Young team goes 2-2 in the first week
American Legion Post 188’s Junior Legion baseball squad kicked off play last week. The team, made up of predominantly freshmen and sophomores, earned a 14-1 victory at home against Waterford.
Kyle Lehman took the hill and had an impressive debut in red and blue, striking out six batters in three innings of work.
After falling behind by a run, East Troy’s Andrew Gross doubled to open the second inning. Matt Kisting, Jake Hannah, and Joey Krantz also reached base as Post 188 took a 4-1 lead.
East Troy blew it open in the bottom of the fourth, scoring nine runs. Brandon Bakken led off with a double to lead a parade of eight hits in the inning. Hannah, Krantz, Austin Daly, Bakken again, Gross and Kisting all reached.
Bakken came in to pitch the final two innings and lock up the win.
“Kyle was fantastic on the mound,” coach John Wick said. “He had real strong command of his location. He will be hard to beat throwing like that. Brandon (Bakken) and Andrew (Gross) are two of my older kids. Their presence showed today as they got us going with big hits to start innings.”
Against Union Grove
The next night saw Union Grove come to town. Brendan Sullivan took the bump for Post 188 in the up and down affair. Union Grove jumped on the board early to lead by two in the second. East Troy jumped on top with four in the bottom of the inning on hits by Michael Rosin, Austin Daly, Quinton Erdmann, Nate Ackermann, Lehman, Gross, and Nate Reyes.
Union Grove responded with six in the top of the third to grab a 7-4 lead and end Sullivan’s night.
East Troy got one back in the fourth on Erdmann’s single, two stolen bases and a fielder’s choice.
Rosin came in to pitch and shut down the Bronco’s bats and East Troy grabbed the lead in the fifth.
Union Grove came back and tied things up in the top of the seventh.
Post 188’s Mac Dudkiewicz led of with a walk. After stealing second, Nate Reyes was hit by a pitch, putting runners on first and second. A sacrifice bunt by Rosin advanced the runners. Daly then flew out to left allowing Dudkiewicz to score the winning run.
“Rosin was great on the mound. He kept us in it. In years past, teams would fall apart after falling behind. These guys just keep plugging away,” Wick said.
Team drops two
Thursday, the Post 188 squad travelled to Lake Geneva and fell to a 17U squad 14-0.
“Not many highlights for us in this one,” said Wick. “I expect this team to beat 16s and compete with 17s.”
Saturday saw the boys start slow and not recover in a 9-8 loss to Whitewater. Post 188 allowed seven unearned runs in the first three innings. The biggest highlight was the pitching of Brendan Sullivan. He went six innings, allowing three hits and recording seven strikeouts.
