Loyal baseball ready to take on contenders

By Harry Toufar After three wins last week, the Loyal High School baseball team has put themselves in the driver’s seat, aiming for a conference championship. They are 8-0 in the conference, leading second place Neillsville/Granton (7-1) by one game. The two teams will meet next week. Before that showdown the Greyhounds need to deal with the Spencer Rockets (5-4) this week. Tuesday’s game results will already be known as this edition of the TRG comes out. They meet again on Thursday in Spencer.

Last week started off with the Marshfield Columbus Catholic Dons coming to Loyal. For the second time in two days, the Dons were unable to solve their problem with the Greyhounds. It looked like the Dons might have had something in the works, as they had two runners on in the first inning with just one out. Starting pitcher, Rhett Lamovec, settled any hopes as he recorded his second strikeout of the inning and a hard liner to the shortstop erased any hope for a big inning.

Adam Kautzer led off the bottom of the inning by hitting a single to left field. After two strikeouts, Colten Sandelier drilled a double to right field, scoring Kautzer. Hunter Walter placed another double down the line to score Lamovec, giving the Greyhounds a lead they would not relinquish. Carson Eckes put the Dons on the board with a home run in the top of the third inning. That would be it for producing runs for them. Meanwhile, the Greyhounds erupted for five runs in the third. Lamovec walked to lead off the inning, followed by a huge two-run home run to left field by Sandelier. Walter walked. Tryn Scheel reached on an error followed by a walk issued to Jonah Vircks. A balk by the pitcher brought in a run. One out later, Rogan Ashbeck singled to drive in a run.

The Hounds finished off the game in the bottom of the fifth. Singles by Vircks and Andy Petkovsek followed by a walk to Ashbeck loaded the bases. Kautzer was hit by a pitch, forcing in a run. Cain Toufar sent a deep sacrifice fly to center, scoring Petkovsek. Lamovec then launched a huge three-run homer to end the game via the 10 run rule. Final score was 12-1.

Lamovec pitched a complete game, giving up one run and three hits. He struck out eight batters and issued one walk. Leading the hitting for Loyal was Sandelier as he went 3-for-3 with a home run and a double, driving in three runs. Lamovec had a home run with three RBIs. Toufar drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. Kautzer, Walter, Scheel, Vircks, Petkovsek, and Ashbeck each contributed a hit for the Hounds.

The next night, Loyal traveled to Thorp to play the newly formed co-op made up of Thorp and Owen-Withee. Inexperience and control problems made for a long night for the Redhawks, as they absorbed a 16-1 defeat. Thursday, a different Redhawk team showed up in Loyal. Freshman pitcher, Evan Penterman, was given the task of keeping them in the ball game. He rose to the challenge, keeping the Greyhounds at bay for the first four innings. The only chink in his armor was a two-run blast by Scheel.

The Hounds finally figured things out in the fifth inning. Kautzer led off, being hit by a pitch. Toufar got a hold of one, driving the ball into the left field corner, scoring Kautzer. When the dust settled, Toufar was on third with a triple. He scored on a single by Lamovec, who later scored on a sacrifice fly by Petkovsek. Loyal tacked on two more runs in the sixth inning off Cooper Rosemeyer, who relieved Penterman. After a fly out, Talon Follen and Reed Stieglitz both walked. Kautzer lined a hard shot to third for an out, but the throw to double off the runner on second could not be handled by the second baseman, keeping the inning alive for Loyal. Toufar walked to load the bases. Lamovec singled, driving in two runs.

Sandelier pitched the first two innings, giving up one hit while striking out three. Petkovsek pitched the next four innings, giving up one hit while striking out six batters. Ashbeck finished the game, retiring the three batters he

At the top, Rhett Lamovec bats for Loyal in last Thursday’s home game. Above, Andy Petkovsek pitches the ball to one of the Thorp/Owen-Withee batters. Below, Cain Toufar advances to home on a walk granted by Thorp/Owen-Withee’s pitcher, as coach Randy Montalvo looks on. The final score was 7-0 Loyal.

VALORIE BRECHT/STAFF PHOTOS

faced. Leading hitters for Loyal were Lamovec who was 3-for-4 with three RBIs and a double. Scheel went 1-for-3 with a home run and 2 RBIs. Toufar was 1-for-3 with an RBI triple. Petkovsek drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.