The #2 seeded Pierz Brewers began their bid for a return trip to the Class C State Tournament with a 4-1 win over the 7th seeded Freeport Black Sox on Saturday in Upsala in a 1st round game in the Region 9C Tournament.
The Brewers got a strong Complete Game pitching effort from Peter Schommer, who scattered 6 hits and struck out 3. The Brewers defense behind Schommer was simply outstanding, as they were able to turn 3 double plays and had numerous outstanding individual defensive performances throughout the game.
While Peter Schommer got the start for Pierz, the Black Sox went with righty Kaden Toutges.
The Brewers scored in the bottom of the 2nd when Rylee Rauch led off with a single, then went all the way to 3rd on an error on a pick-off attempt. On an attempted squeeze bunt to try and score Rauch, the Black Sox caught him in a rundown off 3rd, but an error on a throw during the rundown allowed Rauch to score and put the Brewers ahead 1-0 after 2 innings.
In the bottom of the 3rd, Michael Nezerka led off with a single, followed by an infield single from Kaden Kruschek. A force out by Gunnar Wicklund put runners at the corners with 1 out, then a rbi ground out by Phil Zynda scored Nezerka to give Pierz a 2-0 lead after 3 innings.
Meanwhile, Peter Schommer was rolling along. He gave up his first hit when Ben Millard opened the top of the 3rd with a sharp single, but then Carter Neuenschwander grounded into a double play, followed by a pop up to 2nd baseman Ryan Stuckmayer to end the inning.
In the top of the 4th, Schommer struck out Jared Laudenbach, but then walked Mason Toutges. Schommer then got Trevor Sawyer to ground to shortstop Rylee Rauch, who started an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.
In the bottom of the 4th, Preston Veith connected for his 2nd Homer of the season, a 1-out solo shot to right to give the Brewers a 3-0 lead after 4 innings.
In the top of the 5th, Addi Dobowey led off with a walk for the Black Sox, followed by a long single to left by Iver Papke to put runners at the corners with no outs. Peter Schommer then got Nate Mettenburg to ground back to the mound, and after looking Dobowey back to 3rd, Schommer fired to 2nd for another double play, this time of the 1-6-3 variety. Ben Millard then laced an rbi single to center to bring home Dobowey and make it 3-1. With the tying run now at the plate, Schommer got Carter Neuenschwander to line out to shortstop Rylee Rauch to end the inning.
Pierz threatened in the bottom of the 7th, getting a 2-out double from Phil Zynda and then Ryan Stuckmayer reached on an error to put runners at the corners with 2 outs. But Kaden Toutges got out of trouble by getting Rylee Rauch to fly out to center to end the inning.
In the top of the 8th, Ben Millard led off with a single, his 3rd hit of the game. He was erased on a force out by Carter Neuenschwander, but then a Matt Johnson ground ball resulted in another force out at 2nd and on the play, as the Brewers tried for their 4th double play of the game, a low throw got by Preston Veith at 1st for an error and Matt Johnson advanced to 2nd with 2 outs. Jared Laudenbach then came through with an infield single to move Johnson to 3rd and now Freeport had the tying run on base and the go-ahead run at the plate. That’s when Brewers shortstop Rylee Rauch made the defensive play of the Tournament so far, as Mason Toutges laced a hard ground ball up the middle, where Rauch dove head first behind the 2nd base bag, popped up and fired a strike to Preston Veith at 1st to just get Toutges and end inning in spectacular style. If that ball gets through to the outfield, Johnson scores easily to make it 3-2 and Freeport would most likely have had the tying run at 2nd with their cleanup hitter comming up.
After 7 pretty well-pitched innings from Kaden Toutges, Andrew Kerzman took over on the mound for Freeport in the bottom of the 8th. He got Preston Veith to fly out to right, but then walked pinch-hitter Stephen Nezerka. Mav Badeaux then entered the game for a pinch-runner for Nezerka, followed by a Derek Dahmen single. Michael Nezerka then drove an rbi single to score Badeaux with a big insurance run as the Brewers led 4-1. After Jared Prokott pinch-ran for Michael Nezerka, Kerzman got Kaden Kruschek to hit into a 6-4-3 double play to send the game to the top of the 9th with the Brewers leading 4-1.
In the top of the 9th, Peter Schommer got Trevor Sawyer to pop up to 2nd baseman Ryan Stuckmayer, then Addi Dobowey grounded out to shortstop Rylee Rauch, and finally, Iver Papke grounded out to 3rd baseman Kaden Kruschek to end the game with the 4-1 Pierz Brewers win.
The Freeport Black Sox will now play an elimination game against the loser of Sunday’s game between the #3 seeded Clear Lake Lakers and the #6 seeded Pierz Bulldogs. That elimination game will be on Saturday at 10:30 am in Opole.
The Pierz Brewers will face the winner of Sunday’s game between Clear Lake and the Bulldogs. That will be on Friday night at 6:00 pm at Hellie Field in Pierz.
Freeport 1 6 4 – 1
Pierz Brewers 4 9 2 – 4
WP: Peter Schommer 9.0 IP 1 run 6 hits 3k 2bb
LP: Kaden Toutges 7.0 IP 3 runs 7 hits 6k 0bb 2hp
Andrew Kerzman 1.0 IP 1 run 2 hits 0k 1bb
Brewers:
Kaden Kruschek 2-5
Gunnar Wicklund 0-4
Phil Zynda 1-4 2B, rbi
Ryan Stuckmayer 0-4
Rylee Rauch 2-4 run
Preston Veith 1-4 Hr, rbi, run
Nathan Solinger 0-2 hp
– Stephen Nezerka 0-0 bb
– Mav Badeaux 0-0 run
Derek Dahmen 1-3 hp
Michael Nezerka 2-4 rbi, run
– Peter Schommer
– Jared Prokott 0-0
Black Sox:
Matt Johnson 0-4
Jared Laudenbauch 1-4
Mason Toutges 0-3 bb
Trevor Sawyer 0-4
Addi Dobowey 0-3 bb, run
Iver Papke 2-4
Nate Mettenburg 0-3
Ben Millard 3-3 rbi
– Kaden Toutges
Carter Neuenschwander 0-3