The Foley Lumberjacks hosted the Sobieski Skis on Sunday in the regular season finale for both teams. This one really went back and forth, as Foley built a 7-0 lead, only to see the Skis score 9 unanswered runs to go up by 2, then the Lumberjacks made one final push with a 3-run 7th inning to win 10-9.
Before the fans even had time to open their first cold one and wave a fan in front of their face, the Foley Lumberjacks jumped out to a 5-0 lead after 1 inning over Sobieski. Drew Beier opened the bottom of the 1st with a single to left, followed by a single from Joe Ziwicki. Skis starter Joey Welinski then walked Brett Leabch to load the bases with no outs. Trey Emmerich then got hit by a pitch to score Drew Beier and make it 1-0. Chuck Hackett then singled to right, driving in Joe Ziwicki and it was 2-0. Mitch Keeler’s groundout allowed Brett Leabch to score to make it 3-0. A wild pitch from Welinski brought home Trey Emmerich and another run came home on a ground out from Alec Dietl to give Foley a 5-0 lead after 1 inning.
Foley starter Trey Emmerich then came out and struck out the side in order in the top of the 2nd to get the Lumberjacks right back off the field.
Sobieski did get their first scroing chance in the top of the 3rd when Joey Welinski led off with a bunt single, then a pair of 2-out walks to Collin Eckman and Matt Filippi loaded the bases. But Trey Emmerich got out of trouble when Alex Thoma flew out to left fielder Drew Beier to end the inning with Foley still up 5-0.
In the bottom of the 3rd, Chuck Hackett walked with 1 out and Mitch Keeler got hit by a pitch. Alec Dietl then singled to left and Foley had the bases loaded. After Chuck Hackett was thrown out at home for the 2nd out, Wyatt Ziwicki walked to reload the bases. Alex Foss then hit a ground ball that got misplayed for an error, allowing both Mitch Keeler and Alec Dietl to score and put Foley ahead 7-0 after 3 innings.
Sobieski then turned things around in the top of the 4th, closing the gap to just 1 run with a 6-run inning. Dusty Parker got things going with a lead-off single, then Jake Kapphahn took a walk from Trey Emmerich. At this point, Foley brought in Michael Moulzolf to relieve Emmerich on the mound. After a wild pitch, Matt Baier fouled out to 1st baseman Mitch Keeler for the 1st out of the inning. That brought up Joey Welisnki, who singled to drive in Dusty Parker and make it 7-1. Owen Bode then lined an rbi single to center to plate Jake Kapphahn and it was 7-2. Beau Thoma then ripped a double to center which brought in both Welinski and Bode to make it 7-4. Collin Eckman kept things rolling for the Skis with an rbi douoble of his own to score Thoma and make it 7-5. Matt Filippi then collected a single, the Skis 5th straight hit, to advance Collin Eckman to 3rd. Sobieski then utilized a double steal, with Filippi thrown out at 2nd but Eckman stealing home to make it 7-6 before Alex Thoma popped out to 1st to finally end the inning with Foley’s lead now cut to 7-6.
In the top of the 6th, Sobieski got a 1-out solo Homer from Beau Thoma off Michael Moulzolf to tie the game at 7-7. Moulzolf then got Collin Eckman to fly out to left, but then allowed a double to Matt Filippi. That extra basehit prompted another Foley pitching change as Chuck Hackett took the ball on the mound. Alex Thoma greeted Hackett with a single to center and when the ball was bobbled for an error, Matt Filippi scored and the Skis had taken their first lead of the game at 8-7. Hackett then fanned Dusty Parker to end the inning.
Sobieski had brought in Evan LeMieur to pitch to start the bottom of the 5th and he got through that inning unscathed, then with the Skis rally to take the lead, he suddenly became the pitcher of record in the bottom of the 6th. LeMieur got Wyatt Ziwicki on strikes, as well as Vince Jurek. Then he got Drew Beier to ground out to 2nd baseman Matt Baier for a 1-2-3 inning as the Skis took their 8-7 lead to the top of the 7th inning.
In the top of the 7th, Sobieski’s Jake Kapphahn got hit by a pitch from Chuck Hackett to lead off, then a sacrifice bunt from pinch-hitter Zach Opatz moved Kapphahn to 2nd with 1 out. A wild pitch moved Kapphahn to 3rd, then Evan LeMieur walked. The Lumberjacks then brought on their 4th pitcher of the game, Josiah Peterson. LeMieur advanced to 2nd on a passed ball, then Peterson got Owen Bode on strikes for the 2nd out. Beau Thoma was then intentionally walked to load the bases. Another wild pitch allowed Jake Kapphahn to score and give the Skis a 9-7 lead before the inning ended with Collin Eckman ground out.
In the bottom of the 7th, the game was ready to take another turn. Joe Ziwicki led off by reaching on an error, then Brett Leabch to put 2 men on. Evan LeMieur then hit Trey Emmerich with a pitch to load the bases with no outs. Another ground ball resulted in another error, allowing Joe Ziwicki to score and make it 9-8. Mitch Keeler then tied the game with an rbi single to center as Brett Leabch scored and it was 9-9. After Josiah Peterson went down on strikes, Wyatt Ziwicki put the Lumberjacks back in front with an rbi single to left that brought home Trey Emmerich as Foley took a 10-9 lead after 7 innings.
In the top of the 8th, Josiah Peterson got 2 quick outs on a Matt Filippi ground out and a strikeout of Alex Thoma. Dusty Parker then got hit by a pitch to put the tying run on base, but Peterson got Jake Kapphahn to pop out to shortstop Chuck Hackett to end the inning.
Foley went down in order in the bottom of the 8th, giving Sobieski one final shot at turning things around again in the top of the 9th. Zach Opatz opened the top of the 9th with a single to left. But then Josiah Peterson got Evan Lemieur to pop out back to the pitcher in foul territory, then Peterson reached back and struck out both Owen Bode and Beau Thoma to end the game with the Lumberjacks holding on for the 10-9 win over the Skis.
The win means that the Foley Lumberjacks will enter the District 4B Tournament next weekend as the #6 seed while the Sobieski Skis will be the #3 seed. Guess what that means? It means these same 2 teams will square off in the 1st round of the District 4B Tournament next Sunday at 3:30 pm in Upsala.
Sobieski 9 11 3 – 9
Foley 10 9 1 – 10
WP: Josiah Peterson 2.2 IP 0 runs 1 hit 4k 1bb 1hp
Trey Emmerich 3.0 IP 2 runs 2 hits 6k 4bb
Michael Moulzolf 2.2 IP 6 runs 7 hits 2k 0bb 1hp
Chuck Hackett 0.2 IP 1 run 1 hit 1k 1bb 1hp
LP: Evaqn LeMieur 4.0 IP 3 runs 4 hits 4k 0bb 1hp
Joey Welinski 4.0 IP 7 runs 5 hits 1k 4bb 2hp
Lumberjacks:
Drew Beier 1-5 run
– Mike Beier 0-0
Joe Ziwicki 2-4 bb, 2 sb, 2 runs
Brett Leabch 1-4 bb, 2 runs
Trey Emmerich 0-3 2hp, rbi, 2 runs
Chuck Hackett 1-3 bb, 2 rbi, run
Mitch Keeler 2-3 hp, sb, 2 rbi, run
Alec Dietl 1-2 sb, rbi, run
– Josiah Peterson 0-2
Wyatt Ziwicki 1-3 bb, rbi
Alex Foss 0-3
– Vince Jurek 0-1
Skis:
Beau Thoma 2-5 Hr, 2B, bb, 3 rbi, 2 runs
Collin Eckman 1-4 2B, bb, sb, rbi, run
– Ryan Newman 0-0
Matt Filippi 2-3 2B, 2bb, run
Alex Thoma 1-5
Dusty Parker 1-3 2hp, run
Jake Kapphahn 0-3 bb, hp, 2 runs
Matt Baier 0-3
– Zach Opatz 1-1 sac
Joey Welinski 2-3 bb, sb, rbi, run
– Evan LeMieur 0-1 bb
Owen Bode 1-5 rbi, run
