Baseball claims fourth straight Marawood title
By Nathaniel Underwood
A 10-0 victory over Phillips on Thursday night secured a fourth straight Marawood- North title for the Abbotsford/Colby baseball team, who finished their conference season with a 9-1 record and improved to 16-7 overall over the past week.
The co-op dominated their conference opponents, their plus-85 run differential over the 10 Marawood-North contests a clear indicator of just how commanding their hold over the conference has been this season. The Abby/Colby squad scored 10 or more runs in all but two of their conference games and surrendered two or fewer runs in seven of those contests.
Despite that, Abby/Colby’s path to the championship was in jeopardy midway through the season. A 6-4 defeat to Rib Lake gave the Redmen the inside track to the title; the co-op would need to win the rematch just two days later or hope that somehow Rib Lake would lose three more conference games.
The team rose to the occasion, bouncing back with an 11-3 home victory over the Redmen.
“The team responded well and we don’t want to take anything away from [Rib Lake starting pitcher Jackson] Blomberg, but we did not hit very well in that first game,” co-head coach Brett Nelson said. “I feel we played our game the second time and the score reflected that. We knew that after losing to Rib Lake we didn’t have any room to slip up and played that way. The kids, especially seniors, were driven to win a fourth straight conference championship.”
The co-op continued to take care of business, routing Prentice and Phillips in their final four conference games and ending the conference schedule at 9-1, the same record as Rib Lake.
With the goal of winning the Marawood- North now under their belts, Abby/ Colby will be looking to carry their momentum into the final week of the regular season and the playoffs.
“We are starting to put things together,” Nelson said. “We have a three-headed pitching monster that will help us make a playoff run. Payton [Schreiber] and JV [Castillo] got recognition throughout the season, but Evan Reis has really come on, contributing to two no-hitters this season.”
“We will continue to capitalize on our experience and approach at the plate trying to hit the ball hard wherever it goes,” the co-head coach added. “We will continue to stress how important making routine plays are in high school baseball. If we make those plays and hit like we can, there is a lot of excitement left in this season.”
Neillsville/Granton 10-4
Carlos Lara hit his third home run of the season, Nano Lopez and Evan Reis both had two hits and Abby/Colby got four and twothirds innings of one-hit ball from starting pitcher JV Castillo as they defeated Neillsville/ Granton 10-4 on Friday afternoon’s senior night home game.
See MARAWOOD CHAMPS/ Page 24 Marawood champs
Continued from page 14
The hosting co-op scored 10 unanswered runs in their victory over the Cloverbelt-East Warriors. They jumped out to a 4-0 lead after the first four batters for Abby/Colby reached safely and Reis and AJ Brodhagen hit bases- loaded singles.
After putting up two more runs in the second and another in the bottom of third on a pair of singles from Blake Bargender and Payton Schreiber, Lara started off the fourth with a solo home run. Lopez followed up with a double and an error by the Neillsville/ Granton defense allowed both him and Brodhagen to score later in the inning.
Castillo kept the opposing lineup silent over the first four innings of work, holding them to just one hit and only giving up three base runners. The only run surrendered by the senior came in the fifth, where a walk would eventually come around to score as Neillsville/Granton’s M Zoschke notched a hit against Lara, who came in to relieve Castillo.
Two more unearned runs came across the plate in the fifth, but Nano Lopez held the opposing lineup to just one run over the final two innings, allowing Abby/Colby to come out with the 10-4 win.
Castillo earned the win, striking out eight of the eighteen batters he faced and walking three, Lara gave up two unearned runs on one hit and a walk and Lopez pitched two innings, walking two and striking out one while giving up one run.
Lopez was 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored, Reis went 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs and Lara’s home run was the only other extra base hit for the co-op. Brodhagen reached base safely in all three plate appearances, scoring once and collecting an RBI, Bargender and Schreiber came home twice and four Abby/Colby players (Reis, Brodhagen, Castillo and Bargender) stole a base.
Phillips, 13-1
Payton Schreiber pitched five innings of one-run ball and hit a home run, Evan Reis hit a two-RBI triple in the second inning and Abby/Colby crushed Phillips 13-1 in the first game of a double-header played last Thursday.
Patience at the plate served the co-op well against the Loggers. While they only had six hits against a trio of Phillips pitchers, Abby/ Colby was able to draw 12 walks in the contest, allowing them to hang double-digit runs on their Marawood-North conference foes.
With two outs and no one on base in the second inning, the co-op put together a twoout rally that gave them control over the contest. Six straight walks resulted in three runs coming in for the co-op while another run came in as JV Castillo took home on a double steal. Then, with runners still at second and third, Reis came through with a triple to deep right-center field, plating both and giving his team a 6-0 lead.
Payton Schreiber’s one-out solo shot to over the wall in left-center in the top of the fourth gave Abby/Colby an insurance run and Reis came around to score later in the inning on an error after reaching on an infield single and stealing second.
The Loggers finally broke through with a run in the bottom half of the inning, but a five-run effort from the co-op in the top of the fifth, bolstered by a two-RBI single from Blake Bargender and a sacrifice fly courtesy of Nano Lopez, sealed the win for Abby/ Colby.
Schreiber cruised through his start, striking out six batters in a dominant performance. The Loggers managed just four hits against the junior, stringing together a pair of singles and a stolen base to get their only run off of Schreiber.
Reis finished the game with two hits, two runs, two RBIs and a walk in four plate appearances and Schreiber went 1-for-2 and had two walks. Castillo, Bargender and Preston Bunkelman all went 1-for-3 in the contest. Abby/Colby also had six stolen bases, with Castillo swiping two and Bargender, Reis, Lopez and Koren Decker all taking one each.
Phillips, 10-0
Evan Reis and Carlos Lara combined for a six inning no-hitter in the second game against Phillips last Thursday, helping Abby/ Colby complete the series sweep of the Loggers and capture their fourth straight Marawood- North title in the process with a 10-0 victory.
The visiting Phillips’ squad went 0-for-16 against Reis, who pitched five and two-thirds innings of shutout ball in the title-sealing performance. The senior pitcher was almost untouchable on the mound, getting nine of his 17 outs via the strikeout. Eight walks by Reis were the only blemish on his record, three of which came with two outs in what turned out to be the final inning of the contest. Lara came on to get the final out for Abby/Colby, preserving the no-hitter by getting Sawyer Kucaba to fly out with the bases loaded in the top of the sixth.
A game-ending single from Nano Lopez drove in Reis in the bottom half of the inning to give Abby/Colby a ten-run advantage.
Half of those runs were recorded in the bottom of the first. Just as their first six runs were scored with two outs in the first game of the double-header, all five in the top of the first were also put up with two outs. After a single and a stolen base, JV Castillo was able to get the first run on the board on a long fly ball. Another run scored on an error by the Loggers and a single from Preston Bunkelman with the bases loaded plus another mistake by Phillips’ defense led to three more Abby/Colby players coming to plate.
Lara hit a bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the next inning to give Abby/Colby their second straight 6-0 lead after two frames of the day.
In addition to his no-hit performance on the mound, Reis also scored three of the coop’s runs by hitting a double and walking three times in his four plate appearances. He also stole a base. Bunkelman was 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI and Castillo, Lara, Lopez and Payton Schrieber also had RBIs in the win.
The co-op is to have a rematch with Marathon on Thursday, May 16 as their final home game of the regular season. The Red Raiders came out on top in the team’s first match up, winning 12-6 in Marathon. First pitch is set for 4:45 p.m.
CLOSE PLAY - JV Castillo attempts to lay down the tag at third during the coop’s first game against Phillips on Thursday. Abby/Colby went on to win both games to seal their fourth straight conference title.
STAFF PHOTOS/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD
COMPLETE GAME - Payton Schreiber deals a strike in his complete five-inning game against Phillips.
