This story is sponsored by: Wisconsin Homes of Marshfield
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – Subpar defense by Marshfield in one inning changed the entire scope of Thursday night’s Class AAA American Legion baseball regional winners’ bracket game.
After pulling ahead 2-1 with a pair of runs in the fourth inning, Marshfield committed errors on three-straight plays as Plover regained the lead and went on to a 6-2 win at Jack Hackman Field.
Plover (16-8) will continue on in the winners’ bracket and play rival Stevens Point (13-6) at 4 p.m. Friday as the double-elimination tournament continues. The winner moves into the championship game at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Marshfield (12-10) will battle Wisconsin Rapids (10-3) in an elimination game at 1 p.m. Friday. The winner of the Marshfield-Rapids game will play the loser of the Plover-Stevens Point game at 7 p.m. in another elimination game that will also determine the championship matchup for Saturday.
Brycen Cashin walked with two outs in the third, stole second and scored on a single by Tommy Drohner to give Plover a 1-0 lead against Marshfield starting pitcher Cam Daul.
Kenny Schultz allowed one hit in three innings for Plover before being replaced by Cyle Zblewski in the fourth.
Logan Homolka greeted him with a leadoff double and Chandler Schmidt was hit by a pitch. The runners moved up a base on a groundout and Homolka scored on a groundout by Nick Urban to tie the game. Chase Higgins followed an RBI single to put Marshfield up 2-1.
Daul ran into trouble in the fifth as his defense let him down. After a fly out, consecutive errors on groundballs in the infield led to one run, and a single by Austin Beyer and wild throw back toward home allowed another to score and Plover regained the lead at 3-2.
Thomas Hunt followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 4-2 and that lead held until the seventh for the Black Sox.
Following a 70-minute rain and lightning delay with one out in the top of the seventh, Daul was replaced by Riley Bauman and Plover had five-straight hitters reach base to plate two more runs.
Drew Kedrowicz walked with the bases loaded and Jake Sankey had an RBI single to give the Black Sox a 6-2 lead.
Marshfield scored one run in the bottom of the seventh as Homolka delivered a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded, but Zblewski was able to finish off the win with another fly out.
Hunt finished 3-for-4 to lead the hit parade for Plover, while seven other Black Sox players had one hit.
Higgins finished with two of Marshfield’s six hits in the loss.
Black Sox 6, Blue Devils 3
Plover 001 030 2 – 6 10 3
Marshfield 000 200 1 – 3 6 3
WP: Cyle Zblewski. LP: Cam Daul.
SO: Kenny Schultz (3 inn.) 3, Zblewski (4 inn.) 1; Daul (6 1/3 inn.) 4, Riley Bauman (2/3 inn.) 2. BB: Schultz 0, Zblewski 0; Daul 2, Bauman 2.
Top hitters: P, Thomas Hunt 3×4, RBI; Brycen Cashin 2 SBs, 2 runs. M, Logan Homolka 2B, run, RBI; Chase Higgins 2×3.
Records: Plover 16-8; Marshfield 12-10.
Class AAA American Legion Baseball Tournament
Double-elimination, at Jack Hackman Field, Marshfield
Wednesday, July 21
Game 1 – Stevens Point (12-6) 10, Wisconsin Rapids (9-3) 5
Game 3 – Plover (15-8) 3, D.C. Everest 2
Game 2 – Marshfield (12-9) 8, Wausau (13-13) 6 (8 inn.)
Thursday, July 22
Game 4 – Wisconsin Rapids (10-3) 1, Wausau (13-14) 0
Game 5 – Stevens Point (13-6) 6, D.C. Everest 4
Game 6 – Plover (16-8) 6, Marshfield (12-10) 3
Friday, July 23
Game 7 – Wisconsin Rapids (10-3) vs. Marshfield (12-10), 1 p.m.
Game 8 – Stevens Point (13-6) vs. Plover (16-8), 4 p.m.
Game 9 – Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 loser, 7 p.m.
Saturday, July 24
Game 10 – Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner, 1 p.m.
If Game 10 loser suffered first loss: Game 11 – Game 10 winner vs. Game 10 loser, 4 p.m.