Team ends regular season with loss to Kenosha
By Dan Truttschel
Sports Correspondent
Even in defeat in its regular-season finale Friday, the East Troy Legion Post 188 baseball team left with something to build from.
And now it’s onto the regional tournament to see how much progress it has made.
East Troy fell 8-4 to the Kenosha Merchants, but showed plenty of fight, according to coach John Wick.
“Earlier in the season, this was the kind of game we’d roll over and lose by 10,” he said. “The kids that showed up battled back to make it a good game.”
Wick, whose team took an 8-10-2 record into the regional opener Wednesday in Ripon, said Kenosha had some additions to the roster that made things even more difficult.
But still, East Troy didn’t go away quietly.
“Kenosha brought in a few extra older kids and a UW-Parkside recruit that hadn’t played with them all summer,” he said. “I was happy that we kept battling.”
East Troy fell behind 5-0 before it rallied to cut the deficit to just one a 5-4.
Consecutive hits by Ryan Olsen, Logan Parsons, Jake Homan, Josh Oswald and Evan Wick accounted for the four-run rally.
That’s all the offense Post 188 could muster, however, as they managed just singles by Wick and Joe Ciriacks the rest of the way.
Homan took the loss, as he allowed four hits and four walks in two innings on the mound.
Union Grove
East Troy posted a walk-off win in the week’s first game against visiting Union Grove.
Homan provided the game-winning hit, as he drove in Will Iloncaie and Oswald to help Post 188 rally from a 7-4 deficit heading into their last at bat.
East Troy did all its damage with two outs. Olsen singled, stole second and scored on a single by Parsons, who then scored on a double by Iloncaie.
An intentional walk to Oswald and a walk to Wick loaded the bases and set the stage for Homan’s heroics.
Union Grove held a 3-0 lead against Oswald, who has played in nearly 100 games between his East Troy high school and legion playing careers.
Oswald brought Post 188 within a run on a long home run in the fifth inning that scored Parsons, who had singled. Ciriacks drove in Evan Wick with a single to tie the game.
“The home run he hit was the longest I’ve seen (at East Troy),” Wick said. “Right center is pretty deep, and he cleared it easily.
“It was good for Josh to get the ‘W’ in his last start on the field.”
East Troy opened Class A regional tournament action Wednesday afternoon against Waupun. Results were not available at press time.
Other first-round games had Green Lake against Mayville, Omro against Horicon and Jefferson against Ripon.
Play in the double-elimination tournament continues through July 27. The state tournament will be held July 30 to Aug. 3 in Nekoosa.
