This story is sponsored by Total Electric
By Steve Pilz
For MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – The Marshfield Chaparrals amateur baseball team put up big, crooked numbers in two innings in bashing Everest 15-5 in seven innings Wednesday night at Jack Hackman Field in what was their home regular-season finale.
The Chaps will conclude their regular season with a pair of games on the road before heading into the playoffs.
The Chaps travel to Sparta for a 7:30 p.m. game Friday before heading to Plover on Aug. 3 for another night game.
As for the postseason, Marshfield takes on Hudson at Rib Lake at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 11. The winner of that game will take on the winner of Lake Superior/Whittlesey at 3 p.m. on Sunday, August 12.
On Wednesday night, the Chaps (17-2) extended their current win streak to four, after having an 11-game streak earlier in the season.
Nate McDonald led of the Chaparrals’ half of the first inning with a single and promptly stole second base. After a pair of outs, McDonald tried to steal third, which he did, watched the errant throw sail into left field, and scored the first run of the game.
The first two Merchant batters, Cody Duffrinn and Jace Baumann reached on Chaparrals errors to start the third. After a groundout, Ryan Hubacek hit a grounder to Marshfield third baseman Luke Wirtz. Duffrinn took an ill-advised dash toward home plate where he was easily thrown out. The Merchants salvaged the inning when Koleman Schilling drove in Baumann to tie the score at 1-1.
While the Chaps did get 15 runs on the night, they didn’t have a whole lot of chances to swing the bat in racking up 10 hits. They did, however, have a keen eye and walked eight times, and presumably with a bullseye on their back, seven Chaps batters were hit by a pitch.
Baumann, Everest’s starting pitcher, took the brunt of the Chaps abuse walking five, hitting three, while scattering six hits in surrendering nine runs, seven of them earned, in three innings.
Marshfield sent 12 batters to the plate in the third. There were three walks and one hit batter surrounded by RBI singles by Justin Rayburn and Bobby Pilz, and an RBI groundout by Lucius Messerschmidt.
The big blow came off the bat of Riley Erickson, when he sent a bases-loaded drive to the left field fence for a three-run double. Austin Littman drove him in with a single and the Chaps had an eight-spot in the third.
“Our bats have been hot the last few games, especially with runners on,” said Rayburn, Marshfield’s player/manager. “It’s covered up some of the errors we’ve had.”
Those eight runs were more than enough for the Chaps pitchers.
Starter Ryan Metz went 5 1/3 innings on the damp evening, surrendering just four hits, while walking one and striking out two. The only two runs he surrendered were unearned.
The veteran righty has toed the rubber six times this season, winning four times against no losses. He lowered his ERA to 1.78.
Noah Panzer came on in relief of Metz with one out in the sixth. Uekert touched him for a three-run homer in the sixth, but he struckout two of the three batters he faced in the seventh with the Chaps still leading 10-5
In what was all too familiar to the Everest pitching staff Wednesday night, Pilz led off the bottom of the seventh by getting hit by a pitch. Hunter Korger, pinch-hitting for McDonald, walked. Erickson was drilled in the back before Littman lashed his fourth hit of the night, a double, driving in Pilz and Korger.
Panzer grounded out to short but got an RBI when Erickson scored. Austin Palacek, hitting for Rayburn, singled. Jason Kurth, pinch-hitting for Wirtz, was similarly plunked in the back before Jared Klein, hitting for Messerschmidt, mercifully ended the affair with a smash past the right fielder plating Littman and Palacek to end the game via the 10-run rule.
Chaparrals 15, Merchants 5
Everest 001 130 0 – 5 7 2
Marshfield 108 010 5 – 15 10 4
WP: Ryan Metz. LP: Jace Baumann.
SO: Baumann (3 inn.) 1, Heinrich Walder (4 inn.) 1; Metz (5 1/3 inn.) 2, Noah Panzer (1 2/3 inn.) 2. BB: Baumann 5, Walder 3; Metz 1.
Top hitters: E, Ryan Hubacek 2×4, 2B, RBI; Brody Uekert 1×4, HR, 3 RBIs. M, Austin Littman 4×5, 2B, 3 RBIs; Riley Erickson 1×2, 2B, 3 RBIs; Justin Rayburn 1×1, RBI; Bobby Pilz 1×2, RBI; Jared Klein 1×3, RBI.
Records: Marshfield 17-2; Everest not reported.