By Nick Beversdorf
Reporter
Two games, two wins. It wasn’t easy, however, as Hatchet varsity baseball had to fight for both of those wins in overtime. The first game on Thursday, May 12th against Mosinee was a low-scoring affair. The final score was 3-2 with Tomahawk generating five hits and committing no errors.
The first four innings saw no runs. Come the fifth inning, Mosinee got their first run. They got another run in the top of the sixth but Tomahawk tied them up at the bottom. No runs were scored in the seventh, putting the game into the eighth and eventually ninth inning. Mosinee couldn’t muster a run in the ninth but Tomahawk got the one they needed, courtesy of Justin Jarvensivu who came up with a clutch two-out hit to drive in Isaac Weber for the win.
Top hitters for Tomahawk include Jakob Panzer (2H, 1BB), Kaleb Kaminski (1H, 1R, 1BB, double), Justin Jarvensivu (1H, 1R, 1RBI, 1SB) and Isaac Weber (1H, 1R, 1BB). Kaminski pitched for eight and two thirds innings. He struck out two, walked three, allowed eight hits and two earned runs. Brandon Vecchio pitched the remaining third of an inning, walking one with zeroes on everything else.
“This was an exciting conference win for the guys,” comments head coach Wes Roessler. “Beating one of the top teams in the conference is a great confidence builder. Kaleb pitched an outstanding game. He made great pitches in tough situations. They played flawless defense and stayed focused on what needed to get done.”
The second game on Friday, May 13th against Wausau East saw a similar series of events play out, albeit with more runs scored. The final score was 9-8 with Tomahawk generating 13 hits and committing four errors.
A scoreless first inning lead into the second inning where Tomahawk would score three runs. Tomahawk would score another in thethird. Fourth and fifth would again be scoreless until West got their first run at the top of the sixth. Tomahawk responded with a run of their own in the bottom but West would rally in the seventh inning with four runs.
Tomahawk would not score any runs in the seventh, officially sending the game into overtime. West got three more runs at the top of the eighth but the Hatchets persevered and won with four runs in the bottom.
Top hitters include Cayton Scholz (4H, 1R, 2RBI), Kaminski (2H, 1R, 1RBI, double), Jarvensivu (3H, 1R), Weber (2H, 1R) and Steven Renn (1H, 3R, 1RBI). Panzer pitched six and two thirds innings, striking out two, walking five, allowing four hits and five runs-none earned. Vecchio pitched the next 2/3 innings, striking out one, walking three, allowing two hits and three runs-all earned. Renn finished up the pitching for the game, striking out none, walking one and allowing no hits or runs.
“This game shows the character of this team,” adds Roessler. “We were down late in the game and pretty miserable conditions. It would have been easy to fold when down by three late in the game in the rain and snow but they fought back and won. They have been fighting back late in games all year long. They believe they always have a chance to win. I love that about this team.”
“Our defense took a lapse in some situations late in the game and allowed East to get back in the game and we can’t let that happen as we get closer to tournament play. We had some guys step up with big at-bats late in the game to pull off the win. Cayton had a clutch two strike hit to drive in two runs to tie the game. Hopefully these two games will build momentum into the last week of conference play and into the tournament season.”