The Bluejay baseball team dropped double-headers to a pair of top-10 teams in the state and Wednesday’s make-up with D.C. Everest, but they managed to win two other contests in the past week, including Thursday’s 4-2 victory over Wis. Rapids and Monday’s 7-6 triumph over Medford.
The Jays built a 7-1 margin over Medford by the 5th inning, then hung on to improve to 8-9 overall (3-6 WVC).
“We’ll take the win,” MHS coach Brian Artac said. “We needed a win. We had lost five out of the last six. We were up against some pretty good pitching. We saw West’s two best, we saw Everest’s best and Rapids’ #2. We saw Rhinelander’s #2 and pitched a freshman against a team that’s now 17-1.
“Like (ass’t. coach) Shawn (Schultz) said, ‘If we play well we can beat anybody. If we don’t play well, we can lose to anybody.’ It’s been a roller-coaster.”
Freshman Alex Klug (6 H, 2 W, 3 K, 5 R, 3 ER in 5-2/3 I) picked up the win, and Alex Cordova (2 H, 1 W, 1 K, 1 ER in 1-1/3 I) earned a save.
Kyle Kubichek homered to lead off the 2nd to cut it to 2-1, and a 2-run double by Luke Golisch made it 4-2 in the 3rd. A 3-run blast by Dylan Burkam in the 5th gave the Jays the 7-1 lead, but Medford made it tight with 4 in the 6th.
Burkam (2-3, HR, 4 RBI), Kubichek (2-2, HR) and Alex Cordova (2-4, 2B) provided 6 of 8 hits.
Shooting the Rapids
The Jays took a 3-1 lead through 3 innings, aided by a Golisch 2-run hit, then answered two 5th-inning tallies with one of their own for the 4-2 win.
Golisch (5 H, 1 W, 8 K, 2 ER in 7 I) pitched the victory.
Burkam (2-3, 2B), Kubichek (1-3, 2B), and Golisch 1-2, 2 RBI) accounted for the MHS hits.
Hodag doldrums
Ninth-ranked Rhinelander pulled out 6-2 and 14-13 wins on Saturday. Merrill trailed just 3-2 after the 3rd in the opener, but the Hodags added insurance in the 5th and 6th. Kubichek (2-3, 2B) was the lone bright spot as Kyle Comer (3 H, 10 K) dominated. Kevin Bolder (7 H, 1 W, 5 R, 3 ER in 5 I) was solid and Kyle Rajek (1 H, 3 W, 1 ER in 1 I) relieved.
The Jays’ broke open a 4-4 contest with 6 in the 3rd of the 2nd game, but RHS matched it in the bottom of the 3rd. Both squads tallied one in the 4th, and Merrill surged ahead 13-11 in the 5th, but Rhinelander pulled it off with 3 in the bottom of the 7th.
“I guess it’s disappointing after playing so well Thursday to not win one on Saturday,” Artac said.
Cordova (3-3, 3 R, 4 RBI), Burkam (3-5), Michael Koppelman (2-4), Matt Woller (2-5) and Kubichek (1-5, 3 RBI0 paced the 13-hit offense. Burkam (17 H, 5 W, 5 K, 14 R in 6-2/3I) took the loss.
Head-scratcher
Merrill somehow gave Everest its first WVC win on Wednesday by a 7-2 tally despite out-hitting the Evergreens 11-7.
“We were not there physically or mentally,” Artac said.
Kubichek’s RBI double and Woller’s run-scoring single gave MHS a 2-0 in the middle of the 2nd, but D.C.E. made it 5-2 by the 3rd, then added solo scores in the 4th and 5th.
Cordova (4-4, 2B), Kubichek (2-3, 2B), Woller (2-3, 2B), Koppelman (2-4) powered the MHS offense. Cordova (7 H, 1 W, 3 K, 7 R, 6 ER in 6 I) lost.
Warriors
Fifth-rated Wausau West edged Merrill 2-0 in Tuesday’s opener, despite a 4-hit, 12 K gem by Burkam (1 W, 1 ER in 6 I). Burkam, Rajek and Koppelman had the only MHS hits.
West exploded for a 15-2 win in 6 innings in the nightcap. Golisch (2-3) and Jordan Burton (2-3) had 4 of Merrill’s 6 hits. Woller (4 H, 3 W, 1 K, 7 R, 4 ER in 1-1/3 I) took the loss and Ray Paul (5 H, 3 W, 1 K) relieved.