The Opole Bears will enter the Region 9C Tournament as the #3 seed after a 2-0 win over the Upsala Bluejays on Sunday at Red Bialka Memorial Field in Opole. The game took only 90 minutes to play, due in large part to the aggressive approach at the plate by both teams. By my count at the end of the game, Upsala had 34 plate appearances with 24 of those ending in 3 pitches or fewer. Opole had 31 plate appearances and of those, 21 were finished in 3 pitches or fewer. Combined, that’s 45 out of 65 plate appearances in the game that ended within 3 pitches. That calculates to 69.2%. No wonder the game flew by!
After a scoreless 1st inning, Luke Bieniek drove a pitch from CJ Clear over the left-center field fence for a solo Home Run to put Opole up 1-0 after 2 innings.
In the bottom of the 4th, Brodi Huls led off with a single to left and stole 2nd. After a walk to Mavrick Novitski, CJ Clear got Luke Bieniek to pop up to 3rd baseman Bryce Binek. With runners at 1st and 2nd and 1 out, Alex Lange hit what appeared to be a tailor-made double play grounder to shortstop, but the throw between Jack Primus and Brady Burggraff never connected as the throw went into right field for an error, allowing Huls to score from 2nd and make it 2-0.
Meanwhile, Opole starter Sam Butler was locked in on the mound, holding the Bluejays hitless through the first 6 innings before he allowed a lead-off single to Matt Swanson in the 7th. But a pop up to shortstop Tate Lange and 2 ground outs on the infield later, the score remained 2-0.
In the top of the 8th, Opole made a pitching change, replacing Sam Butler with Isaiah Folsom. Brady Burggraff got things started by greeting Folsom with a single to left, then Jaxon Bartkowicz walked to put the potential tying run on base with no outs. Brock Cichon attempted to bunt but ended up popping up to Folsom for the 1st out, then Justin Cichon lined out to left fielder Dominic Hoikka and Bryce Binek flew out to Masyn Patrick in right to end the inning.
In the bottom of the8th, Opole got a 2-out single from Brodi Huls, his 3rd hit of the game. Huls then swiped 2nd and Mavrick Novitski walked, but CJ Clear kept it 2-0 with a Luke Bieniek ground out to Bryce Binek at 3rd.
In the top of the 9th, Matt Swanson led off by lining out to center fielder Jordan Schmitz, then Brandon Welinski singled. Welinski got forced out on a ground ball from CJ Clear, then Jack Primus singled and Upsala again had the tying run on base and the go-ahead run at the plate. But isaiah Folsom got the games final out when Brady Burggraff popped out to Tate Lange at shortstop to give Opole the 2-0 victory.
Upsala 0 4 1 – 0
Opole 2 5 0 – 2
WP: Sam Butler 7.0IP 0 runs 1 hit 0k 2bb
SV: Isaiah Folsom 2.0IP 0 runs 3 hits 0k 0bb
LP: CJ Clear 8.0IP 2 runs 5 hits 3k 2bb
Bears:
Masyn Patrick 0-4
Brodi Huls 3-4 2 sb, run
Mavrick Novitski 0-2 2bb
Luke Bieniek 2-4 Hr, rbi, run
– Austin Lange 0-0
Alex Lange 0-3 sb
Tate Lange 0-3
Dierks Opatz 0-3
– Jordan Schmitz
Dominic Hoikka 0-2
– Keaton Gustin 0-1
Sam Butler 0-2
– Isaiah Folsom 0-1
Bluejays:
Justin Cichon 0-4
Bryce Binek 0-3 bb
Matt Swanson 1-3 bb
– Isaac Gapinski 0-0
Brandon Welinski 1-4
CJ Clear 0-4
Jack Primus 1-4
Brady Burggraff 1-4
Jaxon Bartkowicz 0-2 bb
Brock Cichon 0-3
– Jeremy Mugg