Lakemen, Plover tied as season winds down

Stan Grove steps up to the plate during the Waupaca Lakemen Old-Timers’ Game at Lakemen Field.

Although the Waupaca Lakemen dropped a 6-2 decision July 17 to Hortonville, Waupaca improved to 8-1 in BABA South-Central Division play July 19 with a 14-0 win over Lanark.

Waupaca 14, Lanark 0 (7 inn.)
More than 30 former Lakemen players took the field for the team’s Old-Timers’ Game, held every two years.

The Lakemen then hosted Lanark and used an 11-run second inning to put the game out of reach.

Waupaca sent 15 men to the plate and the first nine batters reached base and scored.

The Lakemen had opened the scoring with two runs in the first, as Jeff Riddle drew a leadoff walk, Wes Austin singles, David Yeska drove in Riddle for the game’s first run and Luke Behm flew out to score Austin from third base.

Kyle Douglas opened the second inning with a double, followed by Josh Peterson’s infield single; Riddle’s two-run double; RBI singles from Austin and Yeska; Behm’s double; Rocky Mondello’s RBI single; Nate Nelson’s three-run home run; and a walk to Travis Holat.

Douglas grounded out to second for the first out of the inning, Peterson added an RBI single, Riddle reached on an error and Yeska drove in two more runs with a double to give the Lakemen a 13-0 lead.

Riddle started on the mound, struck out five batters and gave up a double to Jeremy Christensen in the third. Jim Nighbor followed with two innings of scoreless ball and gave up back-to-back singles to T.J. Robinson and Mike Nordahl in the fifth and was credited with the win. Joe Nelson took over for the final two innings and struck out the side in both frames.

Lanark reliever Justin Christensen held the Lakemen to a single unearned run the rest of the way. Cody Weller reached on an error in the fifth and eventually scored on Ben Selsing’s single.

Hortonville 6, Waupaca 2
The Lakemen appeared in charge and heading for a win, but things turned around late in the game and the apple cart was upset.

Riddle led off the bottom of the first inning with a double. The next two batters flew out before Yeska and Holat came up with clutch hits to drive in runs.

Those three hits were more than the Lakemen would get the rest of the game. Behm doubled in the third with two outs and Andy Wanty led off the fifth with a single, but never advanced.

It didn’t seem to matter, as Lakemen starter Cam Seidl pitched five solid innings before tiring in the heat and humidity. He scattered three hits over that time while walking one and striking out two and was helped by an errorless defense.

Wanty relieved Seidl in the sixth and gave up two hits and got two outs with the runners ending up on second and third. A ground ball to short was thrown over the first baseman’s head for an error, with the tying runs scoring. He got in bigger trouble later, as Hortonville’s leadoff man singled and was wild pitched to second and a double immediately plated the lead run. Two more runs scored on a single and Wanty walked the Stars’ fourth run later in the inning. That was more than enough, as the Stars’ reliever shut the Lakemen down in order after Wanty’s hit in the fifth.

Lakemen chatter
• Waupaca’s schedule resumes Friday, July 24, as the Lakemen host Clintonville at 7:30 p.m. Waupaca will return to South-Central play at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, July 26, in New London.

• The Little Falls Loggers will make their annual trek to Lakemen Field Wednesday, July 29, for Fan Appreciation Night.

Admission is free and Lakemen player Dean Nelson has secured many door prizes to be given away throughout the game. An estimated five prizes will be given away each half inning, starting early in the game. Raffle tickets will be available at the game for 50 cents each. Fans can buy as many as they want to increase their chance of winning prize. Most prizes have a value of between $10 and $25, but some are higher.

• The Lakemen will draw the winning tickets from the annual Jackpot Raffle Friday, July 31. Twenty numbers will be drawn at home plate following the game against the Appleton Legends, at about 9:30 p.m.

Prospective ticket buyers are urged to buy tickets from any player ahead to time, as they are usually sold out before that day.