B-T falls to top-ranked E-S in regional final
The Blair-Taylor baseball team didn’t have another rally in it, falling to the state’s top-ranked Division Four team, Eleva-Strum, in the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Regional Final on Wednesday.
The (5) Wildcats (13-11) pulled off one upset, scoring four runs in the top of the seventh inning to top (4) Marshfield Columbus Catholic (16-8) on Tuesday. B-T scored one run in the top of the seventh against E-S (23-1) and had the tying run on base, but a flyout ended the game and B-T’s season.
The Cardinals went on to play in the sectional hosted by B-T on Tuesday of this week.
B-T 5 Columbus 4
The Wildcats were two outs away from their season ending, but they put up four runs to take the lead then put the Dons down in order to secure the win.
Trailing 4-1, B-T loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the seventh. After a strikeout for the first out of the inning, a run scored on a passed ball. The Dons chose to intentionally walk Jackson Shramek and B-T took advantage.
Zach Nitek hit into what could’ve been an out, but Michael Waldera beat the throw home from third to score another run. Peyton Kelly walked with the bases loaded then Ryan Flynn was hit by a pitch, putting the Wildcats ahead, 5-4. Two strikeouts ended the inning.
Anthony Oldendorf closed the door in the seventh, striking out two and getting a groundout to third to secure the win.
Columbus scored two runs on three hits in the bottom of the first and the Wildcats couldn’t seem to climb out of the hole. B-T broke through when Jackson Shramek singled to score Tavian Shramek in the fifth, but the Dons responded with two runs on two hits and an error in the bottom of the sixth.
B-T was in business early in the seventh as Kole Trapp walked before Waldera hit into an error and Tavian Shramek singled to load the bases. After Anthony Oldendorf struck out, the next four B-T players reached base.
Tavian Shramek led B-T with three hits at the plate, though B-T’s offense struggled to catch up with Blake Jakobi, who struck out eight, throwing 93 pitches in six innings. The Dons made a pitching change at the start of the seventh, bringing in Emmitt Konieczny, who only allowed one hit, but walked three and hit another batter as four runs came across and he took the loss.
Anthony Oldendorf was the winning pitcher, coming on in the sixth inning in relief of Tavian Shramek. Oldendorf held the Dons to one hit, while striking out two. Shramek didn’t factor in the decision, but struck out nine, while allowing four walks and eight hits.
E-S 5 B-T 3
While the Cardinals led throughout the game, the Wildcats stuck around long enough to make it interesting.
An RBI single in the top of the sixth inning had B-T within striking distance as Flynn singled to score Nitek, making the score 3-2 with one out in the sixth. The Wildcats had the tying run on second base, but consecutive strikeouts ended the inning.
B-T had been pitching around E-S junior Jake Bjerke in the game, but the Cardinal slugger got ahold of a pitch in the bottom of the sixth, drilling a double to the left field fence to lead off the inning. Bjerke later scored on a squeeze play to give the Cardinals an insurance run. A sacrifice fly made the score 5-2.
But the Wildcats just wouldn’t go away.
Tavian Shramek walked with one out and Jackson Shramek singled with two. Nitek got a hit through the infield to bring home a run. Kelly came to the plate with two on and got ahold of a pitch, but it hung in the air and was caught for an out, ending the game.
It looked like E-S would take control of the game early as two runs scored on a triple in the bottom of the first. B-T’s Anthony Oldendorf was efficient and allowed his defense to work behind him. Oldendorf ultimately took the loss, but held a high-powered offense to just six hits in the game. He walked five batters — though one was intentional — and managed to throw just 72 pitches in six innings.
B-T cut the lead in half in the top of the third when Jackson Shramek singled to score Ryan Oldendorf with two outs. The tying run was on third, but a groundout ended the inning.
Two errors hurt B-T in the third, the second of which was a throwing error from the outfield that allowed a run to score, making the score 3-1.
B-T had eight hits in the game, Flynn was three-for-three while Nitek and Jackson Shramek both had two hits.
Tyler Webb got the win for E-S, striking out seven and allowing two walks before being replaced by Carter Gunderson in the sixth. Gunderson got two strikeouts to get out of the sixth and worked out of a jam in the seventh to earn a save.