DAIRYLAND LEAGUE BASEBALL - Everest hits late to win seasonopening pitchers’ duel with Reds
DAIRYLAND LEAGUE BASEBALL
The Everest Merchants broke away from a tight 1-1 pitchers’ duel with a threerun seventh inning Sunday and went on to a 6-1 victory over the Whittlesey Reds in the 2024 Dairyland League baseball opener for both teams at Mike Roiger Stadium.
The Reds were no-hit into the fifth inning but that’s where they broke that bid up and also tied the game after Everest had scored on the top half on three straight two-out singles, the last of which by Nic Barnes drove in the run.
In the bottom half, Brandon Loertscher bounced a single up the middle with one out, Cody Loertscher walked and Cade Alexander poked a single that just got through the right side and scored Brandon Loertscher. That’s all the rally produced as a strikeout and fly out ended the inning.
Everest broke through in the seventh, with all of the damage coming with two outs, just as it did in the fifth.
Brandon Kranz drew a two-out walk from Reds pitcher Nick Retterath, Ryan Hubacek was hit by a pitch and Barnes walked. Koleman Schilling then came up with the big hit of the game, a single to center that scored two runs. A third run scored on an error.
Everest tacked on two more runs in the eighth on a bases-loaded walk by Barnes and a Schilling fielder’s choice.
Whittlesey finished with four hits with Thomas Mildbrand adding a sixth-inning single and Cody Loertscher singling in the seventh.
Spike Alexander started for the Reds and went 4.2 innings, allowing one run and six hits while striking out five and hitting one. Retterath took the loss. He struck out four before the Merchants put the twoout rally together in the seventh. He went 2.2 innings. Jeff Kraschnewski got the last two outs of the eighth and Brandon Loertscher pitched a scoreless ninth with two strikeouts.
Whittlesey heads to Marshfield Sunday for a 1:30 p.m. first pitch against the Chaparrals at Jack Hackman Field. The only other Large Division game Sunday had Rhinelander (1-1) beating host Merrill (0-1) by a score of 11-9.
