Interwald shuts down rivals to earn Small Division tourney title

DAIRYLAND LEAGUE TOURNAMENT

The Dairyland League Small Division and its tournament were largely the vision of the late Herb Scheithauer and, fittingly, his Interwald Woodticks won the division’s first post-season tournament held last weekend in Rib Lake.

The second-seeded Woodticks completed a three-game, two-day march to the championship late Sunday afternoon with an 8-1 win over the fifth-seeded Tomahawk Titans. The victory followed a hard-earned 10-7 win over rival Rib Lake in the morning semifinal.

All eight teams in the tournament knew pitching depth would be a major key to winning the three games necessary to take the title. Interwald’s three starting pitchers in the tournament covered 24 of the team’s 25 innings played and, other than a rough two innings against Rib Lake that were more the defense’s doing, the Woodticks’ pitchers just never let an opponent put up a crooked number.

Logan Blomberg was the tournament closer, going all nine innings in the final. He gave up 10 hits, but just three went for extra bases and he only walked three Titans. Tomahawk’s lone run came on a John Roberts double that broke up the shutout with one out to go.

Offensively, the Woodticks also had 10 hits, but nine walks and three hit batters also put ducks on the pond and, starting in the bottom of the fourth inning, the Woodticks finally started driving them home.

The tie-breaking rally actually started with two outs and no one on. Nick Gerstberger was hit by a pitch and came all the way around on Blomberg’s bloop double to that eluded three Titans in shallow centerfield. Michael Borchardt’s base hit up the middle drove in Blomberg with the second run.

A five-run fifth-inning rally basically ended the suspense. Again, a hit batter, this time Matt Mohr, started it. Craig Scheithauer walked and, with one out, Gerstberger and Blomberg walked to force in a run. Borchardt’s fielder’s choice knocked in a run, Jackson Blomberg’s single through the right side knocked in another and Dalton Strebig capped it with another RBI single. A second run scored on the plate with an errant throw to home plate by the Titans.

Borchardt’s bases-loaded walk in the sixth made it 8-0.

Strebig at the top of the order and Jackson Blomberg at the bottom both went three for five to lead Interwald offensively. Tomahawk’s Matt Heinrich was the losing pitcher. He nearly got through four innings unscathed, but the Woodticks got to him in their third and fourth times through the order. Heinrich ended up going 5.2 innings, allowing seven runs, six of which were earned, on seven hits, five walks and three hit batters. He struck out four.

Following the post-game photos there were a lot of misty eyes among the Interwald contingent, which included immediate family members and relatives of Herb Scheithauer, who passed away at the age of 81 on April 8. Scheithauer’s baseball life included playing ball for many years at Chet and Bernie’s, coaching the Woodticks and Interwald’s 35 and older team for 35 years and running the Wisconsin Baseball Association semifinal tournaments that had been held on the Rib Lake diamond for many years on this same August weekend.

With large-city teams growing more common in the WBA and its post-season tournament, Scheithauer had campaigned for several years for local small town teams to break away and the eight teams in the Dairyland Small did that this year.

Interwald 10, Rib Lake 7

The Rib Lake Osprey have had a hex on Interwald in Dairyland League play for the past decade, but the Woodticks finally broke it in Sunday’s first semifinal, rallying from a 7-3 second-inning deficit for a 10-7 win.

The pitching matchup was the same as it was for the well-played 1-1 tie the two teams played to on July 3 in a game that was suspended due to heavy rain. This game, however, didn’t look anything like that game at the start.

Third-seeded Rib Lake hit Interwald starter Peter Devine for four runs in the top of the first, though only one was earned. Levi Ewan singled with one out and scored on Bryant Konieczny’s twoout triple. An errant throw to third that went out of play allowed Konieczny to score.

Austin Edwards reached on an error, Steve Mann singled, Scott Hueckman singled in one and Joe Frombach’s infield hit added the fourth run.

Interwald came right back with a three-spot off Rib Lake and its starter, Konieczny. Strebig singled and went all the way to third on a bunt single by David Fliehs. Mohr walked to load the bases for Craig Scheithauer, whose double to the gap in right-center scored all three runners.

A two-out error in the top of the second hurt Interwald again, opening the door for a three-run rally for Rib Lake that included an RBI single by Mann and a successful double steal that scored a run.

But that ended the scoring for Rib Lake. Devine settled in and wound up going the distance, allowing 13 hits and two walks while striking out four. Only one run was earned.

Interwald got the deficit down to 7-6 in the bottom of the third when Gerstberger and Logan Blomberg were both hit by pitches with the bases loaded and Borchardt adding an RBI single that ended Konieczny’s pitching stint after just 2.1 innings. Levi Ewan induced a doubleplay ball to end the inning.

But the Woodticks were right back at it in the fourth and took the lead. Two Rib Lake errors led to Mohr’s tying single. After Craig Scheithauer’s infield hit loaded the bases, Carter Scheithauer drove in the go-ahead run with a ground ball and it was 9-7 after Gerstberger’s looper fell in very shallow right, but ended up as a forceout at second base.

Gerstberger’s single drove in Carter Scheithauer, who had doubled, with the final run in the seventh.

Strebig, Fliehs and Craig Scheithauer each had two of Interwald’s 10 hits. Mann was three for five for Rib Lake, while Jeff Ziembo and Levi Ewan had two hits each.

Konieczny struck out four, walked two, hit two and allowed four hits and six runs, three of which were earned. Ewan got the loss, allowing two hits and three unearned runs in 1.1 innings. Ziembo covered the last four innings for the Osprey, allowing four hits, one run and a walk while striking out four and hitting one.

Interwald 11, Medford 1

Logan Blomberg’s three-run, insidethe- park home run put Interwald ahead 4-0 in the first inning and the Woodticks cruised from there to an 11-1 seven-in- ning win over seventh-seeded Medford in a Saturday afternoon quarterfinal.

The Woodticks got out of a couple early jams, scored three more runs in the third inning and weren’t threatened after that.

Carter Scheithauer went six scoreless innings to get the win, allowing four hits and striking out three. He walked two and hit Medford’s Trent Klemm twice. Klemm drove in Medford’s only run with a seventh-inning single that knocked in Peyton Gilles, who had singled off reliever Jake Borman and stole two bases.

Interwald’s four-run rally in the first was all done with two outs. Mohr and Carter Scheithauer were walked by Moondog starter Gavin Fuchs and Gerstberger doubled. Blomberg then hit a liner to rightfield to that got past a diving David Hecker and circled the bases.

Borchardt hit a two-run double and Jackson Blomberg added a sacrifice fly in the third. Blomberg hit another sacrifice fly in the fifth and Interwald’s three-run sixth included a two-run double down the rightfield line by Gerstberger and a run-scoring wild pitch.

Interwald outhit the Moondogs 10-6. Gerstberger was three for four with two doubles. Borchardt and Logan Blomberg had two hits each. Medford had one hit apiece from six different players.

Interwald leftfielder David Fliehs makes a sliding grab to rob Tomahawk’s Eli Wurl of a hit during the fifth inning of Sunday’s championship game in the Dairyland League Small Division tournament.MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS