By Chris Bennett
Correspondent
The Elkhorn Area High School baseball team ended its season with one of its better efforts.
Elkhorn, seeded 12th in its bracket, lost a WIAA Division 1 regional semifinal 6-5 May 31 against Janesville Parker at Riverside Park in Janesville. Parker is seeded fifth in the regional bracket.
Parker (13-9) beat fourth-seeded Fort Atkinson 6-5 June 2 in the regional final, and played No.1-seeded Janesville Craig Tuesday in a sectional semifinal at Beloit Memorial.
“It was a well-played game,” Elks coach Jon Anzalone said. “The teams were hitting the ball. They’d go up and we’d tie it. It was kind of back and forth in the beginning. They fought it out, and won in the end on a heads-up play.”
The Elks (4-15) and Vikings played into the bottom of the seventh inning tied at 5-5. The Vikings’ Ken Hendricks reached base on a walk and advanced to second on a fielder’s choice.
Hendricks waited and watched, and eventually stole third base off Elks’ pitcher Brandon Komar.
“He took a risk stealing third after he watched (Komar) come set and look back at him three times in a row,” Anzalone said. “On the fourth pitch he took off on a big jump and ended up taking third.”
The winning run scored on a ground ball between shortstop and third base that Anzalone said the Elks almost fielded clean.
Parker scored two runs in the first inning, and the Elks tied the game with two of their own in the second. Parker scored three runs in the third and led 5-2 before Elkhorn put up a run in the third and two in the fourth.
Patrick Glogovsky, Jordan VanDyke, Chance Larson and Jet Weber each finished with two hits. Larson and Weber each drove in two runs.
Anzalone praised Komar’s performance on the mound – the Elks played as a considerable underdog against the Vikings and almost pulled off the upset.
“After the game I told them you gave it all you had and it came out the way it did today,” Anzalone said. “We played well. We’ve got to figure out a way to come out on the other side. We’ll keep working.”
