Rib Lake rallies to knock off Marshfield Chaparrals baseball

Marshfield Chaparrals catcher Luke Wirtz gets an at-bat during the Chaps’ game at Rib Lake on Friday. (Photo by V. Pilz/For MarshfieldAreaSports.com)

This story is sponsored by Victory Apparel

By Steve Pilz
For MarshfieldAreaSports.com

RIB LAKE – The Marshfield Chaparrals amateur baseball team had things going their way for most of Friday night’s game at Rib Lake before the Osprey swooped in late and stole a 9-5 win.

The loss drops the Chaps to 5-7 overall and 3-5 in the Dairyland League.

Chaparrals manager Justin Rayburn succinctly summed up the game and what the Chaps need to do the rest of the season.

“We scored early, but then our bats went cold for a while,” Rayburn said. “Now we need to string together some wins to finish out the year if we want to make the playoffs. We are capable of that.”

And for most of Friday’s game the Chaps proved they were capable.

Jack Donahue bashed a home run to lead off the third as the Chaps drew first blood. Noah Panzer followed with a single and Bobby Pilz reached on an error. Rayburn’s bunt single loaded the bases for Luke Wirtz, who drilled a double scoring Panzer and Pilz. Sam Schwanebeck’s sacrifice fly scored Rayburn and the Chaps were up 4-0.

Meanwhile, Pilz took a no-hitter into the fourth on the hill before sacrificing a double and a single, but wiggled off the hook with a fly-out to left.

The Osprey got their first run in the fifth on a pair of singles to lead off the inning. After a strikeout, Pilz hit a batter before yielding a sacrifice fly. The inning ended with a pop-up to Wirtz behind the plate.

The Chaps got that run right back when Pilz led off the seventh by again reaching on an error. Rayburn’s single to right got past the fielder and Pilz raced around to score making it 5-1.

Pilz pitched into the seventh, but after a walk and a single – and 115 pitches – he traded positions with shortstop Schwanebeck.

Schwanebeck gave up three consecutive singles, turning a comfortable lead in a full-blown jam. Two fielder’s choice groundballs got the Chaps out of the inning, but not before the Osprey tied the game at 5-5.

Drew Spaeth pitched the eighth and promptly got a strike out and a groundout to first. After a pair of singles and a walk, Spaeth was almost out of the inning but a miscue in the infield allowed a run to score. A walk, a hit batter, and a single signaled the end for the Chaps as they surrendered eight runs in the last two innings and lost 9-5.

The Chaparrals’ next game is at home Monday at 7:30 p.m. against Abbotsford.

Osprey 9, Chaparrals 5
Marshfield 004 000 100 – 5 9 3
Rib Lake 000 010 44x – 9 12 5
WP:
Jeff Ziembo. LP: Drew Spaeth.
SO: Bobby Pilz (6 inn.) 4, Sam Schwanebeck (1 inn.) 0, Drew Spaeth (1 inn.) 1; Ziembo (9 inn.) 3. BB: Pilz 6, Spaeth 2; Ziembo 1
Top hitters: M, Luke Wirtz 2B; Jack Donahue HR. RL, Austin Ewan 2B.
Records: Marshfield 5-7 overall, 3-5 Dairyland League. Rib Lake not provided.