The Upsala Bluejays remained the unbeaten team in the Class C Division of the Victory League with a 4-3 win over the visiting Royalton Riverdogs on Sunday.
The Riverdogs took a 1st inning lead when Kirk Youczek led off the game with a solo Homer against Upsala starter CJ Clear to make it 1-0.
In the bottom of the 1st, Jack Primus was hit by a pitch and then stole 2nd, and then a Justin Cichon double allowed Primus to score to tie things up at 1-1 after 1 inning.
Upsala took their first lead in the bottom of the 3rd on a Matt Swanson sacrifice fly that scored Jack Primus to make it 2-1.
In the bottom of the 5th, Upsala struck again when Matt Swanson grounded into a fielders choice, with Jack Primus coming in to make it 3-1 in favor of the Jays.
In the bottom of the 6th, a bunt by Jermey Mugg brought home Brady Yourczek to put Upsala ahead 4-1 after 6 innings.
In the top of the 7th, Jaden Albright walked with 1 out for Royalton, followed by a Kirk Yourczek single. Drew Yourczek then walked and the Riverdogs had the beases loaded with 1 out and the potential go-ahead run at the plate. Tyler Jendro’s sacrifice fly to center got jaden Albright home to make it 4-2 but then Kirk Yourczek was thrown out trying to advance to 3rd to end the inning.
In the top of the 8th, Royalton Joey Gaida was hit by a pitch by reliever Brady Yourczek. Hunter Young then pinch-hit for Grayson Suska to put 2 runners on base with no outs. A sacrifice bunt by Spencer Friese moved runners to 2nd and 3rd. A ground ball by Keaton Nelson was misplayed for an error as Guida scored to make it 4-3 and there were runners at 1st and 3rd. But Upsala’s Brady Yourczek denied his former team’s rally with consecutive strikeouts as the Bluejays led 4-3 going to the bottom of the 8th.
Upsala brought veteran lefty Matt Swanson to pitch in a Save situation in the top of the 9th. Kirk Yourczek greeted him with a single to center to put the tying run on base. Drew Yourczek then attempted a sacrifice bunt. He got the bunt down and he reached on an error, with Kirk Youczek advancing to 3rd, giving the Riverdogs runners at the corners with no outs and trailing 4-3. Tyler Jendro then lined out to right fielder Cole Burggraff, with Yourczek holding at 3rd. Joey Guida was then hit by a Matt Swanson pitch to load the bases. Grayson Suska then hit the ball back to the mound, with Matt Swanson fielding the ball and getting a force out at the plate for the 2nd out. Swanson then finished off the game and nailed down the Save with a game-ending strikeout as the Riverdogs left the bases loaded in the 9th and fell just short 4-3.
Royalton 3 6 2 – 3
Upsala 4 8 3 – 4
WP: CJ Clear 7.0 IP 2 runs 5 hits 3k 3bb 3hp
Brady Yourczek 1.0 IP 1 run 0 hits 2k 1bb 1hp
SV: Matt Swanson 1.0 IP 0 runs 1 hit 1k 0bb 1hp
LP: Marcus Hayes 8.0 IP 4 runs 8 hits 5k 2bb 2hp
Bluejays:
Jack Primus 1-3 2hp, 4 sb, 3 runs
Justin Cichon 2-3 2B, bb, rbi
Matt Swanson 0-4 sac fly, 2 rbi
Jaxon Bartkowicz 2-3 bb, sb
Brandon Welinski 0-4
Brady Yourczek 1-4 run
Bryce Binek 1-4
Jeremy Mugg 0-3 rbi
– Travis Barthel 0-1
CJ Clear 1-4
Riverdogs:
Kirk Yourczek 4-5 Hr, bi, run
Drew Yourczek 0-3 bb, sb
Tyler Jendro 0-3 hp, sac fly, rbi
Joey Guida 0-3 hp(2), run
Grayson Suska 0-4
– Hunter Young 0-0 bb
Spencer Friese 1-2 hp(2)
Keaton Nelson 1-4 rbi
Ethan Albright 0-3 bb
Jaden Albright 0-3 bb, run