Team posts three wins, two losses and a tie
By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
It was a busy but a productive week for the East Troy Post 188 16U baseball team.
East Troy posted a 3-2-1 record, including an 8-8 tie Monday night against visiting Lake Geneva in a game that ended because of darkness.
Down 8-6 heading into its final at bat Monday, Post 188 put together a two-run rally to force the tie. A double by Jim Taylor drove in two runs, but East Troy couldn’t push the winning run across the plate.
Nate Reyes started the rally with a single to center, followed by a walk to Kyle Lehman and an infield bunt single by Quinn Erdman that loaded the bases. Reyes and Lehman scored on the Taylor double.
East Troy grabbed an early 2-0 lead before Lake Geneva exploded for seven runs in the second inning. Post 188 rallied back to pull within two, thanks to hits by Reyes, Kyle Lehman, Taylor, Alex Reyes and John Asby.
There were plenty of positives that came out of the deadlocked affair, East Troy manager John Wick said.
“I sound like a broken record, but this is going to be a fun team to watch as they get older,” he said. “So many positives for a young group.”
One of those positives, Wick said, was the effort on the mound by Roman Reyes, who made his first Legion appearance this summer in relief during Lake Geneva’s big second inning.
“(Roman) held it together for us,” Wick said.
A 2-2 finish
Prior to Monday’s matchup, the legion traveled to Antigo, where it posted a 2-2 record. East Troy dropped the opener, 6-5 to Marshfield, before it beat South Wood County, 7-6, and Gladstone, 5-3. In the tournament finale, East Troy dropped an 11-6 decision Sunday to eventual champion, Oshkosh North.
East Troy led Oshkosh North, which beat every other opponent by the run rule during the tournament, 4-2 after the fourth inning. Hits by Brandon Bakken, Erdman, Brady Barels and Michael Rosin keyed the fast start.
Oshkosh took control in the fifth inning, however.
With two outs and one runner on base, North took advantage of four East Troy errors that turned into eight runs and a 10-4 lead.
“We talked before the game and knew we had to be perfect to beat Oshkosh,” Wick said. “We were for nearly five innings, and the boys saw what they are capable of. Oshkosh is a yearly threat to win the 17U state championship and we had them on the ropes.”
Wick was pleased with the effort of Ben Gerber on the mound.
“Gerber was outstanding on the hill,” he said. “He is just a special athlete that will be fun to watch over the next three years.”
Earlier on Sunday, Post 188 built a 5-1 lead over Gladstone and held off a late rally for the 5-3 victory.
A double by Austin Daly and bunts by Mac Dudkiewicz and Barels keyed the early East Troy advantage.
Gladstone pulled within two runs and had a pair of runners in scoring position in the fifth inning, but Matt Kisting came on in relief of starting pitcher Andrew Gross to shut the door. Kisting fanned Gladstone’s best offensive threat, followed by two scoreless innings to secure the win.
“Andrew was great on the mound,” Wick said. “Having caught both games Saturday, he had to be tired, but he was dominant early.”
East Troy closed action Saturday with a comeback win over South Wood County.
Down one in the bottom of the seventh, Bakken started the rally with a double, followed by a walk by Gross and a wild pitch that moved both runners up 90 feet.
After Daly was hit by a pitch to load the bases, a wild pitch scored Bakken, followed by a two-out bloop single by Kisting that gave Post 188 the walk-off victory.
“This was the ‘Matt Kisting Show,’” Wick said. “He had a couple of big hits. His plate approach is getting better weekly.”
Wick also lauded the effort of Rosin, who played with the high school’s summer league basketball team in the morning and put together a solid outing on the mound at night.
“He has such great control on the mound,” Wick said.
In the tournament opener against Marshfield, Post 188 led 5-3 through the fifth inning, but Marshfield manufactured three runs to pick up the one-run victory.
Barels, Daly and Gerber had East Troy’s only hits.
“There were four bang-bang plays late in the game,” Wick said. “If we get any one of them, we likely win. Sometimes the game works like that.”
Big win to start
Post 188 opened the week with a 14-4 victory June 21 over visiting Delavan, as Brendan Sullivan allowed just one run in four innings.
Offensive leaders were Reyes, Barels, Daly and Nate Ackerman, as East Troy took advantage of eight walks and stole 11 bases.
