The #10 seeded Royalton Riverdogs got a Complete Game 5-hit pitching performance from Marcus Hayes and 3-hit games from Tyler Jendro and Kirk Yourczek to defeat the #7 seeded Freeport Black Sox 10-2 on Saturday in Game 2 of their best 2-of-3 playoff series to force a decisive Game 3 on Saturday night with the winner advancing to next weekend’s Region 9C Tournament.
In Game 3, 6 different players had multi-hit games for Freeport as they rolled to a 16-1 win over Royalton in 7 innings to clinch their spot in the Region 9C field.
Game 2
The pitching matchup for Game 2 featured Marcus Hayes for the Riverdogs and Andrew Kerzman for the BLack Sox and both guys were sharp early, as the game was scoreless headed to the bottom of the 3rd. Kirk Yourczek started a rally with a 2-out single for Royalton, then stole 2nd. Tyler Jendro then laced an rbi single to left field to give the Riverdogs a 1-0 lead after 3 innings.
Royalton scored again an inning later when Ryan Swenson walked with 1 out. Swenson then stole 2nd with 2 outs and scored on an rbi double from Jaden Albright to make it 2-0 after 4 innings.
The Riverdogs then broke things open in the bottom of the 5th, scoring 5 runs to go ahead 7-0. Ryan Snyder and Kirk Yourczek opened the inning with singles, prompting a pitching change for Freeport as Carter Williams relieved Andrew Kerzman. Tyler Jendro bunted for a hit and an error on the play brought home Ryan Snyder to make it 3-0. Drew Yourczek followed that with a 2-run double, plating both Kirk Yourczek and Tyler Jendro as Royalton increased their lead to 5-0. Keaton Nelson then traded places with Drew Yourczek with an rbi double of his own as the lead grew to 6-0. The Riverdogs added one more run in the inning on a 2-out rbi single from Ethan Albright to score Keaton Nelson and make it 7-0 after 5 innings.
Freeport got on the board in the top of the 6th against Marcus Hayes when Ryan Liebrenz walked with 1 out, then scored on a 2-out rbi double from Jared Laudenbauch to make it 7-1.
Royalton got that run right back in the bottom of the 6th when a Keaton Nelson rbi double with 2 outs scored Tyler Jendro to make it 8-1 after 6 innings.
In the top of the 8th, Freeport got their final run when Matt Johnson reached on an error, Ryan Liebrenz walked, a wild pitch and a run-scoring ground out by Mason Toutges scored Johnson to make it 8-2.
In the bottom of the 8th, Ryan Snyder opened the inning with a walk followed by a double from Kirk Yourczek to put runners at 2nd and 3rd with no outs. Tyler Jendro then smashed a 2-run double to left to put the Riverdogs ahead 10-2 after 8 innings.
Marcus Hayes then came out and promptly retired Freeport in order in the top of the 9th to close out the Riverdogs 10-2 win and force a decisive Game 3.
Freeport 2 5 2 – 2
Royalton 10 12 2 – 10
WP: Marcus Hayes 9.0 IP 2 runs 5 hits 5k 3bb
LP: Andrew Kerzman 4.0 IP 4 runs 5 hits 1k 1bb
Carter Williams 4.0 IP 6 runs 7 hits 1k 2bb 2hp
Riverdogs:
Kirk Yourczek 3-5 2B, sb, 3 runs
Tyler Jendro 3-4 2B, hp, 3 rbi, 2 runs
– Hunter Young 0-0
Drew Yourczek 1-4 2B, hp, 2 rbi, run
Keaton Nelson 2-5 2B(2), 2 rbi, run
Ryan Swenson 0-4 bb, sb, run
Gavin Suska 0-3 bb, sb
Jaden Albright 1-4 2B, rbi
Ethan Albright 1-4 rbi
Ryan Snyder 1-3 bb, 2 runs
Black Sox:
Matt Johnson 1-4 run
Ryan Liebrenz 0-2 2bb, run
Mason Toutges 0-4 rbi
Jared Laudenbach 1-4 2B, rbi
Owen Fradette 0-4
Trevor Sawyer 1-4
Dominic Ritter 1-3 bb
Ben Millard 1-3
Carter Neuenschwander 0-4
Game 3
The Freeport Black Sox took early control of Game 3 with Royalton, scoring 4 times in the bottom of the 1st and rolled to a 16-1 win in 7 innings in a Region 9C-clinching game in Freeport. Carter Neuenschwander threw a Complete Game for the Sox, scattering 6 hits over his 7 innings. But it was the Freeport bats that really carried them to this win. Matt Johnson, Mason Toutges, Jared Laudenbauch, Owen Fradette, Iver Papke and Addi Dobowey all had at least 2 hits each as Freeport pounded out 17 hits against 4 different Royalton pitchers.
The Black Sox 4-run, 1st inning outburst started after 2 outs when Mason Toutges walked, Jared Laudenbauch singled, and Owen Fradette belted a 2-run double to make it 2-0. Iver Papke followed with an rbi single to right to make it 3-0, then a single by Nate Mettenburg was followed by a run-scoring single from Addi Dobowey to score Papke and make it 4-0 after 1 inning.
Royalton made it 4-1 in the top of the 2nd when Keaton Nelson opened the inning with a single, followed by a walk to Ryan Swenson. After a groundout moved runners to 2nd and 3rd with 1 out, a sacrifice fly from Jaden Albright drove in Keaton Nelson to make it 4-1.
In the bottom of the 2nd, Matt Johnson singled, Ryan Liebrenz walked, then a bunt single from Mason Toutges loaded the bases with no outs. Jared Laudenbach’s ground ball was misplayed for an error, allowing both Johnson and Liebrenz to score and make it 6-1. Owen Fradette then was hit by a pitch to re-load the bases for Freeport. After a Royalton pitching change brought in Keaton Nelson to the mound, a sacrifice fly from Iver Papke made it 7-1 after 2 innings.
Royalton loaded the bases with 1 out in the 3rd on 3 straight singles from Kirk Yourczek, Tyler Jendro and Drew Yourczek, but Carter Neuenschwander got Keaton Nelson to ground back to the mound, which turned into an inning-ending double play.
Freeport made it 8-1 in the bottom of the 3rd on an rbi groundout from Mason Toutges to score Addi Dobowey, who had opened the inning with a single off new pitcher Tyler Jendro.
The Black Sox upped their lead to 9-1 in the bottom of the 4th when Owen Fradette and Iver Papke singled, Nate Mettenburg walked and Addi Dobowey delivered a sacrifice fly to score Fradette to give Freeport a 9-1 after 4 innings.
In the bottom of the 5th, a 1-out rbi triple from Jared Laudenbach plated Mason Toutges to make it 10-1. Owen Fradette then drove in Laudenbach with a single and it was 11-1. After a popup for the 2nd out, Nate Mettenburg reached on an error. An rbi single from Addi Dobowey scored Fradette to make it 12-1. Pinch-hitter Carter Williams walked to load the bases, then Matt Johnson doubled to center to clear the bases and the Sox lead grew to 15-1. After Marcus Hayes relieved Tyler Jendro, a 2-out rbi single from Mason Toutges brought in pinch-runner Dominic Ritter to make it 16-1 after 5 innings.
Carter Neuenschwander then worked a 1-2-3 inning in both the top of the 6th and again the top of the 7th to finish off the Black Sox 16-1 win and clinch their spot in the Region 9C Tournament next weekend.
Royalton 1 6 3 – 1 7 innings
Freeport 16 17 0 – 16
WP: Carter Neuenschwander 7.0 IP 1 run 6 hits 0k 2bb
LP: Kirk Yourczek 1.0 IP 7 runs 7 hits 0k 2bb 1hp
Keaton Nelson 1.0 IP 0 runs 0 hits 0k 0bb
Tyler Jendro 2.2 IP 9 runs 7 hits 1k 4bb
Marcus Hayes 1.1 IP 0 runs 3 hits 3k 0bb
Black Sox:
Matt Johnson 2-5 2B, sb, 3 rbi, run
– Dominic Ritter 0-0 run
Ryan Liebrenz 1-4 bb, run
Mason Toutges 2-3 2bb, 2 rbi, 3 runs
Jared Laudenbauch 2-5 3B, 3 rbi, 2 runs
Owen Fradette 3-3 2B, 3 rbi, 3 runs
– Ben Millard 1-1
Iver Papke 2-3 sac fly, 2 rbi, run
– Ben Mettenburg 0-1
Nate Mettenburg 1-4 bb, run
Addi Dobowey 3-4 sac fly, 3 rbi, 2 runs
Trevor Sawyer 0-2 bb
– Carter Williams 0-0 bb, run
Riverdogs:
Kirk Yourczek 1-3
Tyler Jendro 2-2 bb
– Marcus Hayes 0-0
Drew Yourczek 1-3
Keaton Nelson 1-3 run
Ryan Swenson 0-1 bb
– Joey Gaida 0-1
Gavin Suska 1-2
– Hunter Young 0-1
Jared Albright 0-2 sac fly, rbi
Ethan Albright 0-3
Ryan Snyder 0-3