The Foley Lumberjacks secured the final spot in the upcoming Class B State Tournament with a 12-6 win over the Buckman Billygoats on Sunday in Sobieski. They did it primarily behind a 6 Homer outburst and a key defensive play in the middle of the game.
Everything was going the way of the Billygoats early in the game as Matt Kummet singled home Lane Girtz with 2 outs, followed by a 3-run Ho9mer off the bat of Andrew Rueckert to put Buckman up 4-0 after 1 inning.
Charles Hackett connected off Matt Tautges for a 1-out solo Homer to left in the top of the 2nd as Foley made it a 4-1 game.
In the top of the 3rd, Joe Ziwicki and Drew Beier went back-to-back with 1 out to make it a 4-3 game, followed by a Josiah Peterson single and error, putting Peterson at 2nd. Noah Winkelman then drove in Peterson with an rbi single as Foley tied it up at 4-4.
In the bottom of the 3rd, Noah Boser led off with a double, followed by a double from Ben Thoma to put the Billygoats back in front 5-4 after 3 innings.
The Lumberjacks grabbed their first lead in the top of the 4th when Lukas Olson singled and Brett Leabch sent a 2-run Homer over the wall in left to put Foley ahead 6-5.
Perhaps one of the biggest plays of the entire Tournament happened in the bottom of the 4th when the Billygoats got a 1 out double off the center field fence from Lane Girtz, followed by a walk to Noah Boser. With the go-ahead run on base, Ben Thoma sent a hard line drive to center where Joe Ziwicki made a head-first diving catch and was able to fire the ball into 2nd base and they were able to double off Lane Girtz to end the inning.
In the top of the 6th, Joe Ziwicki delivered an rbi single to score Brett Leabch and make it 7-5.
In the bottom of the 7th, the Billygoats Ben Thoma reached on an error , followed by a single to right from Matt Kummet, with Thoma advancing to 3rd on an error in right. Andrew Rueckert drove in Thoma with a force play at 2nd to make it 7-6 after 7 innings.
The Lumberjacks then added 3 runs in the top of the 8th on a sacirfice fly from Joe Ziwicki, and a 2-run single down the right field line by Drew Beier to make it 10-6.
In the top of the 9th, Lane Olson led off with a solo Homer to center to make it 11-6 and 1 out later, Lukas Olson had a sacrifice fly to score pinch-runner Sam Keeler to make it 12-6.
In the bottom of the 9th against reliever Drew Beier, Ben Thoma managed a 1-out single, but Beier clinched the Lumberjacks State Tournament berth a ground out and a fly out center.
Foley 12 17 3 – 12
Buckman 6 8 2 – 6
WP: Trey Emmerich 5.0IP 1 run 3 hits 2k 3bb 1hp
Josiah Peterson 2.0IP 5 runs 3 hits 3k 3bb 1jp
Drew Beier 2.0IP 0 runs 1 hit 2k 1bb
LP: Matt Tautges 6.0IP 7 runs 11 hits 3k 0bb
Ben Thoma 3.0IP 5 runs 6 hits 1k 1bb
Lumberjacks:
Drew Beier 4-5 Hr, 2B, 3 rbi, run
– Mike Moulzolf 0-0
Josiah Peterson 1-5 run
Lane Olson 1-5 Hr, rbi, run
Noah Winkelman 2-5 rbi
– Wyatt Ziwicki
-Trey Emmerich 0-0
– Sam Keeler 0-0 run
Charles Hackett 2-5 Hr, rbi, run
– Logan Winkelman 0-0 run
Lukas Olson 1-4 rbi, sac fly, 2 runs
Brett Leabch 3-4 Hr, bb, 2 rbi, 3 runs
Ean Von Wald 1-4
– Dan Marod 0-1
Joe Ziwicki 2-4 Hr, sac fly, 3 rbi, run
Billygoats:
Matt Tautges 0-3 2bb
Lane Girtz 1-3 2B, bb, hp, sb, run
Noah Boser 1-4 2B, bb, run
Ben Thoma 2-4 2B(2), bb, rbi, 2 runs
Matt Kummet 2-3 bb, rbi, run
– Eric Buffington 0-1
Andrew Rueckert 1-5 Hr, 4 rbi, run
Jack Suska 1-3 hp
Lukas Otte 0-3 bb
– Rylan Robinson
Travis Kahl 0-4
