The Opole Bears kept their hopes alive of returning to the Class C State Tournament with a 5-1 win over the top-seeded Randall Cubs on Friday night at Hellie Field in Pierz. The Cubs, who also qualified for State last year, were held to just 5 hits by Opole starter Tate Lange as they saw their season come to an end.
This game featured a pair of veteran starting pitchers as Randall gave the ball to their ace righty Adam Nibaur while the Opole Bears countered with a righty of their own, Tate Lange.
Adam Nibaur worked a highly-efficient first 2 innings, retiring the Bears in order in both frames, getting 5 ground outs and a strikeout.
Randall then struck for the first run of the game when Cubs catcher Matt Otremba clubbed a lead-off Homer to left to start the bottom of the 2nd off Tate Lange and give the Cubs a 1-0 lead. Garrett Lindberg added a 1-out double in the 2nd for Randall’s 2nd hit, but then Lange got Kyle Peterschick to line out to 2nd baseman Isaiah Folsom and the Bears were able to double Lindberg off 2nd to complete an inning-ending double play.
Opole came up in the top of the 3rd and got their first hit off Adam Nibaur when Mavrick Novitski led off with a single. After a strikeout of Tate Lange, Nibaur got Isaiah Folsom to hit onto a force out at 2nd, leaving the Bears with 2 outs and a runner at 1st base. Masyn Patrick then beat out an infield single, brining up Brodi Huls, who laced an rbi single to score Folsom and tie the game at 1-1. Nibaur then ended the inning, leaving runners at 2nd and 3rd, with a strikeout of Drew Lange.
Tate Lange then came out in the bottom of the 3rd and set the Cubs down in order, getting Brett Strack to fly out to center, Alex Gwost went down swinging and Nate Benning bounced out to Brodi Huls at shortstop to complete the 3rd inning with the game tied at 1-1.
Adam Nibaur had a 1-2-3 top of the 4th for Randall, striking out both Luke Bieniek and Alex Lange, then getting Chris Ebnet to ground out to shortstop Alex Gwost.
Randall got a lead-off double to center from Caleb Strack top open the bottom of the 4th, but Tate Lange wiggled out of that jam with Zack Gwost flying out to Masyn Patrick in center, Matt Otremba flew to Luke Bieniek in right and then Rick Drew grounded out to 1st baseman Drew Lange to strand Strack at 2nd.
OPole put together a threat in the top of the 5th against adam Nibaur with a lead-off infield single from Mavrick Novitski, then a sacrifice bunt between the mound and 1st base moved Novitski to 2nd and Lange reached base as well on a fielding error on the play. After Nivaur struck out Isaiah Folsom for the 1st out, a ground ball by Masyn Patrick was misplayed for an error and the Bears had the bases loaded with 1 out. But Nibaur got Brodi Huls on strikes and then a great diving catch by Kyle Peterschick in right field off a line drive from Luke Bieniek finished off the inning as the Bears left the bases loaded in a still 1-1 game.
Randall then came back with a golden chance of their own in the bottom of the 5th when Garrett Lindberg led off with a single, Kyle Peterschick walked and a sacrifice bunt from Brett Strack put runners at 2nd and 3rd with 1 out and the top of the Randall order coming up. Tate Lange then struck out Alex Gwsot for the 2nd out and got Nate Benning to ground out to shortstop Brodi Huls to squash the threat.
In the top of the 6th, Adam Nibaur rolled along, setting the Bear down in order on a strikeout of Luke Bieniek, an Alex Lange pop up to Zack Gwost at 2nd and then another strikeout of Chris Ebnet.
In the last of the 6th, Tate Lange got Caleb Strack looking at strike 3, then Zack Gwost popped up to 2nd before issuing a walk to Matt Otremba. But Lange then fanned Rick Drew to complete the 6th with the score still tied at 1-1.
The dam finally broke in the top of the 7th. Adam Nibaur opened the inning with a strikeout of Mavrick Novtiski, but then Tate Lange singled with 1 out. After a wild pitch moved Lange to 2nd, Nibaur then walked Isaiah Folsom. At that point, Cubs manager Chuck Strack went to the mound and made a move, bringing in Caleb Strack to relieve Nibaur. Strack walked Masyn Patrick to load the bases, then threw a wild pitch to bring home Tate Lange and give Opole a 2-1 lead. After another walk to Brodi Huls re-loaded the bases, a 2nd wild pitch brought in Isaiah Folsom to put Opole ahead 3-1. Strack then struck out Drew Lange for the 2nd out. WIth runners at 2nd and 3rd, Luke Bieniek’s ground ball was thrown away for an error, allowing both Patrick and Huls to score and make it a 4-run inning. Alex Lange then singled before Caleb Strack finally put an end to the inning with a comebacker to the mound from Chris Ebnet as the game hit the 7th inning stretch with Opole now holding a 5-1 lead.
Tate Lange then needed just 6 pitches to get through the bottom of the 7th, getting Garrett Lindberg to fly out to left fielder Jordan Schmitz, a strikeout of Kyle Peterschick and a Brett Strack fly out to Luke Bieniek in right field.
In the top of the 8th, Opole loaded the bases with no outs on back-to-back walks to Mavrick Novitski and Tate Lange and a sacrifice bunt and error from Isaiah Folsom. With the Cubs infield drawn in, a ground ball to shortstop Alex Gwost by Masyn Patrick resulted in a force out at home for the 1st out. Caleb Strack then struck out Brodi Huls looking and got the final out on a Drew Lange fly ball to left fielder Nate Benning.
In the bottom of the 8th, Tate Lange put up his 2nd straight 1-2-3 inning, getting Alex Gwost on strikes, Nate Benning lined out ot Jordan Schmitz in left and Caleb Strack grounded out to 3rd baseman Mavrick Novitski to complete the 8th with Opole taking their 5-1 lead into the 9th inning.
Caleb Strack shit down the Bears in the 9th, striking out both Luke Bieniek and Alex Lange before Chris Ebnet reached on an error. Dominic Hoikka then replaced Ebnet at 1st before Strack struck out Mavrick Novitski to end the inning.
In the bottom of the 9th, Tate Lange struck out Zack Gwost and Matt Otremba for the first 2 outs. Lange then finished off his Complete Game 5-hitter by getting Rick Drew to fly out to Jordan Schmitz in left to end the ballgame as Opole advanced with a 5-1 win over the Cubs. Opole’s Tate Lange retired the final 10 batters he faced and 15 of the last 16 overall. He didn’t allow a Randall base hit after the Garrett Lindberg lead-off single in the bottom of the 5th and he finished the game with 10 strikeouts while walking just 2.
With the loss, the #1 seeded Cubs saw their season end, while 5th seeded Opole advanced to Sunday night’s State Play-in game in Pierz against the #8 seeded Aitkin Steam.
Opole 5 6 0 – 5
Randall 1 5 5 – 1
WP: Tate Lange 9.0 IP 1 run 4 hits 10k 2bb
LP: Adam Nibaur 6.1 IP 3 runs 5 hits 10k 1bb
Caleb Strack 2.2 IP 2 runs 1 hit 5k 4bb
Bears:
Masyn Patrick 1-4 bb, run
Brodi Huls 1-4 bb, sb, rbi, run
Drew Lange 0-5
Luke Bieniek 0-5
Alex Lange 1-5
Chris Ebnet 0-5
– Jordan Schmitz
– Dominic Hoikka 0-0
Mavrick Novitski 2-4 bb
Tate Lange 1-2 sac, bb, run
– Will Eichten 0-0
Isaiah Folsom 0-2 sac, bb, 2 runs
Cubs:
Alex Gwost 0-4
Nate Benning 1-4
Caleb Strack 1-4 2B
Zack Gwost 0-4
Matt Otremba 1-3 Hr, bb, rbi, run
Rick Drew 0-4
– Adam Nibaur
Garrett Lindberg 2-3 2B
Kyle Peterschick 0-2 bb
– Charlie Smieja 0-0
Brett Strack 0-2 sac