By Nick Beversdorf
Reporter
Merrill Post 46 faced off against Wausau this past Friday night, losing with a final score of 14-2. A series of key defensive errors at the wrong times coupled with a lack of base hits sealed Merrill’s fate. Merrill generated one hit and committed seven errors.
Wausau got off to a good start in the top of the first with three runs. After that frame the game turned into a battle of defenses. Merrill got their break in the bottom of the first with two runs, one from Justin Pyan batting in Drew Hoff with a hard grounder to short stop, and another from Dan Duginski batting in Nick Bowe with a line drive to right.
Wausau came back in the top of the fifth with four more runs, and after a scoreless sixth, Wausau scored seven more runs in a seemingly unstoppable rally. Merrill was unable to counter with any runs of their own.
Duginski got the lone base hit for Merrill, along with an RBI, a stolen base and a walk. Brett Seubert pitched for 4.2 innings, striking out two, walking two, allowing six hits and seven runs-six earned. After him, Trey Seubert took over for 1.2 innings, allowing two hits and nothing else. Nick Bowe pitched the rest of the game, striking out one, walking two, allowing two hits and seven runs-two earned.
Ryan Golisch lead the defensive effort with seven putouts. Other fielders for Merrill include Drew Hoff and Adam Messerschmidt with three putouts each, Jared Schmeltzer (2PO, 2A), Duginski (2PO, 1A), Bowe (2PO, 1A), Pyan (1PO, 2A) and Troy Pike (1PO, 1A).
Close game against Point
It was a hard fought game, but Post 46 emerged victorious over Point on Thursday thanks to a two-run rally in the top of the sixth. The final score was 5-4 with Merrill generating seven hits and committing three errors.
Merrill got the first run of the game, courtesy of Ty Befliori scoring off Ryan Golisch’s hard grounder to third in the top of the first. Point responded with two runs off a line drive in the bottom to take the lead. After a scoreless second, Merrill tied the game up in the top of the third with Nick Bowe scoring off Trey Seubert’s line drive to center. Merrill took the lead in the top of the fourth with Troy Pike scoring off a passed ball.
However, Point took the lead back in the bottom with two runs, one from a fly and the other from a line drive. After a scoreless fifth, Merrill re-took the lead again in the sixth, this time with two runs. The first came courtesy of Jared Schmeltzer batting in Belfiori with a hard grounder to short stop, and then right after Bowe was hit by a pitch, allowing Adam Messerschmidt to walk home. Point would not be able to score any runs in the bottom of the sixth or seventh innings, making Merrill the victor.
Top hitters for Merrill include Belfiori (3H, 2R, 1BB), Trey Seubert (2H, 1RBI), Schmeltzer (1H, 1RBI, 1BB) and Messerschmidt (1H, 1R). Ryan Golisch had a terrific day on the mound. He pitched the entire inning, striking out nine, walking one, allowing eight hits and four earned runs.
Fielding was led by Dan Duginski with nine putouts. Other fielders include Messerschmidt and Justin Pyan with four putouts each, Belfiori with two putouts and both Bowe and Seubert with a putout each.
Loss to Everest
The Everest game on Wednesday (July 13) played out similarly to the Everest one, but not quite in Merrill’s favor. Everest defeated Merrill in a closely fought game with a final score of 3-2, with Merrill generating eight hits and committing two errors.
It was a very close game, with neither team getting a run in the first three innings. Eventually, Everest got their first run of the game in the top of the fourth with a sacrifice fly. Merrill responded in the bottom of the fifth with Nick Bowe scoring a run off Trey Seubert’s sacrifice bunt (he still reached first on an error). However, Everest managed to hit another sacrifice fly in the top of the sixth to re-take the lead.
Everest got yet another sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh to bring the score to 3-2. Merrill was unable to get any runs in the bottom, ceding victory to Everest.
Top hitters for Merrill include Anderson (2H, 1R), Messerschmidt (2H, 2SB), Hoff (2H), Bowe (1H, 1R) and Schmeltzer (1H). Justin Pyan pitched the whole game, striking out none, walking three, allowing 10 hits and three earned runs.
Top fielders for Merrill include Messerschmidt (4PO, 1A), Anderson (4PO, 1A), Golisch (4PO), Schmeltzer (3PO, 1A), Hoff (3PO), Belfiori (2PO) and Pyan (1PO, 2A).
Stats provided by GameChanger
