In a best 2-out-of-3 series on Saturday, the #7 Royalton Riverdogs hosted the #10 St. Mathias Devils. Royalton rallied late to take the opener 5-3 but the Devils evened the series with a 2-0 shutout to force a decisive Game 3 on Sunday in Royalton.
Game 1
In the bottom of the 1st, Drew Yourczek singled with 1 out and advanced to 2nd on a ground out by Tyler Jendro. Brady Yourczek then tripled with 2 outs and Royalton had a 1-0 lead.
The pitching match up of Bryce Flanagan for the Devils and Marcus Hayes for the Riverdogs turned out to be a good one as both pitchers put up zero’s through the next 4 innings.
In the top of the 6th, St. Mathias tied things up when Josh Kossan led off with a single, and after a pair of strikeouts from Marcus Hayes, Kossan swiped 2nd. Hunter Wicklund then drove in Kossan with a sharp single to right and it was a 1-1 game.
In the top of the 7th, St. Mathias took their first lead. Elijah Kossan led off with a single, followed by a bunt single by Crewe Dahlheimer. A sacrifice bunt from Nate Eschenbacher put runners at 2nd and 3rd with 1 out. Kyle Welle was then intentionally walked to fill the bases, and Josh Kossan gave the Devils the lead with a sacrifice fly to make it 2-1. After a wild pitch, Bryce Flanagan was intentionally walked and the bases were loaded again. This time, Luke Zontelli was hit by pitch from Marcus Hayes to force in Dahlheimer and make it 3-1. Brady Yourczek then came in to pitch for Hayes and got the final out of the inning on fly out to left fielder Nick Henry from Hunter Wicklund.
Royalton went down in order in the bottom of the 7th against Bryce Flanagan and the Devils managed a Crewe Dahlheimer walk in the top of the 8th.
In the bottom of the 8th, Ryan Snyder put down a bunt single, followed by a single from Grayson Suska. There was also an error on the play with Snyder going to 3rd and Suska to 2nd. Drew Yourczek then singled to center, scoring Snyder to make it 3-2. Tyler Jendro then tied things up with an rbi double to score Suska and it was 3-3, with Yourczek at 3rd and Jendro at 2nd and still no outs. Brady Yourczek grounded out to shortstop Josh Kossan with the runners holding. Ethan Albright then gave Royalton the lead with an rbi single to left, plating Drew Yourczek and it was 4-3. The Devils got the 2nd out when Tyler Jendro tried to score on an attempted double steal but was tagged out at home as Albright stole 2nd. Albright then went to 3rd on a passed ball and Zack Cekalla walked. As Cekalla attempted to steal 2nd, the throw from catcher Luke Zontelli got away for an error, allowing Ethan Albright to score from 3rd and make it 5-3 after 8 innings.
In the top of the 9th, Kyle Welle led off with a walk, followed by a Brady Yourczek strikeout of Josh Kossan. Bryce Flanagan then doubled to center to give the Devils runners at 2nd and 3rd with 1 out. Yourczek then walked Luke Zontelli to load the bases. But then Hunter Wicklund hit a ground ball to 2nd that the Riverdogs turned into a game-ending double play as the Riverdogs had come back for the 5-3 win.
St. Mathias 3 9 3 – 3
Royalton 5 8 0 – 5
WP: Brady Yourczek 2.1IP 0 runs 1 hit 3k 3bb
Marcus Hayes 6.2IP 3 runs 8 hits 7k 3bb 2hp
LP: Bryce Flanagan 8.0IP 5 runs 8 hits 6k 2bb
Riverdogs:
Grayson Suska 1-4 run
Drew Yourczek 2-4 rbi, 2 runs
Tyler Jendro 1-3 2B, bb, rbi
Brady Yourczek 2-4 3B, rbi
Ethan Albright 1-4 sb, rbi, run
Zack Cekalla 0-3 bb, sb
Nick Henry 0-4
Nathan Psyck 0-3
Ryan Snyder 1-3 run
Devils:
Kyle Welle 2-3 2B, 2bb
Josh Kossan 2-4 sac fly, sb, rbi, run
Bryce Flanagan 1-4 2B, bb
Luke Zontelli 0-3 bb, hp, rbi
Hunter Wicklund 2-5 rbi
Alex Guggisberg 0-4
Elijah Kossan 1-3 bb, run
Crewe Dahlheimer 1-3 bb, run
Nate Eschenbacher 0-2 sac
Game 2
Pitching was at a premium in Game 2 of the series between the Devils and Riverdogs, as both teams collected just 4 hits, there were no errors and Connor Knettel fired a Complete Game shutout to outduel Nathan Psyck as St. Mathias blanked Royalton 2-0 to keep their season alive.
Konnor Wicklund led off the bottom of the 2nd with a walk for the Devils, followed by a sacrifice bunt by Josh Kossan. Luke Zontelli then singled to right as Wicklund raced home to make it 1-0 after 2 innings.
In the bottom of the 4th, Konnor Wicklund led off with a walk and another Josh Kossan sacrifice bunt put him at 2nd. Luke Zontelli then grounded out, advancing Wicklund to 3rd with 2 outs. Marcus Lennartson then ripped an rbi single to left, scoring Wicklund to give the Devils a 2-0 lead after 4.
How locked in was Connor Knettel for St. Mathias? He retired the first 9 men he faced in the game before walking Grayson Suska to start the 4th. He then went on an even longer streak, setting down the next 13 Royalton batters before Zack Cekalla had a 1-out single for the Riverdogs first hit of the game. Nick Henry followed with a single of his own and Royalton brought the go-ahead run to the plate with 1 out. Knettel then got a strikeout of Kirk Yourczek before he walked Ryan Snyder to load the bases. But he got Grayson Suska to fly out to center as Royalton left the bases loaded.
In the top of the 9th, Drew Yourczek led off with a single, followed by a walk to Tyler Jendro and again the Riverdogs had the potential tying run on base with no outs. Brady Yourczek hit into a fielders choice, forcing out Jendro at 2nd for the 1st out and Royalton had runners at the corners. Connor Knettel then got Ethan Albright to hit into a double play to end the game with the Devils holding on for the 2-0 victory and forcing a Game 3 on Sunday.
Royalton 0 4 0 – 0
St. Mathias 2 4 0 – 2
WP: Connor Knettel 9.0IP 0 runs 4 hits 6k 3bb
LP: Nathan Psyck 8.0IP 2 runs 4 hits 7k 5bb
Devils:
Kyle Welle 0-2 2bb
Hunter Wicklund 1-3
Bryce Flanagan 1-4
Konnor Wicklund 0-2 2bb, 2 runs
Josh Kossan 0-2 2 sac
Luke Zontelli 1-3 rbi
Marcus Lennartson 1-3 rbi
– Crewe Dahlheimer 0-0
Alex Guggisberg 0-2 bb
Elijah Kossan 0-3
Riverdogs:
Grayson Suska 0-3 bb
Drew Yourczek 1-3 sac
Tyler Jendro 1-3 bb
Brady Yourczek 0-4
Ethan Albright 0-4
Zack Cekalla 1-3
Nick Henry 1-3
Kirk Yourczek 0-3
Ryan Snyder 0-2 bb