Reds rally past Titans twice; Chaps beat Westboro twice
DAIRYLAND LEAGUE DIVISION B
The Whittlesey Reds overturned deficits late in both games to earn two onerun wins during a weekend sweep over the Tomahawk Titans.
First, Whittlesey scored all of its runs in the seventh and eighth innings to dig out of a 3-0 hole and win Saturday at Tomahawk 7-6. The Reds also had to hold on after Tomahawk put together an eighth-inning rally in that one.
Then on Sunday, the Reds trailed 6-2 in the third and 9-6 through six before a four-run seventh gave them a 10-9 win at Mike Roiger Stadium.
The wins put the Reds at 7-2 in Division B of the Dairyland League standings behind Wisconsin Rapids (6-0) and Merrill (6-1). Rapids pounded host Merrill 17-2 Sunday those teams’ first of back-toback meetings. They play again in Rapids tonight, Thursday.
Tomahawk fell to 1-7, a half-game out of the division’s basement.
Saturday’s game started as a good pitcher’s duel between Whittlesey’s Spike Alexander and Eli Wurl. The Titans scratched for one run in the bottom of the third on two walks, a hit and a ground ball. An error and then a string of hits produced two runs in the fifth, though Whittlesey also got an out at the plate to minimize the damage.
The Reds finally broke through and tied the game in the top of the seventh with Brigham Kelley and Ben Meyer getting key hits from the eighth and ninth spots in the order. In the top of the eighth, the Reds scored four runs to take a 7-3 lead. Brandon Loertscher walked, Alexander singled and Ryan Kraschnewski bunted the runners into scoring position. Jeff Kraschnewski was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Kelley and Meyer walked, Zach Haynes drove in one with a fielder’s choice and Thomas Mildbrand capped the inning with a base hit.
A walk and three hits put Tomahawk right back in it in the bottom half, but the Reds got Jacob Jarvensivu to hit into a double play to end the inning. Tomahawk stranded one runner in the ninth.
On Sunday, Tomahawk turned an error and three hits into two first-inning runs and got a two-out single from Nick Kahle and a double from Jared Jarvensivu to take a 3-1 lead in the top of the second. Cade Alexander doubled and scored on a two-out Mildbrand single in the bottom half, but Tomahawk answered with three in the top of the third to go up by four.
The lead disappeared in the bottom of the fourth. Spike Alexander singled and Nick Retterath was hit by a pitch. Nick Meyer’s fielder’s choice took out Retterath, but Mildbrand singled, Loertscher hit a sacrifice fly, Ben Meyer singled and Kelley hit a big double to knot the game at 6-6.
After Tomahawk got a run in the fifth and two in the sixth, Whittlesey took over in the bottom of the seventh. Ben Meyer singled, Kelley doubled again and Haynes hit an RBI single. Jon Laher reached on a misplayed fly ball, scoring a run. Spike Alexander drove in the tying run with a groundout and Jeff Kraschnewski knocked in Laher with the goahead run by hitting a sacrifice fly.
Kelley was lights out from there on the mound, setting the Titans down in order on three pop-ups in the eighth and striking out two while working around a single in the ninth. Kelley finished four for four at the plate with three doubles.
Whittlesey has just three divisional games left. It’s next one isn’t until July 9 when it hosts Merrill at 1:30 p.m. and then goes to Merrill the next day for a 4 p.m. first pitch.
Trojans fall twice
Also in Division B, the Westboro Trojans are still seeking their first win after falling to 0-7 with two losses to the Marshfield Chaparrals. The second of those came Sunday in a 9-6 home loss.
Westboro was down 8-1 going into the bottom of the fifth, when a five-run rally made things interesting down the stretch. All of the damage in that rally came with two outs after Marshfield turned a double play.
Connor Westfall walked, Dustin Freeman reached on an error and Butch Wiegel rapped an RBI double. Matt Krueger drove in two runs with a base hit. After Marshall Westfall was hit by a pitch, Brant Johnson smacked a two-run double to pull Westboro within 8-6. Derek Niemi walked, but the Chaps ended the inning there by getting a ground ball.
Westboro put two runners on with one out in the eighth but was unable to advance them. Krueger’s line drive was caught and turned into a double play in the ninth.
Westboro did hold an early 1-0 lead. Tucker Kraemer hit a leadoff double in the first and scored on Krueger’s two-out hit. Krueger was two for five with three RBIs. Four others had a hit apiece for Westboro.
Marshfield did most of its damage in the third and fourth innings. The Chaparrals scored four runs with two outs in the third to take the lead with three errors doing big damage. Jason Kurth hit a three-run double to make it 7-1 in the fourth, Chase Higgins hit an RBI single in the top of the fifth and the Chaps tacked on an insurance run in the eighth. Kurth was four for five to lead Marshfield’s 12-hit attack.
A June 22 rescheduled game in Marshfi eld was close until the Chaparrals scored four unearned runs in the seventh and four more with two outs in the bottom of the eighth to pull away for a 15-5, eight-inning win.
A 7-5 game turned when Westboro misplayed an infield pop-up with two outs and nobody on in the seventh. After two walks loaded the bases, the runners were in motion on a 3-2 pitch to Higgins, who hit a rare three-run single to left-center. Higgins then scored on a Kurth single.
In the eighth, Johnson was an out away from escaping a bases-loaded jam but a walk to Isaiah Baierl, a two-run single by Higgins and a run-scoring single from Kurth ended the game.
Higgins was the star of the game, going all eight innings to pick up the pitching win for Marshfield and he was five for six at the plate with five singles and six runs batted in.
Westboro had an early 4-1 lead. Down 1-0 in the top of the second, Krueger and Marshall Westfall hit one-out singles. After Westfall was out on Connor Westfall’s grounder, Connor Westfall stole second and JV Castillo doubled in both runners.
The lead doubled in the third when Dayne Diethelm drew a one-out walk and scored on Wiegel’s two-out double. Krueger’s bloop single scored Wiegel.
The lead held until Marshfield scored four in the bottom of the fourth, keyed by a two-run single by Austin Bacon and an RBI infield single by Higgins. Marshfield scored single runs in the fifth and sixth. Westboro crept back within 7-5 on a triple by Cameron Diedrich and a single by Freeman in the top of the seventh.
Diethelm threw the first five innings for Westboro. He struck out three, did not walk a batter and allowed six runs, five of which were earned, and 12 hits. Wiegel threw the next two innings and was charged with five runs, none of which were earned.
Krueger was two for four at the plate, while six others had a hit apiece for Westboro.
The Trojans will try to start climbing out of the cellar when they host Tomahawk Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
Medford’s Grady Kroeplin is unable to outrun the throw about to be made by Rib Lake catcher Steve Mann, who grabs the tapper Kroeplin hit in front of home plate during the third inning in game two of Friday’s Dairyland League doubleheader.MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS
