Red Hawks drop pair of baseball efforts

A pair of losses last week closed the regular season for the Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau High School baseball team.

The Red Hawks (11-10 overall, 6-5 Coulee Conference) dropped their conference finale to Westby last Tuesday before falling in a tight contest with La Crosse Logan on Friday.

Playoffs await G-E-T this Thursday—the sixth-seeded Red Hawks will host 11th-seeded Northland Pines (8-12 this season) in a regional opener at 5 p.m.

Westby 6 G-E-T 1

After G-E-T cut the host Norsemen’s lead to 2-1 in the sixth inning last Tuesday, Westby (9-14, 4-8 Coulee) responded with a crushing four-run bottom half of the side.

Brenden Brady got the Red Hawks on the board, scoring on a Collin Handke single in the sixth. Errors and walks allowed Westby to get comfortable in the bottom of the sixth.

Warren Stoner pitched all six innings for the visitors, striking out six Westby batters and walking three others. Two of Westby’s six runs were earned.

The Red Hawks were held to two hits.

Logan 4 G-E-T 3

A home run from senior Owen Eddy and seven hits as a team led to an effort that fell just short against the Rangers (12-8 overall, 6-4 Mississippi Valley Conference) in La Crosse on Friday.

Eddy gave G-E-T a 1-0 lead with his home run on the seventh pitch of the game, but Logan matched the score in the bottom of the inning. Logan scored three more runs in the bottom of the third on errors and a sacrifice fly.

The Red Hawks fought back late with a two-run single from Calvin Davis to make it 4-3, but the score held up as final.

Davis and Eddy co-led G-E-T with two hits, and Wyatt Hanson added a double. 

Five different pitchers split duties for the Red Hawks, and Oliver Marley provided a team-high two strikeouts.