Luxemburg got the party started, but it was Gunnar Wicklund and Pierz who won the battle of the Brewers 4-1 on opening night of the Class C State Tournament in Hutchinson on Friday night.
Runs were scored early, but not so often, between both Brewers ball clubs.
Luxemburg starting pitcher Reed Pfannenstein retired Pierz in order to begin the game and it looked like the first inning was going to be over in the blink of an eye, but the Luxemburg Brewers bats got going with two outs in the bottom half.
Jordan Picka and Josh Lanctot started the rally with back-to-back singles. Up next, Derrick Orth dropped a bloop single between three fielders in shallow left field that scored Picka to take a 1-0 lead.
A fielder’s choice ended the frame and then it was Pierz’s turn to answer.
Preston Veith drew a leadoff walk, followed by a single from Phil Zynda. Stepping up to the plate with one out, Michael Nezerka delivered a two-run single that gave Pierz a 2-1 lead.
A one-two-three bottom of the second by Pierz pitcher Pete Schommer got his team back up to hit and Wicklund added to the lead with one swing of the bat. Leading off the top of the third, Wicklund unloaded a 1-1 pitch over the right field wall to make it a 3-1 game after his solo shot.
Another run didn’t cross the plate until the top of the ninth when Zynda drove in Veith to extend the lead to 4-1, which was the final.
Schommer didn’t record a strikeout, but the defense played a strong, clean game and he earned the win after allowing one run over 6 1/3 innings of work.
Wicklund inherited two runners in scoring position after taking over for Schommer with one out in the bottom of the seventh. He stranded both runners after striking out the first two hitters he faced.
Wicklund slipped in front of the mound while fielding a comebacker to the mound to begin the bottom of the eighth, but recovered in time to fire an out over to first. Showing some discomfort in his knee after the slip, he jumped on another grounder up the middle and turned the inning-ending double play.
Brayden Haberman replaced Wicklund on the mound to close out the bottom of the ninth and he got the job done.
Pfannenstein was nasty on the mound for Luxemburg, even though his team lost. He fanned 12 batters over all nine innings and held Pierz to just five hits.
Pierz advances to the round of 16 in Brownton on Saturday, Aug. 23, at 1:30 p.m. after knocking out the tournament’s top seed.
