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Wiota powers to top of south with sweep
HTL Wiota
Wiota’s Jesse Sturtz hammers one of his six hits during Sunday’s doubleheader against Ridgeway. He drove in seven runs, scored four times and earned a pitching victory in game two as the Indians grabbed sole possession of first-place in the Home Talent Western Section South Division with wins of 18-8 and 8-4 over the Cardinals at Wiota Park on July 15. - photo by By Thomas Gunnell

WIOTA — The Wiota Indians Home Talent League baseball team took sole possession of the Western Section South Division on Sunday afternoon following a two-game sweep over co-leading Ridgeway.

The Indians (12-7 overall, 8-5 Sunday League) rallied from behind to down the visiting Cardinals, 18-8, in seven innings in their originally scheduled game at Wiota Park on Sunday, July 15, and then came from behind once again to defeat the Cardinals, 8-4, in a rescheduled game from June 10.

The wins — coupled with Argyle’s two-game sweep over Shullsburg/Benton over the weekend — puts Wiota atop the divisional standings with three games to play in the regular season. 

Argyle moves into second place at 8-6, while Shullsburg/Benton (6-7) and Ridgeway (6-7) each fell from first to fourth behind Blanchardville (6-6) following a tough weekend. All four teams remain in the playoff race heading into the stretch run.

Jesse Sturtz homered, drove in four runs and scored three times to help the Indians rally from a 6-0 first inning deficit in game one, and he earned the complete-game pitching victory in game two with three more RBI and another run scored to rally the Indians again in game two.

The Cardinals led 6-0 in the first inning of game one and 4-0 in the first inning of game two but managed to plate just two runs in the other 14 innings against the Indians.

Sturtz’s three-run blast into the corn highlighted Wiota’s five-run uprising in the first inning of game one. 

The Indians rallied for eight runs in the bottom of the third to overtake the Cardinals at 13-6 lead, and then added a single run in the fifth and four runs in the seventh to seal the 10-run rule decision.

Brad Schliem, Matt Keister, Tommy Meier, Casey Schraeder and Merrill Brunson each had a run-scoring single in the third, while Jeff Solberg singled in a run in the fifth and Sturtz and Will Schwartz singled in runs in the seventh for the Indians.

In game two, Kevin Oimoen’s three-run home run in the bottom of the first inning put Ridgeway ahead, but the Cardinals could not hold off another Wiota rally.

Jeff Solberg’s RBI-single in the fourth inning got the Indians on the scoreboard, and he had another run-scoring base hit in the fifth as Wiota struck for four runs in the inning to grab a 5-4 lead. The Indians strung together six straight two-out singles during the inning with Sturtz, Schliem and Brad Solberg each driving in runs in the stanza.

Sturtz added a two-run single in the top of the eighth to put Wiota ahead 8-4, and then worked his way out of a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the frame to secure the win.

Sturtz was 6-for-9 at the plate on the day with seven RBI and four runs scored, and he improved his record to 2-0 after holding the Cardinals to four runs on three hits over nine innings with six strikeouts and eight walks.

Jeff Solberg finished 5-for-9 on the day with three RBI and four runs scored for Wiota. Brunson scored three runs and drove in two, while Schliem tallied three RBI and scored once and Rooney Janecke scored four times and drove in one run during the sweep.

Ben Conway (4-1) earned the other complete-game victory for the Indians, allowing eight runs — six earned — on 15 hits and four walks with five Ks in seven innings of work.

At Ridgeway, on Thursday, July 12, Wiota catcher Tyler Osterday drove in four runs and scored three times to lead the visiting Indians over the host Cardinals, 16-7, in a South Section Night League affair.

The Indians (4-2 NL) struck for four runs in the top of the third inning to erase an early 1-0 deficit. Osterday had a two-run single during the rally, while Brad Solberg singled in another run and Jesse Sturtz stole home for the final run.

Wiota plated two insurance runs in the fourth without getting a hit as three errors, a walk and a hit batter helped extend their lead to 6-2.

The Indians plated five runs in the fifth to go up 11-3; and then, after the Cardinals closed the gap to 11-7, the guests tacked on five more runs in the top of the seventh to put the game away.

Ryan Glendenning cracked a two-run double and Hayden Hardyman added a two-run single in the fifth, while Osterday ripped a two-run triple and scored on a double by Sturtz in the seventh. 

Tommy Meier and Matt Keister had RBI-singles in the fifth and seventh innings, respectively, to aid the victory.  

Osterday finished 2-for-3 with a triple, four RBI and three runs scored, while Sturtz went 2-for-3 with a double, three runs scored and a RBI.

Keister was 2-for-2 with a run and an RBI and Solberg was 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI, while Glendenning and Hardyman each drove in two runs and scored once. Blake Burns and Barry Schliem each scored twice for Wiota.

Glendenning (2-3) worked four innings on the mound, allowing three runs on six hits with four strikeouts and two walks to earn the win.

Wiota hosts Shullsburg/Benton for a Night League game on Thursday, July 19, at 7:30 p.m., and stays at home to host Hollandale in a Sunday League contest on Sunday, July 22, starting at 1 p.m.

Wiota hosts Shullsburg/Benton for a Night League game on Thursday, July 19, at 7:30 p.m., and has two games scheduled against Hollandale over the weekend with a make-up game at Hollandale on Saturday, July 21, starting at 1 p.m., and a regularly scheduled affair stays at home against the Rockies on Sunday, July 22, also at 1 p.m.