MONROE - If the first win is the toughest to get, the Monroe Senior Legion baseball team was up to the task, grabbing a victory in their first game of the summer in walkoff fashion over Orangeville, 7-6.
Monroe opened the scoring with six runs in the bottom of the first inning. Tayler Rupnow put Monroe on the board with a two-run single to center, and Ryan Erickson later added with an RBI single of his own. Three of Monroe's six first-inning runs came on bases-loaded walks by Garrett Gogin, Jaron Kuester and Desmond Ford.
The bases-loaded walk would rear its head again in the last inning.
After the Broncos scored two runs in the third and four in the sixth to tie the game at 6, Monroe's Tyler Dahl stepped up to the plate with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Dahl singled and advanced to second on a throwing error. Kuester then walked, and pinch hitter Brian Wang laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Dahl and Kuester into scoring position. Orangeville elected to intentionally walk the next batter, and as his teammates had done three times earlier Sean Saxby drew a bases loaded walk to win the game.
Monroe coach Eric Losenegger said his team's patience at the plate was the key to the victory.
"We hadn't played in two weeks, and I was extremely happy with how we swung the bat," Losenegger said. "We worked counts, we spoiled some of their pitches to draw that walk or get to something we could hit. Good at bats was the key to the game."
Logan Weckerly started on the mound for Monroe and pitched five innings. He allowed two hits and struck out four.
"Logan pitched great. He hadn't pitched in a couple weeks," Losenegger said. "He wiggled out of a couple jams. He threw great for his first time out ... and kept us in a position to win."
Losenegger said he was happy to get the win so early, especially after the struggles faced by both the Monroe High School varsity and junior varsity squads this spring.
"The spring didn't go real well for us, and we've got a lot of the same kids back," Losenegger said. "They came out and got the first one tonight, so that's a plus. They came excited, and hopefully we can put a few more together."
Monroe opened the scoring with six runs in the bottom of the first inning. Tayler Rupnow put Monroe on the board with a two-run single to center, and Ryan Erickson later added with an RBI single of his own. Three of Monroe's six first-inning runs came on bases-loaded walks by Garrett Gogin, Jaron Kuester and Desmond Ford.
The bases-loaded walk would rear its head again in the last inning.
After the Broncos scored two runs in the third and four in the sixth to tie the game at 6, Monroe's Tyler Dahl stepped up to the plate with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Dahl singled and advanced to second on a throwing error. Kuester then walked, and pinch hitter Brian Wang laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Dahl and Kuester into scoring position. Orangeville elected to intentionally walk the next batter, and as his teammates had done three times earlier Sean Saxby drew a bases loaded walk to win the game.
Monroe coach Eric Losenegger said his team's patience at the plate was the key to the victory.
"We hadn't played in two weeks, and I was extremely happy with how we swung the bat," Losenegger said. "We worked counts, we spoiled some of their pitches to draw that walk or get to something we could hit. Good at bats was the key to the game."
Logan Weckerly started on the mound for Monroe and pitched five innings. He allowed two hits and struck out four.
"Logan pitched great. He hadn't pitched in a couple weeks," Losenegger said. "He wiggled out of a couple jams. He threw great for his first time out ... and kept us in a position to win."
Losenegger said he was happy to get the win so early, especially after the struggles faced by both the Monroe High School varsity and junior varsity squads this spring.
"The spring didn't go real well for us, and we've got a lot of the same kids back," Losenegger said. "They came out and got the first one tonight, so that's a plus. They came excited, and hopefully we can put a few more together."
