By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
Last week’s regional tournament gave the East Troy Post 188 legion baseball team a shot to advance to state.
While the legion fell short of that goal, East Troy did grab a victory to finish the summer on a high note.
East Troy fell in the opener 4-3 to Jackson, but stayed alive with an 8-3 victory over Lomira in the second game. The legion’s season came to an end in the third game with a 10-5 loss to Mayville.
“This season was very enjoyable (to see) how the kids responded to new things from when we started the journey back in early June (until) the last game at Whitewater),” Legion coach Dan Heidelmeier said.
The story of the opening loss to Jackson, Heidelmeier said, was his team’s inability to get the key hit when it needed.
East Troy stranded 11 runners in the loss.
“We again had a difficult time pushing runs across the plate,” he said. “We had great scoring opportunities in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings, but just couldn’t get a big hit to break the game open.”
Connor Scadden started the game on the mound and allowed three earned runs, two walks and struck out two in three innings. Troy Ambrose worked the final four innings, and he allowed one earned run, two walks and struck out four.
Offensive leaders in the opener included Myles Olsen, who was three for four with a double and two RBI and Josh Oswald, who drove in one run with a double.
In an elimination game against Lomira, a state-tested team, East Troy scored early to take control and never gave it back in the 8-3 victory to stay alive.
East Troy scored three runs in the second inning, thanks to a two-run double by Will Iloncaie and a run-scoring single by Damien Malsbury.
The legion struck again in the third with three more runs, thanks in part to a two-run single by Ben Longstreet. East Troy added single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to put the game away.
“The game against Lomira was one of the best total games we put together all season,” Heidelmeier said.
“We got the bats going right away and got our pitcher a lead, which helped him. We (also) played good defense and didn’t give up anything that cost us in the end.”
Iloncaie earned the win on the mound, as he pitched six strong innings and allowed just two earned runs. Olsen worked the seventh to secure the victory.
Longstreet led the way with four hits, three RBI and two runs scored, while Troy Ambrose had two hits, two RBI and scored a run.
A four-run second inning by Mayville proved to be too much for East Troy to overcome in the third and final game of the regional. The legion had taken a 2-1 lead in the first inning on a triple by Josh Oswald, but it wasn’t enough.
Mayville iced the win with three runs in the third and two more in the fifth. East Troy added two runs of its own in the sixth, but couldn’t complete the comeback.
“Our pitchers walked eight batters, hit a batter and five of those nine scored,” Heidelmeier said. “That is something you can’t do at this level and be successful very often.
“Even through all that, they kept battling with their back to the wall and just came out on the short end in a hard-fought game.”
Oswald had three hits, two RBI and a run scored, followed by Dylan Jasinski with two hits and an RBI.
On the mound, Jasinski allowed four earned runs, four walks and struck out one in two innings, followed by Ambrose with three earned runs, two walks and three strikeouts in two innings. Longstreet worked the final three innings, and allowed two walks and struck out six.
