Waupaca to host Scandy Aug. 9
With one more week left in the regular season, the Waupaca Lakemen have a one-game lead on Plover and Scandinavia in the BABA South-Central Division standings.
The Lakemen handed Weymont an 11-3 defeat Aug. 2, fell to the Appleton Legends 5-1 July 30 and picked up a 14-0 win over Little Falls July 29 on Fan Appreciation Night.
Waupaca 11, Weymont 3
A six-run fifth inning helped the Lakemen pull away from the White Bass, a team that is currently in the running for the division’s fourth and final playoff spot.
Jeff Riddle struck out the side in the top of the first inning and led off the bottom of the frame by getting hit with a pitch. He moved to second base on Wes Austin’s bunt, but the next two batters grounded out to end the inning.
Zach Alix singled for Weymont in the second, but was erased on a double play.
The Lakemen grabbed the lead as Rocky Mondello led off the second by getting plunked with a pitch. Nate Nelson’s double to right field put both runners in scoring position. Mondello scored on Ethan Dayton’s single and Nelson came home on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Josh Peterson.
Weymont made a big push in the fourth, as the first four batters reached. Matt Brusewitz singled, Logan Bosquez doubled and brothers Wes and Zach Alix followed with RBI singles. Trevor Wetzel singled to short left field to load the bases with the scored tied at 2-2, but Riddle got a strikeout and groundout to squash the threat.
Waupaca quickly retaliated, as Nelson led off the Lakemen fourth with a double and went to third after the throw to the infield got away. He scored standing up on Travis Holat’s squeeze bunt to give Waupaca the lead for good.
Riddle retired the White Bass in order in the fifth before the Lakemen went to work offensively and sent 12 men to the plate. Riddle started the frame with a double that bounced over the fence in left. Austin singled and David Yeska was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Luke Behm drove in a pair of runs with a single up the middle, Dayton snuck a two-run hit over second base and Riddle capped the inning with another single and the Lakemen had a 9-2 lead.
That lead went to 11-2 in the sixth, as Andy Wanty walked and Nelson hit his third double of the day. Both scored on Holat’s single to center field.
Cam Seidl pitched the seventh and Weymont quickly got a run, as Wetzel singled, moved up on a wild pitch and scored on Eric Keenan’s single. Seidl would only allow one more baserunner in the game on a hit batter.
Waupaca closed the scoring in the eighth, as Ben Selsing was hit by a pitch and eventually scored on Cody Weller’s groundout.
Zach Alix and Wetzel each had two of Weymont’s eight hits, while Nelson had three of Waupaca’s 14 hits and Riddle, Austin, Behm and Dayton added two each.
Riddle and Seidl combined for 10 strikeouts.
Appleton 5, Waupaca 1 (7 inn.)
The Legends won the rubber match of the three-game series.
Appleton scored three times in the top of the first on two hits, a walk, a sacrifice fly and an error. The Legends got another run in the third on a double and an error and the final tally came in the sixth on a double and single.
Joe Nelson scattered five hits over six inning, but also walked four walks and the Lakemen defense committed a pair of errors. Wanty pitched the seventh and did not allow a run despite allowing a walk and two hits, as the Legends left the bases loaded.
The rather stagnant Lakemen offense had only eight baserunners in the seven-inning game. They did score in the bottom of the third on a Riddle double and Austin’s RBI single that kept the game relatively close. The only other Lakemen hits were by Yeska in the first and Beau Ash in the seventh.
Waupaca 14, Little Falls 0 (7 inn.)
Seidl pitched five strong innings to pick up the win. He allowed three hits while walking one batter and striking out six. Reliever Jim Nighbor finished the last 2 innings allowing only a hit batter.
Two of the hits off Seidl were doubles (Drew Radies in the fourth and Brady Huettner in the fifth). The other was a single by Jeremy Bauer in the second.
The Lakemen, meanwhile, had 14 hits.
Waupaca scored twice in the bottom of the first on Riddle’s double and a single by Kyle Douglas.
The Lakemen pounded out seven hits in the third and were helped by two errors to account for a seven-run inning that pushed the score to 9-0. Hits in the inning came off the bats of Austin, Nate Nelson, Behm, Douglas, Seidl, Dayton and Riddle.
Three more runs scored in the fourth on hits by Wanty and Eric Brehmer, two walks and a hit batter. They tacked on their final two runs in the sixth.
Riddle, Douglas and Seidl had two hits each.
Lakemen chatter
• With only one weekend left in regular-season play, all divisions are looking for seeding position. The top four teams in each of the BABA’s four divisions move on to open the playoffs Sunday, Aug. 16.
Weymont has already wrapped up fourth place, Waupaca has the advantage in first place with only one loss, but Plover and Scandinavia with a pair of losses. That means a Scandinavia win over Waupaca would likely bunch the top three teams together with two losses each. A coin flip would then be needed to separate them, as the first two tie-breakers don’t break the tie.
• The Lakemen had a successful Jackpot Raffle Night July 31.
The 20 winners and their ticket numbers are Dennis Erickson, $500 (ticket 300); Penny Donaldson, $400 (18): James Hamm, $300 (58); Dave Shambeau, $200 (33); Kim Nelson, $100 (217). Kris Shambeau (39), Steve Weller (106), Dacia Fredrickson (24), Renee Zager (46) and Linda Hoelzel (8), $50; and Lisa Ash (253), Marty Schroeder (189), Jerry Deuman (66), Kyle Douglas (298), Dolly Johnson (27), Scott Salan (281), Emily Nelson (216), Steve Weller (105), J.R. Simpson (95) and Paula Reedy (163), $25.