BRODHEAD - Baseball has a knack for creating interestingly wild games. High school baseball doubly so. However, Monroe's 7-6 extra-inning win over Brodhead came in what may have been one of the wildest endings Cheesemakers head coach Steve Christensen has seen.
"It's a shame when a pretty game ends like that," Christensen said. "We hit the ball hard for the first five or six innings, but we just let them back in it."
The contest between county rivals started as a grind-it-out affair. Cardinals starting pitcher Tyler Malcook shut down the Cheesemakers in the first two innings, whereas Brodhead got to Monroe starter Mike Rear in the second.
After retiring cleanup hitter Michael Peterson in the second, Rear walked his cousin, Thomas Rear, who went to second on a wild pitch and scored on a Texas leaguer to right field two batters later.
Monroe (7-8) tied the score in the third, but left runners on the corners. In the fourth, Kyle Murray relieved Malcook and stranded the bases loaded.
"We were 2-for-14 to start with runners in scoring position," Christensen said.
Brodhead added two runs in the fourth to take a 3-1 lead. The Cheese gained one run back in the fifth, but trailed 3-2 headed into the sixth. That's when the baseball gods decided to have some fun.
Justin Rackow hit a pinch hit single off the fence in left. Returning to action to run, Drew Geissbuhler stole second base and went to third when the catcher's throw bounced into shallow center field. Mitch Marty, who had doubled in the first and walked three times, reached on his final base on balls to put runners at the corners.
Courtesy runner Gabe Hermanson stole second and both runners scored with two outs on a three-run home run by cleanup hitter Taylor Weckerly. The shot to left center gave the Cheese a 5-3 lead. Momentum seemed to have swung completely in Monroe's favor a batter later when Cory Kundert sent a laser to center for the Cheesemakers' first back-to-back set of homers in recent memory.
"It hasn't happened since I've been here. We were making good contact, though, and our guys were swinging hard," Christensen said.
However, Brodhead coach Paul Ritschard didn't let his 1-10 team give up hope.
"I'm very happy with the heart our kids showed. We shook it off very quickly and never gave up," he said.
Brodhead loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth, but Kundert closed out the inning in relief.
In the seventh, the Cardinals again threatened. Carson Scheidegger blooped a single into the Bermuda Triangle in left field for a leadoff hit. A Cardinals pinch hitter hit a second dying quail into left center and both runners advanced on a wild pitch moments later. Billy Sangermano hit a sac fly to center to score a run. The next batter, Trevor Klein, was hit by a pitch on a full count. In the game, Monroe hit four batters and Brodhead hit three.
With runners on the corners, Murray dropped a Texas leaguer into left field again, but the runner at third didn't score because he had to wait to see if the ball was caught.
"All they did was put it in play. They blooped it in the right spot," Christensen said.
Still with one out, leadoff hitter Tyler Welch hit a slow roller up the middle, allowing a run to score to make it 6-5. Chris Rieder entered the game in relief for Monroe and promptly allowed a single into left center to tie the game.
With bases loaded and only one out, Ritschard tried to squeeze out the win - literally. However, the batter missed the sign and Murray was caught in a rundown at third base. Jake Covert then grounded out sharply to Rieder to end the inning.
"It was a pretty good pitch to squeeze on, but unfortunately we didn't execute. It's a little frustrating to see the game end like that," Ritschard said of the botched suicide squeeze.
In the eighth, Monroe manufactured a run. Alex Dammen was hit by a pitch with one out and stole second. Moments later, Dammen scored on a two-out error by Peterson at shortstop. Rieder then got the Cards to fall 1-2-3 in the home half to end the game.
"A win is a win. Like (assistant) coach (Scott) Marty said after the game, we probably deserved it after all those bloop hits (Brodhead) got the inning before," Christensen said.
Monroe finished with eight hits and seven walks. Kundert was the only Cheesemaker with two hits. Welch and Malcook each had a pair of hits for Brodhead, and the Cardinals finished with nine hits and four walks.
Monroe has a lot of decisions to make with its pitching schedule this week. it plays three conference games and has few arms remaining.
"We've got games Monday, Tuesday and Friday. And we play the same team Monday (Oregon) that we do on Friday, so we don't want to throw the same kid," Christensen said.
Brodhead isn't worried about pitching, but instead is gearing up for playoffs.
"We've been playing very well coming back in games. They're playing hard, and that's good to see," Ritschard said.
"It's a shame when a pretty game ends like that," Christensen said. "We hit the ball hard for the first five or six innings, but we just let them back in it."
The contest between county rivals started as a grind-it-out affair. Cardinals starting pitcher Tyler Malcook shut down the Cheesemakers in the first two innings, whereas Brodhead got to Monroe starter Mike Rear in the second.
After retiring cleanup hitter Michael Peterson in the second, Rear walked his cousin, Thomas Rear, who went to second on a wild pitch and scored on a Texas leaguer to right field two batters later.
Monroe (7-8) tied the score in the third, but left runners on the corners. In the fourth, Kyle Murray relieved Malcook and stranded the bases loaded.
"We were 2-for-14 to start with runners in scoring position," Christensen said.
Brodhead added two runs in the fourth to take a 3-1 lead. The Cheese gained one run back in the fifth, but trailed 3-2 headed into the sixth. That's when the baseball gods decided to have some fun.
Justin Rackow hit a pinch hit single off the fence in left. Returning to action to run, Drew Geissbuhler stole second base and went to third when the catcher's throw bounced into shallow center field. Mitch Marty, who had doubled in the first and walked three times, reached on his final base on balls to put runners at the corners.
Courtesy runner Gabe Hermanson stole second and both runners scored with two outs on a three-run home run by cleanup hitter Taylor Weckerly. The shot to left center gave the Cheese a 5-3 lead. Momentum seemed to have swung completely in Monroe's favor a batter later when Cory Kundert sent a laser to center for the Cheesemakers' first back-to-back set of homers in recent memory.
"It hasn't happened since I've been here. We were making good contact, though, and our guys were swinging hard," Christensen said.
However, Brodhead coach Paul Ritschard didn't let his 1-10 team give up hope.
"I'm very happy with the heart our kids showed. We shook it off very quickly and never gave up," he said.
Brodhead loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth, but Kundert closed out the inning in relief.
In the seventh, the Cardinals again threatened. Carson Scheidegger blooped a single into the Bermuda Triangle in left field for a leadoff hit. A Cardinals pinch hitter hit a second dying quail into left center and both runners advanced on a wild pitch moments later. Billy Sangermano hit a sac fly to center to score a run. The next batter, Trevor Klein, was hit by a pitch on a full count. In the game, Monroe hit four batters and Brodhead hit three.
With runners on the corners, Murray dropped a Texas leaguer into left field again, but the runner at third didn't score because he had to wait to see if the ball was caught.
"All they did was put it in play. They blooped it in the right spot," Christensen said.
Still with one out, leadoff hitter Tyler Welch hit a slow roller up the middle, allowing a run to score to make it 6-5. Chris Rieder entered the game in relief for Monroe and promptly allowed a single into left center to tie the game.
With bases loaded and only one out, Ritschard tried to squeeze out the win - literally. However, the batter missed the sign and Murray was caught in a rundown at third base. Jake Covert then grounded out sharply to Rieder to end the inning.
"It was a pretty good pitch to squeeze on, but unfortunately we didn't execute. It's a little frustrating to see the game end like that," Ritschard said of the botched suicide squeeze.
In the eighth, Monroe manufactured a run. Alex Dammen was hit by a pitch with one out and stole second. Moments later, Dammen scored on a two-out error by Peterson at shortstop. Rieder then got the Cards to fall 1-2-3 in the home half to end the game.
"A win is a win. Like (assistant) coach (Scott) Marty said after the game, we probably deserved it after all those bloop hits (Brodhead) got the inning before," Christensen said.
Monroe finished with eight hits and seven walks. Kundert was the only Cheesemaker with two hits. Welch and Malcook each had a pair of hits for Brodhead, and the Cardinals finished with nine hits and four walks.
Monroe has a lot of decisions to make with its pitching schedule this week. it plays three conference games and has few arms remaining.
"We've got games Monday, Tuesday and Friday. And we play the same team Monday (Oregon) that we do on Friday, so we don't want to throw the same kid," Christensen said.
Brodhead isn't worried about pitching, but instead is gearing up for playoffs.
"We've been playing very well coming back in games. They're playing hard, and that's good to see," Ritschard said.
