B-T baseball wins two in DC play, drops two others

The Blair-Taylor baseball team remained undefeated in Dairyland Conference play, but lost two nonconference games last week.

The Wildcats lost for the first time this season last week Monday, losing on the road to Caledonia, Minn. The team rebounded with two road conference wins, besting Melrose-Mindoro on Thursday and Cochrane-Fountain City on Friday. Another loss came on Saturday as B-T’s pitching was hit hard for the first time this season in a 12-2 loss at Bangor. 

B-T took an 8-2 overall record into Monday’s home game against Fall Creek. They’ll host Independence/Gilmanton on Tuesday before playing in Augusta on Thursday and at home against Pepin/Alma Friday. Next week begins with a game at Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran on Monday. 

Caledonia 4 B-T 1

The Wildcat bats were silent after the first inning as the Warriors scored four unanswered runs to hand B-T its first loss of the season.

B-T scored in the top of the first inning as Tavian Shramek walked and came home on a sacrifice fly hit by Jackson Shramek. Two straight walks later in the inning loaded the bases with one out, but a strike out and pop up ended the threat. 

Tavian Shramek hit a single with two outs in the top of the second then stole second, but a strikeout ended that inning. That was B-T’s only hit in the game.

The Warriors took the lead on a two-run single in the third. They added one run in the fifth and another in the sixth.

Tavian Shramek reached base in all four plate appearances with one hit and two walks, while also getting on after a dropped third strike. B-T struck out 10 times in the game and managed six walks.

Brady Thompson took the loss, pitching two relief innings, allowing two hits and two walks while striking out three. Tavian Shramek started, allowing one hit while striking out two in two innings. Jackson Shramek tossed the final two innings, allowing three hits and one walk.

B-T 4 Mel-Min 0

Tavian Shramek struck out 10 as he and Anthony Oldendorf combined for the shutout win.

Shramek pitched into the seventh inning before reaching the 100-pitch limit, allowing three hits and two walks. Oldendorf got the final two outs, allowing one hit.

B-T took the lead in the top of the first as Shramek led off with a single and scored on a passed ball. They added two more in the third as Austin Thompson led off with a double and scored on a sacrifice fly hit by Brady Thompson. Kole Trapp singled home Jackson Shramek, making the score 3-0. Tavian Shramek hit a sacrifice fly to score Trapp in the sixth.

Austin Thompson had two of B-T’s six hits in the game. 

B-T 5 C-FC 2

Four runs in the third inning gave the Wildcats a lead they would not surrender. 

The Wildcats trailed after a two-run single for C-FC in the bottom of the second. Kelly tied the game with a two-run double in the top of the third then gave B-T the lead when he scored on a single hit by Brady Thompson. Flynn singled Thompson home to make the score 4-2. 

Kelly scored again in the fifth when Flynn hit into an error.

Brady Thompson got the win, striking out 10 with two walks and five hits allowed as he pitched into the seventh inning. Anthony Oldendorf got the last two batters out. 

Tavian Shramek had two of B-T’s seven hits at the plate. 

Bangor 12 B-T 2

The Cardinals scored early and often, raking 13 hits against a B-T staff that had only allowed 28 total hits in the team’s first nine games.

Bangor scored one run in the first inning and two more in the second. B-T added a run in the third, but Bangor came back with three in the bottom half of the inning. 

The Cardinals broke the game open with five runs in the fourth. 

B-T had just two hits in the game, one by Travis Pettis and the other by Flynn.

Flynn took the loss, pitching 1.1 innings with five hits and five walks allowed before being replaced by Oldendorf. In relief, Oldendorf allowed eight hits and one walk. B-T didn’t offer much support for either as the team committed five errors, allowing four unearned runs.