MONTICELLO - All indications at the start of the Monticello baseball game against Williams Bay was that it would be a rough night, but after a few early blunders, the Ponies rebounded and won their opening playoff game 10-6.
"The first bat of the game we dropped a foul ball and gave (Williams Bay) new life," Monticello coach Scott White said. "It was pretty tough early on for Lucas (Marty). But he settled down and retired 12 of the next 15 batters he faced."
After Williams Bay opened the game with four runs, the Ponies responded by collecting three runs of their own. After tying the game in the second, Monticello rallied off five runs in the fourth to take a wide lead.
"For a team that doesn't score a lot of runs, a lot of times you'll see a team shut down," White said. "But we battled back and kind of took it and ran from there."
Marty started the game for the Ponies, pitching five and two-thirds innings, allowing four hits, five runs (one earned), and three strikeouts. At the plate, the Monticello senior batted 2-for-2 in recording two runs along with a jaw-dropping seven stolen bases.
Teammates Logan Crooks went 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBI while Jacob Pusel finished 1-for-3 with three RBIs.
Monticello plays Albany today.
"We played them (Albany) fairly competitively," White said of his team's regular season games against the Comets. "We feel like we can compete with them, so tomorrow we are going to come out and see if we can take the next step towards the regional championship."
Black Hawk 10, Faith Christian 0
SOUTH WAYNE - The Warriors started their postseason play with an emphatic 10-0 shut out over Faith Christian in earning only the second win for the Black Hawk baseball team this season.
Led by senior Brady Meythaler, the Warriors kicked off the game with a four-run first inning to put the visiting Eagles in an early hole. After scoring again in the second, Black Hawk tacked on four more runs late in the fourth to all but assure a opening round win.
On the mound, Meythaler allowed two hits, no walks, while striking out five batters in the shut out. On the other side of the ball, Meythaler scored four of the Warriors' 10 runs in his 2-for-4 performance at the plate. Teammate Tayler Rupnow also finished 2-for-4.
Black Hawk will play Argyle today in the regional semifinal.
Iowa-Grant 4, Darlington 2
DARLINGTON - The Darlington baseball team saw their season come to an abrupt end in their 4-2 loss to Iowa-Grant in Tuesday's opening round of the playoffs.
With a slow start, Iowa-Grant took a 2-0 lead into the sixth before collecting two additional runs to widen their lead. Showing some signs of urgency, the Redbirds responded with two scores, but ultimately did not have enough in the tank to capture the win.
"To tell you the truth, nothing really went our way and we were lucky to get it close in the sixth inning," Darlington coach Matt Austin said. "There were some close calls, (but) we should have gotten the bats going a little earlier than we did."
Darlington junior Jason Singer finished 1-for-3 with a double while Brayden McDonald batted 1-for-2 with a double. Senior Cody Hardyman ended his Redbirds career by going 1-for-2 at the plate.
"This is obviously a tough loss for us, and it wasn't the way we wanted our season to end," Austin said. "This one's going to sting a little bit, (but) next year I think we're going to be a hard team to beat."
Cambridge 5, New Glarus 1
CAMBRIDGE - The Knights dropped a 5-1 decision against their conference rivals in both teams' opening playoff game.
Behind J.T. Parish, the Cambridge held a narrow 2-1 lead through four innings of work. The Knights scored their lone run off a passed ball in the second inning, but despite collecting more hits than the Blue Jays, New Glarus couldn't capitalize. "We kind of had some early miscues, but I thought we did a pretty good job in gaining our composure and getting back in the game," Knights coach Ross Eddy said. "We knew (Cambridge's) tendencies, (but) we kind of got caught by their curve. That froze us, and we know that anything that's close is where you got to protect the plate."
In the bottom of the fifth, Parish blasted a solo home run to give the host Blue Jays all the momentum they needed, as they again scored in the fifth and added one in the sixth inning.
Parish pitched all seven innings for Cambridge, allowing only one run, three walks, all while striking out nine Knights.
As a team New Glarus collected six hits, with senior Patrick Elzen and Koner French leading the way as both players went 2-for-3. Tyler Molencamp went 1-for-3 with a double.
Beloit Turner 11, Brodhead-Juda 0
BELOIT - In their opening playoff game, the Brodhead-Juda baseball team suffered an 11-0 beating by Beloit Turner, who as a team collected 13 hits.
The Brodhead-Juda offense couldn't find a response after Beloit Turner raced out to an early 6-0 lead in entering the fourth inning. After adding five more runs in the fifth, the deficit proved to be too much for Brodhead-Juda to climb out of.
Junior Daniel Skoumal pitched the majority of the game for Brodhead-Juda before senior Derek Turner came in for relief. As a team, Brodhead-Juda collected five hits.
"The first bat of the game we dropped a foul ball and gave (Williams Bay) new life," Monticello coach Scott White said. "It was pretty tough early on for Lucas (Marty). But he settled down and retired 12 of the next 15 batters he faced."
After Williams Bay opened the game with four runs, the Ponies responded by collecting three runs of their own. After tying the game in the second, Monticello rallied off five runs in the fourth to take a wide lead.
"For a team that doesn't score a lot of runs, a lot of times you'll see a team shut down," White said. "But we battled back and kind of took it and ran from there."
Marty started the game for the Ponies, pitching five and two-thirds innings, allowing four hits, five runs (one earned), and three strikeouts. At the plate, the Monticello senior batted 2-for-2 in recording two runs along with a jaw-dropping seven stolen bases.
Teammates Logan Crooks went 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBI while Jacob Pusel finished 1-for-3 with three RBIs.
Monticello plays Albany today.
"We played them (Albany) fairly competitively," White said of his team's regular season games against the Comets. "We feel like we can compete with them, so tomorrow we are going to come out and see if we can take the next step towards the regional championship."
Black Hawk 10, Faith Christian 0
SOUTH WAYNE - The Warriors started their postseason play with an emphatic 10-0 shut out over Faith Christian in earning only the second win for the Black Hawk baseball team this season.
Led by senior Brady Meythaler, the Warriors kicked off the game with a four-run first inning to put the visiting Eagles in an early hole. After scoring again in the second, Black Hawk tacked on four more runs late in the fourth to all but assure a opening round win.
On the mound, Meythaler allowed two hits, no walks, while striking out five batters in the shut out. On the other side of the ball, Meythaler scored four of the Warriors' 10 runs in his 2-for-4 performance at the plate. Teammate Tayler Rupnow also finished 2-for-4.
Black Hawk will play Argyle today in the regional semifinal.
Iowa-Grant 4, Darlington 2
DARLINGTON - The Darlington baseball team saw their season come to an abrupt end in their 4-2 loss to Iowa-Grant in Tuesday's opening round of the playoffs.
With a slow start, Iowa-Grant took a 2-0 lead into the sixth before collecting two additional runs to widen their lead. Showing some signs of urgency, the Redbirds responded with two scores, but ultimately did not have enough in the tank to capture the win.
"To tell you the truth, nothing really went our way and we were lucky to get it close in the sixth inning," Darlington coach Matt Austin said. "There were some close calls, (but) we should have gotten the bats going a little earlier than we did."
Darlington junior Jason Singer finished 1-for-3 with a double while Brayden McDonald batted 1-for-2 with a double. Senior Cody Hardyman ended his Redbirds career by going 1-for-2 at the plate.
"This is obviously a tough loss for us, and it wasn't the way we wanted our season to end," Austin said. "This one's going to sting a little bit, (but) next year I think we're going to be a hard team to beat."
Cambridge 5, New Glarus 1
CAMBRIDGE - The Knights dropped a 5-1 decision against their conference rivals in both teams' opening playoff game.
Behind J.T. Parish, the Cambridge held a narrow 2-1 lead through four innings of work. The Knights scored their lone run off a passed ball in the second inning, but despite collecting more hits than the Blue Jays, New Glarus couldn't capitalize. "We kind of had some early miscues, but I thought we did a pretty good job in gaining our composure and getting back in the game," Knights coach Ross Eddy said. "We knew (Cambridge's) tendencies, (but) we kind of got caught by their curve. That froze us, and we know that anything that's close is where you got to protect the plate."
In the bottom of the fifth, Parish blasted a solo home run to give the host Blue Jays all the momentum they needed, as they again scored in the fifth and added one in the sixth inning.
Parish pitched all seven innings for Cambridge, allowing only one run, three walks, all while striking out nine Knights.
As a team New Glarus collected six hits, with senior Patrick Elzen and Koner French leading the way as both players went 2-for-3. Tyler Molencamp went 1-for-3 with a double.
Beloit Turner 11, Brodhead-Juda 0
BELOIT - In their opening playoff game, the Brodhead-Juda baseball team suffered an 11-0 beating by Beloit Turner, who as a team collected 13 hits.
The Brodhead-Juda offense couldn't find a response after Beloit Turner raced out to an early 6-0 lead in entering the fourth inning. After adding five more runs in the fifth, the deficit proved to be too much for Brodhead-Juda to climb out of.
Junior Daniel Skoumal pitched the majority of the game for Brodhead-Juda before senior Derek Turner came in for relief. As a team, Brodhead-Juda collected five hits.
