Rebound win over Regis keeps co-op in the running in West

The Thorp-Gilman baseball team fell out of a first-place tie in the Western Cloverbelt Conference Friday, but rebounded Tuesday with a big 3-1 win over Eau Claire Regis that keeps them right in the thick of the title chase.

Avenging an 11-1 loss from May 6, Thorp-Gilman got a big-time start from senior pitcher Logan Kroeplin and made the most of a three-run first-inning rally to improve to 7-3 in league play and 9-4 overall. The team sits in third place in the eight-team conference, one game behind co-leaders Altoona and Fall Creek and now a game ahead of fourth-place Regis, who has hit a mid-season rough patch, losing four of its last five conference games.

Kroeplin needed 99 pitches to throw a complete game, six-hitter. He struck out five, walked three and allowed just the third-inning run scored by the Ramblers, which was earned. Regis stranded eight runners.

Kroeplin outpitched the Ramblers’ Blayde Lecher, who allowed just four hits and one walk while striking out four. Thorp-Gilman’s runs were unearned, with Kroeplin getting credit for the only RBI in the first-inning rally with a double.

Charlie Hauser, Kade Kroeplin and Ashton Kroeplin had the rest of the team’s hits.

Thorp-Gilman, winners in eight of its last nine games, looks to keep it rolling in a home game at Thorp tonight, Thursday, against Osseo-Fairchild. The team will host Stanley-Boyd in Gilman Tuesday at 5 p.m. before heading to McDonell Central for a 7 p.m. start on June 3.

Altoona 11, T-G 1

Thorp-Gilman’s seven-game winning streak came to an abrupt end Friday when 13 walks and four errors led to a disastrous 11-1, five-inning loss at Altoona in a matchup of upper-division teams in the conference. The Railroaders completed a sweep of the season series with the win.

Altoona jumped ahead quickly with five first-inning runs and widened its lead to 8-0 in the third. Ashton Kroeplin’s RBI double drove in Logan Kroeplin with Thorp-Gilman’s only run in the top of the fourth, but the Railroaders countered with two in their half to go up 10-1. They got the run they needed in the fifth to end things early.

Altoona had just five hits. Colin Boyarski had two doubles and drove in two runs. Logan Lau was one for two and drove in three of Altoona’s runs.

Ashton and Logan Kroeplin both had doubles for the co-op. Aiden Rosemeyer added a hit. Rosemeyer allowed 10 runs, eight of which were earned, in three innings. He allowed four hits. Gavin Boie walked five more, struck out one and allowed an earned run and one hit in 1.1 innings.

Evan Gustafson was the winning pitcher. He struck out six and walked one.

T-G 12, Cadott 2

In Gilman Thursday, the co-op got off to a slow start, but used two big innings late to finally put away visiting Cadott 12-2 in six innings.

The Hornets, coming off a huge upset of Eau Claire Regis two nights earlier, took a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first with run-scoring hits by Gavin Tegels and Ryan Swenson. Thorp-Gilman scored single runs in the second, third and fourth innings to grab the lead. A three-run fifth made it 6-2 and a six-run sixth ended it.

Logan Kroeplin went all six innings and allowed just six hits while striking out nine and walking only one. He also went two for three at the plate with a triple, a run batted in and three runs scored.

Ayden Webster went two for four with a pair of RBIs. Brayden Boie was one for four with a triple and two runs scored. Every hitter in the starting lineup had at least one of Thorp-Gilman’s 11 hits. Aiden Rosemeyer had two RBIs.

Nelson Wahl got the start for Cadott and went 4.2 innings. He struck out four and allowed nine hits and six runs, five of which were earned while taking the loss. Tyler Matherne had a tough inning in relief, allowing six runs on just one hit. None of the runs were earned. While errors hurt him, he also walked four.

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The AbbyBank team took first place in the National League of the Classy Ladies Bowling League for the 2020-21 season. Team members are Jackie Rhyner, Margie Guziak, Sam Potratz and Bettie Hartwig.SUBMITTED PHOTOS

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