BRODHEAD - It's rare a pair of high school baseball teammates hit back-to-back home runs.
That's exactly what juniors Brent Edmunds and Jaron Kuester did in a six-run first inning to help Monroe roll to a 9-0 win over Brodhead-Juda Friday.
Brodhead-Juda pitcher Brennan Bescup walked Monroe senior Carter Adkins leading off the first. Junior teammate Garrett Gogin, who went 2-for-3, singled. Bescup then walked Monroe senior Sean Saxby and walked sophomore Brent Edmunds with the bases loaded to bring in a run. Edmunds blasted a grand slam to left field to give the Cheesemakers (6-7, 2-5 Badger South) a 5-0 lead. Kuester followed by crushing a solo home run to right.
"He (Edmunds) got a fastball over the plate and he drove it," Monroe coach Dustin Huffman said. "He always puts a good cut on it. He has been close. It's just a matter of staying back on it. You don't see a lot of back-to-back home runs in high school. To see the 7 and 8 spots show some power in their bat; we knew they were capable of that. That was big to get out to a 6-0 lead in the first inning."
Monroe junior Taylor Meir was just as dominant as the Cheesemakers' offensive attack. Meir pitched a complete game one-hit shutout. He struck out seven and didn't issue a walk.
"He did a nice job of mixing up his pitches to the top of their order," Huffman said. "He had a little more pop on his fastball. He used his off-speed pitches when he needed to. He was able to get his curveball over for first pitch strikes."
Bescup pitched one inning for the Cardinals and he gave up six runs on three hits and walked three. Sophomore teammate Matt Schmidt pitched six innings and gave up one earned run on eight hits. He struck out three and walked three.
Monroe senior Desmond Ford and Saxby each went 2-for-3 for the Cheesemakers. Monroe senior Chase Hellenbrand went 2-for-4 and Edmunds had four RBI.
The lone hit for the Cardinals came on sophomore Layne Millard's single in the second inning.
Monroe will play four away games next week with conference games at Fort Atkinson Tuesday and at Monona Grove Friday.
"It's games we can compete," Huffman said. "Logan (Weckerly) will probably be ready to go Tuesday for some innings. Then we have Lucas Neuenschwander to go against Monona Grove. Lucas pitched really good against them the first time. We have a chance to get a couple of wins and get back in this thing."
That's exactly what juniors Brent Edmunds and Jaron Kuester did in a six-run first inning to help Monroe roll to a 9-0 win over Brodhead-Juda Friday.
Brodhead-Juda pitcher Brennan Bescup walked Monroe senior Carter Adkins leading off the first. Junior teammate Garrett Gogin, who went 2-for-3, singled. Bescup then walked Monroe senior Sean Saxby and walked sophomore Brent Edmunds with the bases loaded to bring in a run. Edmunds blasted a grand slam to left field to give the Cheesemakers (6-7, 2-5 Badger South) a 5-0 lead. Kuester followed by crushing a solo home run to right.
"He (Edmunds) got a fastball over the plate and he drove it," Monroe coach Dustin Huffman said. "He always puts a good cut on it. He has been close. It's just a matter of staying back on it. You don't see a lot of back-to-back home runs in high school. To see the 7 and 8 spots show some power in their bat; we knew they were capable of that. That was big to get out to a 6-0 lead in the first inning."
Monroe junior Taylor Meir was just as dominant as the Cheesemakers' offensive attack. Meir pitched a complete game one-hit shutout. He struck out seven and didn't issue a walk.
"He did a nice job of mixing up his pitches to the top of their order," Huffman said. "He had a little more pop on his fastball. He used his off-speed pitches when he needed to. He was able to get his curveball over for first pitch strikes."
Bescup pitched one inning for the Cardinals and he gave up six runs on three hits and walked three. Sophomore teammate Matt Schmidt pitched six innings and gave up one earned run on eight hits. He struck out three and walked three.
Monroe senior Desmond Ford and Saxby each went 2-for-3 for the Cheesemakers. Monroe senior Chase Hellenbrand went 2-for-4 and Edmunds had four RBI.
The lone hit for the Cardinals came on sophomore Layne Millard's single in the second inning.
Monroe will play four away games next week with conference games at Fort Atkinson Tuesday and at Monona Grove Friday.
"It's games we can compete," Huffman said. "Logan (Weckerly) will probably be ready to go Tuesday for some innings. Then we have Lucas Neuenschwander to go against Monona Grove. Lucas pitched really good against them the first time. We have a chance to get a couple of wins and get back in this thing."
