WEYAUWEGA – The weather finally cooperated for a change, as Weyauwega-Fremont hosted a four-team baseball tournament Saturday, May 7.
The Indians routed Westfield in game 1 10-0 behind a two-hitter from Trevor Potratz, but dropped a 12-9 decision to defending Division 4 state champion Burlington Catholic Central in the title game.
W-F also picked up another Central Wisconsin 8 Conference win Thursday, May 5, an 8-0 decision over Bonduel.
W-F 10, Westfield 0
Potratz went the distance and picked up the shutout over the Pioneers.
“Trevor pitched very well and got great defensive support,” coach Jeff Fahser said. “Eric Keenan came up with big plays at short and our defense was flawless.”
The Indians picked up a run in the bottom of the first inning, as Keenan and Collin Tidwell drew back-to-back walks and Keenan scored on Tommy Meehan’s double to center field.
W-F added five more runs in the third. Keenan got things going again with a sharp single to left field and was later thrown out at third trying to steal. Tidwell reached base on an error by Westfield’s pitcher and Meehan followed up Tidwell with a walk. Cody Derozier drilled a two-run double to right center to make the score 3-0. Treg DeSantis reached on an error to put runners on first and second and Wes Alix loaded the bases on a catcher’s interference play. Mitch Beilfuss drove home Derozier from third on a base hit to center field, while DeSantis and Alix later scored on passed ball.
The Indians added two more runs in the fourth. Keenan singled to left field with one out, advanced to second on a groundout to the pitcher and scored on Meehan’s single. Meehan scored on the next pitch, as Derozier doubled to left field, making it 8-0 after four innings.
The Indians finished the game in the sixth. Tidwell stroked a one-out double to right center field, Meehan walked and Derozier delivered again with an RBI single to bring in Tidwell. The game ended on back-to-back passed balls.
BCC 12, W-F 9
Burlington Catholic Central advanced to the championship game with a 3-2 win over Wisconsin Dells. Wisconsin Dells then defeated Westfield 9-4 in the consolation game.
The game was tight through the first four innings. Central scored two runs on errors in the first, while the Indians got a run of their own in the first on a triple by Tidwell and a single by Meehan. The game stayed that way until the fifth, as Central exploded for five runs on five hits to go up 7-1.
The Indians sent 14 men to the plate in the top of the sixth and scored eight times on six hits. Beilfuss, Hunter Billington, Keenan and Derozier all had singles and DeSantis drove in a run with a double.
“The key in the inning was the four errors by the Toppers, which allowed us to take advantage of some key situations,” Fahser said.
The Indians took a 9-7 lead into the bottom of the sixth, but booted the ball around as well, which led to a grand slam.
Keenan, Meehan, DeSantis and Beilfuss each had two hits for the Indians, who fell to 13-2 on the season.
“The comeback in the top of the sixth shows how we handle adversity and that we have the moxie to keep coming back even if things don’t go our way,” Fahser said. “This game was a great learning experience against a very good team.”
W-F 8, Bonduel 0
The Indians played what Fahser called his team’s best game of the season.
“We had excellent pitching from Mitch Beilfuss, who went the entire game, scattering three hits striking out five and keeping the Bears off-balance all game long,” he said.
The beginning of the game was a little shaky for the Indians. The Bears led off the game with back-to-back and Beilfuss gave up a walk to load the bases. The next hitter struck out on four pitches, as catcher Bobby Johnson dropped the third strike. Leadoff hitter Cullen Kowalczyk scampered for home, but Johnson got the ball quickly to Beilfuss covering home plate who tagged out Kowalczyk at home. After that scary first inning, Beilfuss allowed only one hit the rest of the way.
The Indians got their bats going in the third. Keenan drilled a one-out single to left field, advanced to second on a passed ball and scored two pitches later on a Cole Bosquez double to left field. DeSantis drew a bases-loaded walk to plate Bosquez with the Indians’ second run.
The fourth and fifth innings saw single runs score on solo home runs by Beilfuss and Derozier, but the Indians were not done yet. Derozier reached on a walk in the seventh, and Casey Lenz, running for Derozier, scored on DeSantis’ two-run homer over the fence in right center field. Three pitches later, the Indians got their fourth home run of the game, a solo shot from Alix over the left center field fence to make it 7-0.
The Indians added an insurance run on a walk by Tidwell. Beilfuss moved him over on a sacrifice bunt and later scored on a single to left center by Potratz.
“We had excellent pitching from Beilfuss, great fielding and timely hitting with 10 hits,” Fahser said. “It was our best game of the season so far.”