Team posts four wins in first week
By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
The summer season is off and running for the East Troy Loomis Martin Post 188 baseball team.
East Troy opened play last week with a 4-2 record under first-year coach Kelly Lehman. The Legion posted a 9-3 victory over Burlington in its first game, followed by an 11-7 win and a 1-0 loss in a twinbill with host Lake Geneva, a 7-3 loss to Janesville and a 7-3, 2-1 doubleheader sweep Saturday over Stone Bank.
“All in all, a good week,” Lehman said. “Four wins to start a summer with a lot of baseball. If these guys keep showing up and working like they have been, it’s going to be a good summer.”
In the opener Saturday, Michael Rosin earned his second win of the season, as he threw a strong five innings before Ben Gerber closed things out on the mound.
East Troy finished with nine hits and nine stolen bases, including consecutive singles in the third inning by Gerber, Roman Evans and Jake Hannah that helped the Legion build an early 3-0 lead.
Lehman was pleased with Rosin’s effort on the mound.
“This has been two straight strong games on the mound for Michael,” Lehman said. “When he locates his pitches, he is tough to hit.”
East Troy’s Kyle Lehman won a pitcher’s duel in the second game, as he scattered three hits over five innings. Brandon Bakken and Evans collected hits, while Mac Dudkiewicz had an RBI to lead the offense.
Janesville built a 4-1 lead in the third inning June 8, before Rosin drove in Quinn Erdmann to cut the deficit to 4-2. East Troy scored its last run on a single and stolen base by Evans, who crossed home on a single by Rosin.
East Troy was back in action Wednesday against visiting Mukwonago, followed by road games Thursday and Friday at Elkhorn and Delavan, beginning at 5 and 6 p.m., respectively. The Legion closes its week Sunday with a 1 and 4 p.m. doubleheader against visiting Genoa City.
A 2-1 start
East Troy built a 10-0 lead in the first game against Lake Geneva on May 6, as Rosin allowed just one hit and struck out seven through five innings.
The Legion built a 3-0 lead before singles from Bakken, Hunter Orlowski and Will Calcaterra and a hit by pitch, followed by a two-run single by Kyle Nelson built the lead to 7-0. A two-run double by Rosin in the fifth helped East Troy push the advantage to 10-0.
Lake Geneva scored seven times the last two innings, but Orlowski and Calcaterra combined to seal the win on the mound.
In the nightcap, East Troy managed just one hit, a second-inning double by Matt Kisting, in the 1-0 loss.
Starting pitcher Andrew Gross allowed one run, three hits and struck out five in five innings of work.
“There’s a lot of young guys taking advantage of opportunity,” Lehman said. “We talk about how to approach situations and what they need to do to get better, and they are soaking it up and working. They understand you have to be here to get better.”
Gerber had three hits, Gross had two and Nelson drove in four to lead East Troy to the win in the season opener June 5.
