Norse end skid, split four in DC baseball play

After once appearing poised to contend for the Dairyland Conference title, the Whitehall baseball team’s losing streak reached four with a pair of losses early last week.

Whitehall’s (12-6, 12-5) chances of winning the DC took a huge hit with two losses two weeks ago and evaporated completely with two losses early last week, including a 1-0 loss to Independence/Gilmanton (see story elsewhere in Sports) and a 6-1 loss to Cochrane-Fountain City. The Norse were in trouble again on Thursday, trailing Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran 4-0, but they scored seven unanswered to end the losing streak, then beat Blair-Taylor, 13-6, the next day.

While first place is no longer in play for the Norse, a win over last-place Alma Center Lincoln on Monday of this week would lock them into second place. 

Whitehall’s Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association tournament play begins on Thursday when the fourth-seeded Norse host (13) Montello. The winner will play the winner of the game between (five) Pardeeville and (12) Necedah this coming Tuesday before the regional final next Wednesday, with the highest seed hosting throughout. La Crosse Aquinas is the top seed in the bracket. 

C-FC 6 Whitehall 1

Whitehall scored a run in the first, but were shut out in the next six innings.

Preston Schroeder led off with a walk and scored on a single by Devon McCune to put Whitehall ahead 1-0. They had chances to score runs late in the game, but couldn’t get anybody home against C-FC’s Landen Halvorson. 

The Pirates got consecutive RBI singles from Abe Henderson and Stevie Meyer in the third inning as they took a 2-1 lead. They added three — including a two-run single by Meyer — in the fifth and another on an RBI single by Henderson in the sixth. 

Brayden Lisowski took the loss for the Norse, pitching four innings with five hits and one walk allowed while striking out four. Seth Lambeck pitched the final two innings, striking out three. 

Whitehall had three hits as three different players had one.

Whitehall 7 ECI 4

It didn’t look good early, but the losing streak finally game to an end. 

The Lancers scored three in the bottom of the first inning and another in the second to take a 4-0 lead. They seemed to be in control for most of the game, but the Norse finally broke through in its final at-bat.

Whitehall scored one in the fifth when McCune was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. McCune walked with the bases loaded in the sixth to make the score 4-2. 

Whitehall still had a lot of work to do when it came up in the seventh, however. 

Eric Kleinhans and Bryce Schorbahn both singled to lead off the seventh and scored on a double by Mason Pientok to tie the game. Schroeder put the Norse ahead when he scored on a passed ball then Lisowski brought home two more runs with a single. 

The Lancers got one runner on with two outs in the seventh, but Schorbahn closed out the game with a strikeout. 

Schorbahn was the winning pitcher, tossing 1.1 innings in relief and striking out three. Lambeck pitched the first 5.2 innings, striking out five, walking five and allowing three hits. 

Whitehall’s lineup was balanced as seven different players had one hit. McCune, Lisowski and Pientok all had two RBIs.

Whitehall 13 B-T 6

McCune tied the game with a triple and Whitehall kept going from there.

An RBI single by Jackson Shramek put B-T ahead 1-0 in the first, but McCune tied the game by tripling with Lambeck on base. McCune scored on an error and Kleinhans later scored on a wild pitch, putting Whitehall ahead 3-1.

McCune added an RBI double in the second before the Norse put up six runs in the third to take a 10-run lead. The first run scored on a single by Nick Matejka before McCune and Schorbahn added RBI hits later in the inning, making the score 11-1. 

B-T responded with four in the fourth as Tavian Shramek had an RBI double, while two other runs scored on Whitehall errors. 

Kleinhans and Brock Sluga came through with RBI hits for the Norse in the fifth. B-T scored one in the sixth, but that’s as close as they’d get. 

McCune went three-for-three with three RBIs for Whitehall, while Schorbahn was three-for-four with two RBIs. Kleinahns and Matejka also had two RBIs.

McCune was also the winning pitcher, striking out six without a walk while holding B-T to five hits.

Anthony Oldendorf took the loss, pitching the first two innings before being replaced by Tavian Shramek in the third. Shramek struck out 10 in four innings of work, while allowing four hits and two walks, he also led B-T at the plate with three hits.