Redmen settle for split in first games with 2021 co-champs

RIB LAKE BASEBALL

The Rib Lake Redmen took advantage of a rough defensive first inning for Athens and cruised to a game-one win Tuesday, but the Blue Jays did the same in a pair of innings in game two as two of last spring’s three co-Marawood North champions split a doubleheader played on the Jays’ home field.

Rib Lake’s 11-2 win in the opener was basically sealed in the first three and a half innings when the Redmen built an 8-0 lead to put their first notch into the win column for 2022.

Michael Borchardt pitched six strong innings, striking out five, walking three, hitting one and scattering seven hits while allowing single runs in the fourth and fifth innings.

Offensively, the Redmen pounced on opportunities with the exception of stranding two runners in scoring position in the top of the third.

“They had a lot of miscues in that first inning and we took advantage,” Rib Lake head coach Dick Iverson said. “They had five errors in that first inning. They pretty much should have gotten out of that with maybe one run.

“But we hit the ball pretty well,” Iverson added. “We put it the ball in play. We just have to play solid defense, throw strikes and not walk guys. Michael only walked three guys in six innings. Two of the walks came on full counts. He walked one on four pitches, but otherwise, he was always right around the plate.”

Sam Gumz opened the game with a single off Athens starter Brooks Kraus and stole second base. With one down, a throwing error on a ground ball hit by Logan Blomberg put runners on the corners. Gumz scored on a wild pitch. Another wild pitch got Blomberg to third and he scored on Jordan Yanko’s sacrifice fly to left. Jake Matyka walked to start things up again for the Redmen. Andrew Wudi blooped a single into no-man’s land in shallow right with Matyka scooting to third. Another errant throw on Jackson Blomberg’s ground ball pulled Athens’ first baseman off the bag and allowed Matyka to score.

Dominic Quednow pulled a single to right to score Wudi and Athens botched an infield pop-up by Brady Heiser, allowing Jackson Blomberg to score and make it 5-0.

Borchardt led off the second by getting hit by a pitch. He stole second, moved to third on an error and scored on Matyka’s grounder. In the top of the fourth, Logan Blomberg walked and scored on Yanko’s double. Wudi drove in Yanko with a base hit to make it 8-0.

Yanko added his second sacrifice fly of the game in the fifth, hitting one just deep enough into foul territory on the right side to allow the speedy Gumz to tag up and score. Rib Lake tacked on two more insurance runs in the seventh on a two-run double to right-center by Jackson Blomberg, who finished the game two for three.

Wudi was two for five, while Gumz, Logan Blomberg, Yanko and Quednow had a hit apiece. Yanko had three RBIs. Borchardt reached three times on two walks and by getting hit by a pitch. Logan Blomberg, given a 10-pitch limit by the coaches, got the first two outs in the bottom of the seventh and Wudi retired the last batter.

Game two featured a good pitcher’s duel between Cooper Diedrich of Athens and Logan Blomberg. Both pitchers held their opponents scoreless through three innings before Athens, playing as the visitors, struck in the top of the fourth. With one out back-to-back errors on the infield plated a run and then a misplayed fly ball to the outfield turned into a double and another run, giving the Blue Jays a 2-0 lead.

Rib Lake cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the inning. Borchardt led off by singling on a perfect drag bunt. He moved to second on a wild pitch and eventually scored on a groundout by Yanko.

Blomberg got through the fifth unscathed and got the first two outs of the sixth via strikeout. Reaching his pitch limit, Iverson went to Wudi who did his job, but the defense let him down, bobbling three ground balls.

“There were two outs and nobody on and then we gave up a run on three straight errors,” Iverson said. “So we gave up three unearned runs and lost 3-1. Besides those two innings, it was a pretty well-played game by both teams. We easily could’ve won that game 1-0 or 2-0.

“Cooper Diedrich did a nice job,” he added. “He didn’t walk very many guys. He kept us off base.”

That being said, Rib Lake had opportunities late. The Redmen had two on in the fifth with one out and hit into a double play. In the sixth, they had two on with two outs but Diedrich got a strikeout. Rib Lake got its leadoff man on but couldn’t push him around.

“We pitched pretty well,” Iverson said. “We gave up three unearned runs. All of our pitchers threw well on the day. You can tell they’re getting better with mound time.”

Blomberg finished with five strikeouts in 5.2 innings, he walked two and gave up just three hits. Wudi got one out in the sixth and Jackson Blomberg walked one and hit one in a scoreless seventh.

“Wudi came in and got us three ground balls in a row and we booted them,” Iverson said. “He did his job. I was very pleased with our pitching. All four guys threw well. Walks didn’t kill us. It was the errors and not coming up with the big hit in the second game.”

Logan Blomberg hit a double while Borchardt and Jackson Blomberg had singles for Rib Lake’s three hits.

The Redmen, now 1-2 in the North and 1-3 overall, are planning to host Chequamegon today, Thursday, at 4:45 p.m. to complete a doubleheader that was planned for last week. The Redmen host Prentice on Monday and then go to Prentice on April 28 before hosting Auburndale on April 29.