ARGYLE — A day after suffering a defeat at the hands of Shullsburg-Benton, the Wiota Indians used a 6-run seventh inning to best Argyle 7-2 July 14.
Wiota lost to Shullsburg-Benton 8-1 July 13, which allowed Hollandale to creep back into a tie of first place in the Home Talent Sunday League Western South Division race. Against Argyle, the Indians sat scoreless through five innings against Beavers lefty Ryan Erickson.
In the top of the sixth, Wiota got back-to-back two-out doubles from Hunter Hardyman and Brad Solberg to tie it at 1.
In the bottom half of the inning, the theatrics began. The Beavers loaded the bases with no outs before Wiota pitcher Ben Conway struck out back-to-back batters on six pitches. With two outs and the bases still juiced, a catcher’s interference call was reversed to a foul ball, and with Conway pitching from the windup, Argyle’s Hogan Edwards took over for home. Conway stepped off the plate and fired home a dart to catch Edwards, but not without the home crowd lamenting for a balk.
The next inning, the floodgates opened for the Indians.
Tommy Meier opened the seventh with a single to right and then an error by Lee Bohlman off the bat of Cade Janecke allowed the runners to reach second and third. With the bases loaded, Merrill Brunson singled to center to plate a run, knocking Erickson out of the game. Reliever Kris Rieder received some of the same treatment, as the first batter he faced also reached on an error by Bohlman.
Rieder struck out Jesse Sturtz for the first out, but a wild pitch to Hardyman brought home another run to make it 4-1. Hardyman then laced a 3-1 pitch to center for his second double of the game, driving in two on the swing. Two batters later, Will Schwartz singled to right to plate Hardyman and the Indians found themselves ahead 7-1.
Argyle was only able to plate a run in the fourth and eighth innings against Conway, who tossed 131 pitches over nine innings, allowing just one earned run while scattering seven hits, four walks and two hit batters. He struck out eight.
Erickson pitched six innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on eight hits and two walks with four Ks. Rieder allowed two unearned runs in three innings on two hits with a strikeout.
Rooney Janecke, Schwartz and Hardyman all had two hits for Wiota, while Dylan Schwitz and Hogan Edwards each had a pair of hits for Argyle.
Hollandale has the slight edge over Wiota in the division race, with an 8-4 overall record and a 5-1 mark in the division. Wiota is also 8-4 and 5-2 in the division. Blanchardville (8-5, 5-3) and Shullsburg-Benton (8-6, 4-4) are locked into the division title race, while Argyle (6-7, 3-5) is on the bubble and Ridgeway (1-12, 0-7) is virtually out of contention with just four games to play.
July 13
Shullsburg-Benton 8, Wiota 1
SHULLSBURG — Justin Crotty struck out 13 and scattered eight hits to score the complete game win for the Fever. Meier took the loss for Wiota, striking out three while giving up 15 hits and three walks in eight innings of work.
Rooney Janecke had two hits for Wiota, and Hardyman added a double and an RBI.
Nathan Hendrickson was 2 for 4 with three RBIs for the Fever from the leadoff spot. Crotty had three hits and teammates Jayson Haldiman, Brooks Tiedeman and Luke Kamps all had two hits. Tommy Behrens and Joe Hartwig doubled for S-B.
July 14
Blanchardville 17, Shullsburg-Benton 5
SHULLSBURG — Brooks Chandler had four hits, two doubles, three RBIs and three runs from the leadoff spot as the Bullets burned the Fever in a tight divisional game.
Carson Carmody and Kyle Kleppe each had three hits and two RBIs for Blanchardville, while Cody Carmody and Jared Carney both had two hits, a double and a pair of RBIs.
Carney tossed six innings of work, allowing five earned runs on eight hits and a walk with nine strikeouts. Carter Ruegsegger finished off the game for Blanchardville.
Lane Kamps took the loss on the mound for the Fever, allowing seven runs (five earned) in four innings. Nathan Hendrickson allowed 10 runs on 11 hits in three innings of work.
Connor Crotty and Tiedeman homered for the Fever, while Riley Christiansen tripled.
Blanchardville led 3-2 after the first inning and made it 5-2 through three. An 8-run fifth inning put the Bullets ahead 13-2.
Night League, July 11
Blanchardville 6, Argyle 1
BLANCHARDVILLE — A 4-run fifth inning was all the Bullets needed to pull away from the Beavers.
Colton Schraepfer was 3 for 3 with two runs and a double for Blanchardville.
Tylor Henneman and Jayden Johnson had Argyle’s only two hits.
Colton Ploessel took the loss on the mound for the Beavers.
Wiota 8, Hollandale 2
WIOTA — Ryan Glendenning scored the win on the mound for the Indians, striking out eight and allowing just one earned run on five hits and five walks.
Everett Johnson took the loss for Hollandale, giving up seven runs (three earned) on six hits and five walks with three Ks in five innings of work.
Tyler Torstenson-Harris had two hits for Wiota, including a triple, while Sturtz had a double. Luke Kelly walked three times and scored a run for the Rockies. Johnson was 1 for 3 with a walk, run and an RBI.
