territory, right up against the third-base dugout. Berg then struck out Joel Anderson to end the game.
Cam Newcomer led Monroe, going 2-for-3 with an RBI and run scored. Ott drove in two runs on one hit. Hale, who was 1-for-2, drew two walks.
Dahmen and Berg combined for the shutout, Monroe’s second of the season. Dahmen gave up two hits and struck out four. Berg struck out two in 1 1/3 innings’ work.
