Marathon wins the South

Hoeksema’s RBI is the difference against Eagles

By Casey Krautkramer

Marathon’s varsity baseball team needed to sweep its regular-season series against Auburndale last week to win its first Marawood South Conference championship since 2018.

The Red Raiders won their home game against the Eagles, 2-1, on May 9 thanks to junior Grant Warren’s pitching victory and junior Tyler Underwood batting two for three at the plate. If Marathon could beat Auburndale dale again two days later, then it would seal the Maraon Marawood South Conference title.

Marathon traveled to Auburndale on Thurday and it was a tight game again. Grant Warren drove in Marathon’s first run with a sacrifice fly in the first inning. Tyler Underwood pitched until the seventh inning when he reached his pitch count. Sophomore Cody Radtke relieved him on the mound and surrendered a run to Auburndale in the bottom of the seventh inning to tie the game at one run apiece.

Grant Warren reached first base in the top of the eighth inning and senior Pierson Hamann’s sacrifice bunt moved him over to second base. Junior centerfielder Cooper Hoeksema came up to bat with one out in the extra frame. He struggled at the plate early in the game with a few pop ups for outs. He was able to get a hit in his third at-bat which gave him some con- fidence.

Hoeksema describes what his mindset was at the plate in the top of the eighth inning with his team needing to score the go-ahead run.

“I just knew that my team needed me,” he said. “I was down 0-2 in the count so I just knew that I couldn’t strike out because I needed to give Grant a chance to get to third base. The pitcher threw me a fastball on the outside of the plate and I just slapped the ball into right field and Grant scored all the way from second base. After rounding first base and coming back to the base, it felt really good to hear the whole team in the dugout cheering.”

Hoeksema’s RBI single in the top of the eighth inning ended up as the winning run after Radtke pitched well in the bottom of the eighth inning, which sealed Marathon’s road victory and the Marawood South Conference championship. Senior Daniel LaQua batted a perfect four for four and Hoeksema finished two for four at the plate.

Marathon finished its conference schedule with a 9-1 record. Stratford, at 8-2, split both of their conference home-and-away games against both Auburndale and Marathon. Stratford needed Auburndale to beat Marathon on Thursday so it could share the Marawood South Conference championship with the Red Raiders, but it didn’t happen.

Marathon baseball head coach Steve Warren commented on his team winning this year’s Marawood South Conference title outright.

“We really don’t talk much about championships,” he said. “Our only goal is to battle on the next pitch, but we do have a young team that showed perseverance and competitiveness in several close conference games. Stratford, Auburndale and Edgar have very good teams and we just wanted to compete with them to the best of our ability.”

Hoeksema was Marathon’s starting right fielder as a freshman before breaking his wrist halfway through the season. He wore a cast for the rest of the season and he wasn’t able to play in the state tournament. He’s hoping to get a second chance to play in the state tournament.

“I think we definitely have a good group of players so I think it’s possible and I’m looking forward to where we can go in the future,” he said.

Marathon’s scheduled home game against Phillips on Friday was postponed because of rain. Grant Warren was the winning pitcher in the team’s 8-2 home non-conference victory on Monday against Neillsville. Freshman True Thurs led the Red Raiders with a pair of RBIs. Hamann and Hoeksema each batted two for four and Radtke was two for two against the Warriors.

The Red Raiders lost, 4-1, in a nonconference road game against the Pittsville Panthers on Tuesday. Marathon now has a 13-3 overall record this season.