MONROE — With runners on first and second with two outs, senior Keatin Sweeney delivered a walk-off hit to right to give Monroe a 2-1 win on Senior Night, Thursday, April 27.
As he approached the plate, Sweeney thought back to Tuesday where he struck out against Ethan Tranel with bases loaded to end the game. He wasn’t going to let that happen again.
“I was in the same spot Tuesday night against the same guy, and I struck out for them to win the game with the bases loaded,” Sweeney said. “I knew I had to clutch up and get them back this time. I got them good. We will remember this one for a while.”
The win marked the second of the season for Monroe and its senior class that was honored that night. Monroe head coach Eric Losenegger started every senior on his roster. Around the horn it was Keegan Dahmen pitching, Landon Stelter catching, George Brukwicki at first, Ethan Rosenstiel at second, Sweeney at short, Braden Rupnow at third, Nathaniel Baker in left, Tucker Markham in center and Drew Indergand in right. Nicholas Welty was the designated hitter.
Mount Horeb struck in the first with an RBI-double from Tranel. Monroe responded in the fourth, as Brukwicki led off with a triple. Josh Manchester’s throw to third sailed into the Viking dugout, and Brukwicki was awarded home.
The Cheesemakers had another scoring opportunity in the fifth with back-to-back walks. Markham then drove a ball to deep right that dropped out of the fielder’s glove. Because pinch runner Cam Newcomer was coming back to tag, he was unable to score on the error. The inning ended on a double play, as Dahmen flew out to left and Newcomer was tagged out at home on the tag up.
“We cost ourselves a couple of runs on the bases,” Losenegger said. “It should have been 2-1, game over. We wouldn’t had to have even gone out in the seventh to hit if we tag up on a fly ball to right.”
Monroe left the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth, as Stelter struck out swinging. The first two Cheesemakers went down via strikeout in the seventh, putting it on Dahmen’s shoulders to create a spark.
The junior hit a deep fly ball to left that appeared to be caught by Tyler Buechner, but the umpire ruled it a dropped ball and Dahmen ended up on second. Buencher and his head coach Ryan Finley argued that the drop occurred on the transfer, but the umpires disagreed.
“It turned out to be huge,” Losenegger said of the overturned call. “To be honest, off the bat it had a chance to beat the outfielder. I saw him drift and camp, and I turned around. I never saw what they were talking about, but it turned out in our favor.”
Mount Horeb then intentionally walked Brukwicki to create a force-out, sending Sweeney to the plate. The set-up was a near repeat of Tuesday night, where Sweeney struck out to end the game 4-2 in the Vikings’ favor.
This time, the senior came up clutch to single to right, scoring Dahmen from two. The bench cleared to dogpile Sweeney at first, as Monroe celebrated a win on Senior Night.
Sweeney, who had the only RBI, finished 1-for-3. Welty tallied two hits. Rupnow pitched four innings of relief to pick up the win.
Braves sweep Warriors
BELMONT — In a conference crossover on Friday, April 28, Belmont swept Black Hawk 6-3 and 5-0. The Braves no-hit the Warriors in game two, but Black Hawk mustered three hits in the second game. Jadeyn Pryce and Dylan Haldiman recorded singles, while Cooper Baumgartner roped and RBI-double. Carter Baumgartner and Haldiman suffered the losses.
Ponies pick up second win
MONTICELLO — Monticello-Albany defeated Benton-Shullsburg 6-4 on Friday, April 28 for its second win of the season. Aiden Harvey was 2-for-2 with two RBIs as the designated hitter. Brayden Bakken, who also tallied two hits, collected the win. He gave up three earned runs on nine hits.
Johnson drives in five
HIGHLAND — Junior Jameson Johnson went 2-for-3 with five RBIs to propel Pecatonica over Highland 14-2 on Friday, April 28. With the win, Pecatonica improves to 12-0. Coy Ruegsegger collected the win.
In other local baseball, Argyle fell to Potosi-Cassville 6-2.
