A’s advance to BABA East Division final

By Scott Bellile

The Clintonville A’s Badger Amateur Baseball Association team progressed to the East Division final after winning 15-2 against Neopit in semi-finals Sunday, Aug. 16.

Two consecutive seventh inning home runs for the A’s highlighted the Sunday action at Don Jirschele Stadium in Olen Park. Turner Doornink slammed a three-run homer followed by a solo home run by Dean Muthig to bring the score to 8-0.

A’s coach John Fietsch said the Neopit Chiefs are a tough team to beat, and it took until the two homers for him to feel his team sealed the win. Fietsch added he was impressed by the first eight shutout innings pitched the A’s Patrick VanDaalwyk.

The Chiefs finally slipped in two runs at the top of the ninth.

“They’re a good team,” Fietsch said about the Chiefs. “Next week will be tough as well.”

The A’s will return to Olen Park Sunday, Aug. 23, for a 1:30 p.m. showoff against the Gresham Gophers. Gresham won 8-0 in Sunday’s semifinal game against Marion. If the A’s win, they will play against the winner of the South Central Division final at the BABA playoff semifinals Aug. 30.

Last August the A’s were defeated by the Plover Pterodactyls 3-1 in the BABA playoff semifinals. In 2013 the A’s won the grand championship.

There will be no guaranteed wins in this year’s playoffs, Fietsch said.

“I think we definitely have a shot,” Fietsch said. “We have to play well to beat those guys, but we definitely have a shot.”

Sunday’s blowout started when the A’s landed their first two runs in the fourth inning, one off an error and the other off a sacrifice fly.

In the sixth inning Dean Muthig brought home John Dunlavy to make the score 3-0.

The explosive seventh began with Garrick Morgan batting in Jesse Wiley. Then with two outs for the A’s, Doornink slammed a hit out of the park to bring in Kolin Kubitz, Nick Hogen and himself. Muthig followed up with his one-run homer, and before the inning was over Jared Westphal hit in Jansen VanDaalwyk.

In the eighth with the score 9-0, Dunlavy brought home Parker Mindell. Doornink ushered in Dunlavy and Jake Van Allen. Tyler Torborg brought in Doornink and Wiley brought home Muthig. Hogen capped the game with the fifteenth run by bringing home Travis Rhode.