On Friday night in Avon, the Foley Lumberjacks and Pierz Lakers looked they were going to go right down to the wire in a District 4B game that would send the winner to the Class B State Tournament as the Lumberjacks held a slim 2-1 lead after 7 innings. But then the Lumberjacks put up 6 runs in the top of the 8th and then left no doubt about the outcome of the game with a 10-run top of the 9th to win 18-1 and earn their return trip to the Class B State Tournament.
The majority of the pitching in this game was done by starters Carter Petron of the Lakers and Josiah Peterson on the Lumberjacks. Both of those guys pitched into at least the 6th inning before the bullpens took over.
In the 1st inning, each team put a man on base thanks to a walk but neither team advanced a man as far as 2nd base.
It was pretty much the same story in the 2nd inning as Foley got Trey Emmerich on base thanks to a walk and the Lakers got Kolten Happke got hit by a Peterson pitch but that was it.
The first hit, and first run of the game came in the top of the 3rd when the Lumberjacks got a lead-off single from Noah Winkelman and a 1-out walk to Brett Leabch. After a 2-out walk to Joe Ziwicki loaded the bases, Winkelman came in to score on a passed ball to give Foley a 1-0 lead.
In the bottom of the 3rd, Carter Petron doubled with 1 out for Pierz, and a 2-out error on a ball struck by Kamden Happke put runners at the corners. But Josiah Peterson got Noah Cekalla to line out to shortstop Charles Hackett to end the inning.
The Lumberjacks were set down in order by Carter Petron in the top of the 4th, and Pierz came up and threatened in the bottom of the inning. Ryan Chmielewski walked with 1 out, and after stelaing 2nd with 2 outs, the Lakers had the tying run in scoring position. But a Josiah Peterson strikeout of Brady Petron kept Foley in front 1-0 heading to the 5th inning.
Carter Petron got through the top of the 5th without much drama, allowing a 1-out single to Wyatt Ziwicki but then retiring both Brett Leabch and Drew Beier to end the inning.
Typical Lakers ball showed up in the bottom of the 5th when Carter Petron led off with his 2nd hit, a single to left, followed by a sacrifice bunt from Preston Rocheleau. But then Josiah Peterson found his strikeout pitch, getting both Kamden Happke and Noah Cekalla on strikes to leave the tying run in scoring position.
A bit of a control issue bit Carter Petron in the top of the 6th when he hit Joe Ziwicki to lead off, walked Josiah Peterson and then hit Trey Emmerich with 2 outs. After Ziwicki had been called out for interference for the 2nd out, a Mitch Keeler rbi single scored Josiah Peterson to put Foley ahead 2-0 heading to the bottom of the 6th.
In the bottom of the 6th, Kolten Happke led off by getting hit by a pitch from Josiah Peterson. Ryan Chmielewski then walked and a sacrifice bunt from Chase Becker put runners at 2nd and 3rd with 1 out. That bunt from Becker turned out to be the last man that Josiah Peterson would see as the Lumberjacks replaced him with Logan Winkelman on the mound. Winkelman struck out David Kroger for the 2nd out, but then the Lakers got on the board when Kolten Happke scored on a passed ball to make it a 2-1 game. After back-to-back walks to Brady and Carter Petron, the Lakers had the bases loaded with 2 outs. But Logan Winkelman preserved the lead for Foley by getting Preston Rocheleau on strikes to finish off the 6th inning with Foley leading 2-1.
In the top of the 7th, the Lakers made their first pitching change, brining in Noah Cekalla to replace Carter Petron. Wyatt Ziwicki opened with a walk, followed by a double from Brett Leabch. With a base open and Drew Beier coming up, the Lakers took the bat out of his hands with an intentional walk to fill the bases with no outs. With the infield in, Cekalla got Joe Ziwicki to hit a ground ball to shortstop Kamden Happke, who fired home for a force out of Wyatt Ziwicki for the first out. The next hitter, Charles Hackett, bounced a ball to 2nd baseman Preston Rocheleau and the Lakers got another force out at the plate as Leabch was forced out for the 2nd out. Noah Cekalla then reared back and struck out Logan Winkelman and somehow, the Lakers had escaped the bases loaded, no out situation to keep it a 2-1 game headed to the 7th inning stretch.
In the bottom of the 7th, Pierz put together another good scoring chance when Kamden Happke led off with a single and Noah Cekalla walked against Logan Winkelman. After a strikeout of Kolten Happke, a wild pitch put runners at 2nd and 3rd with 1 out. But then Foley catcher Alex Foss picked Kamden Happke off at 3rd for the 2nd out as Cekalla was able to advance to 3rd on the rundown. Winkelman then got Ryan Chmielewski to pop out to right fielder Wyatt Ziwicki to end the inning and strand the tying run at 3rd.
Things began to unravel in the top of the 8th when Trey Emmerich struck out but then Hunter Hamers singled to center, followed by a walk to Noah Winkelman. A ground ball by Wyatt Ziwicki was misplayed for and error, allowing Hamers to score and make it 3-1. With Vince Jurek in the game to pinch-run for Noah Winkelman at 2nd, Brett Leabch singled to center to drive in Jurek to make it 4-1. After Drew Beier walked, the Lumberjacks had the bases loaded with still just 1 out. Joe Ziwicki then drove in Wyatt Ziwicki with an rbi single to left to make it 5-1. Noah Cekalla then walked Charles Hackett to force in Leabch and it was now a 6-1 lead. After that walk, the Lakers handed the ball to Preston Saehr, who will be a Junior in High School this Fall. Saehr got Josiah Peterson to ground back to the mound, and for the 3rd time in the game, Foley had a runner forced out at home. Trey Emmerich then came up with a 2-run single to drive in both Joe Ziwicki and Charles Hackett to put Foley up 8-1 before Preston Saehr got pinch-hitter Teddy Rasmussen to fly out right fielder Ryan Chmielewski to end the inning.
In the bottom of the 8th, Logan Winkelman got Chase Becker to ground out in front of the plate, then fanned Preston Saehr before hitting Brady Petron with a pitch. A walk to Carter Petron put 2 men on base for the Lakers with 2 outs, but a strikeout of Preston Rocheleau ended the 8th with Foley leading 8-1.
If the barn door opened after the top of the 8th in this game, the horse was 5 miles down the road by the end of the top of the 9th. Preston Saehr opened the inning with a strikeout of Vince Jurek but then walked Wyatt Ziwicki and gave up a single to Brett Leabch. Drew Beier then delivered an rbi single to right to bring home Ziwicki to make it 9-1. A Joe Ziwicki rbi single drove in Brett Leabch to make it 10-1, then Charles Hackett was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Josiah Peterson’s 2-run single drove in Beier and Joe Ziwicki to make it 12-1. Trey Emmerich was then retired on a pop up to shortstop Kamden Happke for the 2nd out, but a Teddy Rasmussen single meant that Foley again had the bases loaded. Those bases cleared on a 3-run double by Vince Jurek to make it 15-1. Wyatt Ziwicki then walked, followed by a 3-run Homer to right and Foley had scored 10 runs in the inning and now led 18-1. Danny Litke, who also will be a Junior at Pierz this Fall, replaced Preston Saehr on the mound for Pierz and got Drew Beier to ground out to 2nd baseman Preston Rocheleau to finally end the inning.
With the huge lead, Foley sent out Teddy Rasmussen to pitch the bottom of the 9th. He got pinch-hitter Mason Athman on strikes to open the inning, then walked Danny Litke. Kolten Happke popped up to shortstop Charles Hackett for the 2nd out, followed by the final hit of the game, a single from Ryan Chmielewski. But Rasmussen finished the game by getting Chase Becker to ground out to 2nd baseman Drew Beier as the Lumberjacks officially had secured their return to the Class B State Tournament. Foley would then play Nisswa on Saturday in Pierz for the #3 seed. The Pierz Lakers were not eliminated and still had one morechance to qualify for the Class B State Tournament a year after winning the Class C State Championship. That chance would come on Saturday in Pierz against the Avon Lakers. The Pierz/Avon winner woudl advance to State while the loser would be eliminated.
Foley 18 15 1 – 18
Pierz Lakers 1 4 1 – 1
WP: Josiah Peterson 5.1 IP 1 run 2 hits 8k 4bb 2hp
Logan Winkelman 2.2 IP 0 runs 1 hit 5k 4bb 1hp
Teddy Rasmussen 1.0 IP 0 runs 1 hit 1k 1bb
LP: Carter Petron 6.0 IP 2 runs 3 hits 5k 5bb 2hp
Noah Cekalla 1.1 IP 6 runs 4 hits 2k 5bb
Preston Saehr 1.1 IP 10 runs 8 hits 1k 2bb 1hp
Danny Litke 0.1 IP 0 runs 0 hits 0k 0bb
Lumberjacks:
Brett Leabch 4-6 Hr, 2B, bb, 4 rbi, 3 runs
Drew Beier 1-4 3bb, rbi, run
Joe Ziwicki 2-4 bb, hp, 2 rbi, 2 runs
Charles Hackett 0-4 bb, hp, rbi, 2 runs
Josiah Peterson 1-4 bb, 2 rbi, 2 runs
– Logan Winkelman 0-1
Trey Emmerich 1-4 bb, 2 rbi
Mitch Keeler 1-3 rbi
– Hunter Hamers 1-1 run
– Teddy Rasmussen 1-2 run
Noah Winkelman 1-3 bb, run
– Vince Jurek 1-2 2B, 3 rbi, 2 runs
Wyatt Ziwicki 1-3 3bb, 3 runs
Lakers:
Carter Petron 2-2 2B, 3bb
Preston Rocheleau 0-4 sac
Kamden Happke 1-4
– Mason Athman 0-1
Noah Cekalla 0-3 bb
– Preston Saehr 0-1
– Danny Litke 0-0 bb
Kolten Happke 0-3 2hp, run
Ryan Chmielewski 1-2 2bb, sb
Chase Becker 0-4
David Kroger 0-2 bb
Brady Petron 0-2 bb, hp
