Waupaca shuts out Lobos 8-0
By Greg Seubert
A last-minute chance for a baseball season has paid off for the Waupaca Lakemen.
The Lakemen capped their first season in the Dairyland League Aug. 30 by handing Shawano an 8-0 loss in the Grand Championship game at Lakemen Field.
The Dairyland invited the Lakemen to join the league for 2020 after the Badger Amateur Baseball Association decided to cancel its season due to concerns over COVID-19, leaving Waupaca’s season up in the air.
The championship is Waupaca’s third in the last four years and 17th overall.
Waupaca took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning on the first of Tyler Goggins’ solo home runs.
The Lakemen added two more runs in the third after Luke Behm hit into a run-scoring fielder’s choice and Brenden Canterbury added an RBI single.
Goggins’ second home run gave the Lakemen a 4-0 lead in the sixth. Walker Smith drove in three more runs in the seventh with a double and Jake Pankratz completed the scoring later in the inning with an RBI single.
Shawano loaded the bases with nobody out in the eighth on a walk and a pair of hit batters, but winning pitcher Cam Seidl got out of the jam by striking out Dylan Berg, Drew Radies and Hunter Hoffman.
Seidl gave up four hits and struck out 10 batters in eight innings, while Jim Nighbor pitched the ninth to pick up the save.
Jake Popham, Smith and Tyler Goggins each had two hits for Waupaca, while Johnny Popham, Wes Austin, Canterbury and Pankratz added one each.
The Lakemen outscored their three opponents 20-1 in three playoff games, won seven of their eight games in August and finished the season with a 17-9 record.