Spencer baseball defeats Loyal twice; comes up short against Stratford, Neillsville

The Spencer Rockets baseball team had a busy week last week, with games Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday in an endeavor to complete all the remaining scheduled games before playoffs this Thursday.

Loyal games On Monday and Tuesday, May 15 and 16, the Rockets took on the Loyal Greyhounds, winning both games. In the Monday game at Spencer, Spencer beat Loyal 11-1. Reed Knecht threw a complete game, going six innings, allowing just one hit, striking out five and walking three. Top hitters for the Rockets were: Luke Roehrborn, going 1-3, with three RBIs, one run and one walk; Reed Knecht, who went 2-4 with two RBIs and two runs; and Kaiden Miller, who went 3-4 and had four RBIs.

Despite the lopsided results of the first game, when the Greyhounds returned to Spencer the next evening, they certainly gave the Rockets a run for their money. Spencer still won, but only by two runs — 7-5. This time Andrew Sieracki picked up the win for the Rockets, pitching five innings and giving up four runs and three earned runs on four hits, walking two and striking out nine batters. Madden Prybylski picked up the save pitching the final two innings, giving up one run and striking out three.

Top hitters for Spencer were: Knecht, who went 2-4, hitting a double, scoring two runs and walking once; Sieracki, who went 1-2, with a double, three RBIs, one run and three walks; and Miller, who went 1-4 with two RBIs and one run. Luke Roehrborn and Knecht each stole a base.

For the Greyhounds, top hitters were: Cain Toufar, who went 2-3, hit a double, scored two runs and got a walk; and Rogan Ashbeck, who went 1-1, scoring one run, walking twice and stealing two bases. Ethan Lindner, Colten Sandelier and Eli Zettler all went 1-4. Lindner and Drew Stieglitz each scored a run for the Hounds. Zettler hit a double.

Spencer committed three errors while Loyal committed one.

Stratford game After a break Wednesday, the Rockets played at home again on Thursday. Despite the dark and threatening skies and sprinkling rain, the athletes were still able to get a game in. In this non-conference matchup, Spencer lost 13-8, bringing the team’s overall record to 11-7.

Tyler Peterson took the loss as the starting pitcher. He struck out two batters during his three and one-third innings on the mound, as did Peyton Brookhart, who pitched for three innings.

Top hitters were: Luke Roehrborn, who went 1-1, with three runs and two walks; Knecht, who went 2-4, with two RBIs and two runs; Miller, finishing 2-4, with two RBIs and a run; and Zack Roehrborn, who went 1-2 with two RBIs. Sieracki and Luke Roehrborn hit a double.

Stratford committed three errors while Spencer had four.

Neillsville game The Rockets baseball team wrapped up their conference schedule in Neillsville Friday night. The boys came up just a little short, losing to the conference champs by a score of 8-7, leaving the tying run on third and go-ahead run at second in the seventh inning. Spencer finished conference play with a record of 8-4.

Prybylski was the starting pitcher and took the loss. Top hitters were: Luke Roehrborn, who went 3-4, hit a double, and had one run and one RBI; Miller, who went 2-3, hit a double, and had one run and three RBIs; Carter Luepke, who went 2-4 with one run and two RBIs; and Connor Bacon, who went 1-3, with a double and one RBI.

Prybylski and Knecht stole a base. Miller hit a sacrifice fly.

Spencer committed two errors while Neillsville had one.

VALORIE BRECHT/STAFF PHOTO