Baseball co-op lands in 2nd with Fall Creek win, falls late at Greenwood

THORP-GILMAN BASEBALL

Shut down by Thorp-Gilman pitching through five innings, the host Greenwood Indians broke through in the bottom of the sixth and rallied for a 7-4 nonconference baseball win Tuesday.

Thorp-Gilman led 4-2 until the Indians, one of the Eastern Cloverbelt Conference’s top teams, scored five times in the late rally and stole the victory.

The loss dropped the co-op to 12-6 overall heading into a newly-scheduled regular-season finale at Columbus Catholic today, Thursday, at 5 p.m. Those two teams opened the season by playing each other on April 27 in a game won by the Dons 7-3.

A big inning haunted Thorp-Gilman in game one and it got them again in game 18. Greenwood outhit Thorp-Gilman 10-6 with Westin Schmitz, Sullivan Whitford and Mason Learman all collecting two hits apiece. Schmitz and Jonah Hinker each drove in two runs.

The late rally made a winner of Schmitz, who pitched the last two innings for Greenwood (11-6) in relief of Whitford, the starter who went 2.2 innings, and Cooper Bredlau, who pitched 2.1 innings.

Thorp-Gilman took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first and a 2-1 lead in the third. The lead grew to 4-1 in the fifth and was still 4-2 after the Indians scored one in the bottom half.

Brayden Boie was two for two with a walk and drove in three runs for Thorp-Gilman. Aiden Rosemeyer was two for four and scored twice. The team drew six walks but left seven runners on base. Charlie Hauser and Kade Kroeplin added a hit apiece.

Logan Kroeplin put in two innings of work, allowing two hits and a run while striking out one and walking one. Boie took the loss. In 3.1 innings, he allowed eight hits and six runs. He struck out two and walked three. Rosemeyer got the last two outs after Greenwood took the lead.

Thorp-Gilman drew the two-seed in its WIAA Division 3 regional bracket and will host either sixth-seeded Cadott or third-seeded Whitehall in a semifinal game Tuesday at 5 p.m. The other semifinal on Tuesday has the Osseo-Fairchild/ Stanley-Boyd winner playing at top-seeded Fall Creek. The regional final is set for Wednesday.

T-G 13, Fall Creek 2

After a tough loss the previous evening, the Thorp-Gilman baseball team rebounded in a big way Friday by pounding host Fall Creek 13-2 behind a 14-hit attack. The Crickets entered the game tied for the Western Cloverbelt Conference lead and wound up in second place after losing 3-0 at Altoona Monday.

Thorp-Gilman swept the season series with Friday’s win.

A 1-1 game after two innings turned with a three-run third inning. A six-run fourth broke it wide open at 10-1. Thorp-Gilman tacked on three more in the fifth before the Crickets got one back in the bottom half. That wasn’t enough to extend the game to a sixth inning.

Fall Creek’s pitchers simply could not handle the top half of Thorp-Gilman’s batting order.

Out of the two spot, Kade Kroeplin reached base all four times he batted, collecting three hits and a walk. He stole two bases and scored all four times. Rosemeyer, the number-three hitter, was three for four with a double, three runs batted in and three runs scored. Cleanup man Brayden Boie was three for three with a double, drove in three runs and scored once.

Number-nine hitter Grady Kroeplin was two for two with a walk and scored three times.

Gavin Boie picked up the pitching victory, allowing four hits and two earned runs in five innings, while striking out four and walking five.

Senior Lucas Costley took the loss for the Crickets. He was knocked around for seven hits and seven earned runs in 3.1 innings. Two relievers gave up three runs apiece over the next 1.2 innings.

Macks 8, T-G 4

A 2-2 pitchers’ duel went the wrong way in the bottom of the sixth inning Thursday when the McDonell Macks put up a six-spot and eliminated Thorp-Gilman from conference title contention with an 8-4 upset victory under the lights at Casper Park.

Noah Hanson did the co-op in with his pitching and his bat. Hanson hit a tworun homer in the first inning to tie the game at 2-2. His three-run shot was the key blow in the six-run sixth.

Hanson also threw a 100-pitch complete game, striking out seven and walking none. He allowed seven hits and all four runs were earned.

Thorp-Gilman jumped on Hanson and the Macks early as Hauser and Kade Kroeplin reached and were driven in by Rosemeyer and Brayden Boie before an out was recorded. Hanson closed down the rally from there.

Thorp-Gilman did not score again until the top of the seventh when it got two runs, including an RBI from Grady Kroeplin.

Ashton Kroeplin was two for three at the plate and scored a run. Hauser, Kade Kroeplin, Rosemeyer, Brayden Boie and Gavin Boie had one hit apiece. Rosemeyer and Ashton Kroeplin hit doubles.

Logan Kroeplin pitched well, going 5.2 innings and allowing just four hits. He struck out six and walked four. Two of the five runs he allowed were earned. Hanson’s second homer came off Brayden Boie, who allowed three earned runs and two hits in one-third of an inning. His out was a strikeout.

With a 16-6 win over Cadott Friday, McDonell finished 7-7 in Western Cloverbelt play.