Legion team wins three in a row
By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
It’s still early in the summer schedule, but so far, so good for the East Troy Post 188 senior Legion baseball team.
East Troy picked up three wins in its opening week of action, including a doubleheader sweep Saturday.
Post 188 earned a 4-3 win over Richmond (Ill.), followed by a 10-5 victory over Whitewater in the second game. East Troy began its summer schedule earlier in the week with a 15-7 eight-inning win over Lake Geneva.
East Troy wasted little time in the win over Richmond, as Post 188 put two runs on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first inning.
Evan Wick started things with a single to left, followed by a Will Iloncaie single to center. A double steal moved each up one base, and they scored on a single by Jason Dopke.
Richmond knotted the score, and it stayed tied until the bottom of the sixth inning when Post 188 took the lead for good.
A single by Connor Mitchell, who stole second and third, and an infield single by Jacob Mast put two runners on for East Troy, followed by a squeeze bunt by Jake Wiesenthal that broke the tie.
But again, Richmond battled back to even in the seventh inning before East Troy finally earned the walk-off win in the eighth inning.
Another single and two stolen bases by Mitchell, followed by a wild pitch chased him home to give East Troy the victory.
“It was great to get Connor (Mitchell) back in the lineup,” East Troy coach John Wick said. “He just brings disruptive speed to the game. He fought injury during the high school season, but is much healthier now.”
Iloncaie deserved the win on the mound, Wick said, as he put his team in a solid position all game.
“It was a typical Will day,” Wick said. “He pitched great, but didn’t get the win. It was nice to see us come back again.”
Whitewater jumped out to a 4-0 lead off East Troy starter Nick Bertschinger in the nightcap before Post 188 put seven runs on the board in the bottom of the first inning.
Sam Goral and Mitchell provided the key hits in the big first inning.
East Troy added three more runs in the second on a two-run double by Dopke and an RBI single by Goral.
Dopke was solid in relief, Wick said, as he held Whitewater to two runs in 2 2-3 innings of work.
“Jason did a good job eating innings,” Wick said. “He didn’t get many extended chances during the high school season. Although he struggled with control, he kept runs off the board.”
The teams agreed to play beyond the time limit to give the reserves a chance for at bats and time in the field, Wick said.
“(Saturday) was about game situations and getting some work in at the plate for many of the guy,” he said. “We do need to find a couple more arms to throw consistently and take pressure off Will, Josh and Nick.”
In the 2015 summer opener, Post 188 sent 14 batters to the plate in the eighth inning and pushed eight runs across the plate to blow the game open.
A double down the leftfield line by Jon Ciriacks drove in Dopke and Ryan Olsen, followed by a squeeze bunt by Goral that drove in Ciriacks.
Josh Oswald picked up the win, as he worked seven of the eight innings.
“It was just nice to get the win,” Wick said. “Josh pitched well and was a workhorse on the mound. He just wore down at the end, but tried to give one more inning to save arms.”
Iloncaie led the offensive explosion with a single, double and a triple. He missed the cycle when he drew a walk in his last at bat.
Juniors begin summer play
The legion’s 16U team also opened play last week with two losses and a time-limit tie.
East Troy began its season with a 10-7 loss to Whitewater, followed by a 14-14 tie with Lake Geneva and a 6-3 loss Friday to Elkhorn.
Leading the way against Elkhorn were Rogelio Hayes and Dan O’Brien, each with one RBI. East Troy also played with two eighth-graders, Michael Rosin and Nate Reyes, to fill out their roster.
“This was a great learning experience,” Wick said. “(There were) lots of opportunities for the young guys. Elkhorn worked on things with their younger guys as well. It was a very classy game in which both teams used as a tool to look to the future.”
Lake Geneva sprinted out to an 11-3 lead before East Troy put together a furious rally to eventually knot the game at 14-14.
Wick said the rally was keyed by O’Brien, Hayes, Jacob Mast and Logan Mitchell, while incoming freshman Roman Evans pitched a perfect fourth inning in relief.
“It was great to see the young guys not quit,” Wick said. “They had a rough high school season, but did a lot of positive things in this one.”
