This story is sponsored by: The University of Wisconsin-Marshfield/Wood County
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
WAUSAU – As darkness began to envelop the Wausau West High School baseball field on Thursday, the Warriors finished off their second two-run comeback to down Marshfield 5-4 in 11 innings in a Wisconsin Valley Conference matchup.
West scored single runs in the bottom of the sixth and seventh innings to tie the game at 2-2 and force extra innings. After Marshfield scored twice in the top of the 11th, the Warriors (3-1 overall, 2-1 WVC) rallied with three runs to pull out the win.
Kyle McMullen and Paul Weise each had RBI singles and after a walk and a fielder’s choice force out, Logan Gruenenwald walked with the bases loaded to force in the winning run against Marshfield reliever Trevor Schwecke.
“I told the kids that we played hard, we made some mistakes on the bases, they are competitors and they know we let one get away from us,” Marshfield coach Mark Zee said.
West used all of its bench players earlier in the game and was forced to play the final four innings with only eight players.
Caleb Alexander walked with two outs, stole second and scored on a single by Jack Donahue to give Marshfield a 1-0 lead in the first inning.
The Tigers pushed their advantage to 2-0 in the fifth as a Donahue sacrifice fly scored Tyson Slade, who led off the inning with a single.
Donahue was cruising along on the mound as well, scattering four hits over the first five innings. West finally got to him in the sixth when Garrett Hahn reached on a bunt single, stole second and third base, and scored on a groundout by Alex Osness.
Osness collided with Marshfield first baseman Sam Klein on the play and was forced to leave the game.
The Warriors tied the game in the seventh on a two-out, pinch-hit RBI single by Jacob Brandenburg.
Donahue ended up throwing nine innings and struck out four without allowing a walk.
“We had a great nine-inning pitching performance from Jack and had a chance to win, and just didn’t finish it up,” Zee said. “We couldn’t get the clutch hit. We’re a good team, a competitive team, and we’ll bounce back from this.”
Alexander had a one-out triple, Donahue walked, and Sam Klein and Braden Bohman each followed with RBI singles to give Marshfield a 4-2 lead in the top of the 11th.
The Tigers (2-3 overall, 0-2 WVC) couldn’t get in any more runs and left the bases loaded for the third time in the game. Marshfield finished with 12 hits and walked 10 times, but left 19 runners on base.
Marshfield hosts Chippewa Falls in a nonconference doubleheader on Saturday at Jack Hackman Field beginning at 10 a.m.
Warriors 5, Tigers 4 (11 inn.)
Marshfield 100 010 000 02 – 4 12 0
Wausau West 000 001 100 03 – 5 9 2
WP: Jacob Raeder. LP: Trevor Schwecke.
SO: Jack Donahue 4 (9 inn.), Schwecke 1 (1 2/3 inn.); Payton Nelson (4 1/3 inn.) 3, Grant Hill (5 inn.) 1, Raeder (1 2/3 inn.) 2. BB: Donahue 0, Schwecke 3; Nelson 4, Hill 4, Raeder 2.
Top hitters: M, Schwecke 2×5; Caleb Alexander 2×4, 3B, 2 runs; Donahue 2×4, 2 RBIs; Sam Kline 2×4; Jeremy Brost 2×5. WW, Kyle McMullen 2×4; Raeder 2×5; Garrett Hahn 2×4, 2B.
Records: Marshfield 2-3, 0-2 Wisconsin Valley Conference; Wausau West 3-1, 2-1 WVC.