Merchants bounced as they go 1-1 in regional

By Nathaniel Underwood

The Abbotsford Merchants fell in their regular season finale against the Marshfield Chaparrals last Wednesday before splitting a pair of games in the Wisconsin Baseball Association’s regional tournament which was held in Ellsworth over the weekend. The loss to Ellsworth ended the Merchants’ 2024 season, finishing with a 7-9 overall record.

Ellsworth, 4-1

The Merchants’ season came to a close in their second contest of their regional tournament held in Ellsworth. With a trip to the state tournament on the line, Abbotsford could not muster enough offense to push through to the next round, falling 4-1 against the hosting Hubbers squad.

While the Merchants managed seven hits, Ellsworth’s pitching kept them in check for much of the afternoon. With the Abbotsford lineup striking out 13 times and being allowed a single walk, the Merchants were only able to put up a single run on the Hubbers.

That run came in the fourth, where Mateo Lopez led the inning off with a single up the middle of the infield. Payton Schreiber followed with the Merchants’ only extra base hit of the game, smacking a pitch to right field to give Abbotsford runners on second and third with no outs. While Lopez was able to score on a wild pitch, the Merchants were unable to further capitalize on the prime opportunity, registering an infield pop up and a pair of strikeouts in their next three at-bats.

While the run had gotten Abbotsford on the board, they still found themselves behind. A pair of leadoff singles in the top of the third for Ellsworth eventually resulted in the Hubbers taking a 1-0 advantage on a fielder’s choice later in the inning and they had scored two more runs in the top of the fourth to make it 3-0.

Schreiber, who started the game for the Merchants, managed to keep them off the board after the fourth, but the Abbotsford lineup could not find a way to push across more runs. The Hubbers added an insurance run off of relief pitcher Blake Jakobi in the ninth and while Schreiber started the bottom half of the frame with a single and Lucas Stahnke was able to reach on the only error committed in the game, Abbotsford could not answer, knocking them from the tournament.

Lopez had almost half of the team’s hits, going 3-for-4 from the plate and scoring the team’s only run. Schreiber had two hits himself and Jakobi and Blake Bargender had one apiece.

Schreiber was saddled with the loss, giving up three runs on seven hits and four walks in seven innings. He also struck out three batters. Jakobi pitched two innings in relief, surrendering one run on two hits and a walk and striking out one.

Tony, 9-3

JV Castillo collected four hits and pitched seven solid innings, Mateo Lopez had two RBIs and two runs scored and the Merchants defeated the Tony Hayshakers 9-3 in their first regional contest of the WBA’s Division B tournament.

Sloppy defense did little to help either team’s pitching as a total of 12 errors were committed between the two squads. None of the 12 runs scored in the contest were charged as earned against the respective pitchers, though the Merchants were certainly better able to take advantage of the mistakes of their opponents.

The Hayshakers were able to jump out to an early lead, turning a pair of singles to start off the game into two runs after a wild pitch and an error. Abbotsford an-

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swered right back in the bottom half of the frame as, after a single and steal from Castillo in the lead off spot, the Ellsworth infield could not come up with a play, committing two errors and allowing two runs to score for the Merchants.

After having to face seven batters in the first inning, Castillo settled into the game, giving up just one more hit over the next six innings. This gave the Merchants the time to build out a small lead, breaking the 2-2 tie with an RBI single from Mateo Lopez in the bottom of the second and notching another in the fifth after Lopez was able to score on an error by Tony.

The Haymakers were able to cut the lead down to one in the top of the sixth after managing to get a run in without a hit, but Abbotsford answered with a run of their own in the bottom half of the frame.

Up 5-3 heading into the eighth inning, the Merchants lineup blew the game open with a four run effort. They got a little help from Tony’s defense, which committed three errors in the frame. The first came on a ground ball hit by Blake Jakobi, which, after it was misplayed, allowed the Merchants to pick up their sixth run. Two more runs scored on another ground ball error later in the inning and Blake Bargender drove in the fourth run with an RBI single to give Abbotsford a 9-3 lead.

While Tony was able to load the bases in the ninth, Jakobi struck out one and induced a line out to end the threat and seal the win for the Merchants.

Castillo pitched seven innings of three hit ball, picking up the win for the Merchants. While three runs came in during his time on the mound, all of them were unearned. He walked three and struck out six. Payton Schrieber pitched the eighth and struck out one batter and Jakobi finished things out for Abbotsford in the ninth, allowing one hit and striking out one batter.

Castillo collected three singles and a double in five at bats for the Merchants, stealing the only base and scoring one run. Lopez went 1-for-3 with two walks, two RBIs and two runs scored, Schreiber had two hits with a run scored and Bargender, Aaron Morrow and Arturo Lopez all had singles.

Marshfield, 9-7

Abbotsford closed out their regular season with a trip to Marshfield for an exhibition game against the Chaparrals last Wednesday. Despite a valiant rally in the ninth inning, the Merchants could not take down the hosting Marshfield squad, falling 9-7.

After being held to just one run over the first eight innings, the Abbotsford lineup came to life in the final frame. Down 9-1, Blake Jakobi started the inning off with a walk. Back-to-back singles from Mateo Lopez and Blake Bargender loaded the bases and Jakobi was able to score on a groundout from Lucas Stahnke.

Tanner Hraby walked to once again load the bases and Parker Lissner smacked a ball to right field to drive in two more runs to make the score 9-4. Hraby scored on a wild pitch and another bases loaded single, this time courtesy of JV Castillo, brought the Merchants back within two. While the Merchants managed to get the tying run to first base, a strikeout ended the comeback effort.

Outside of the six-run ninth, the Merchants lineup was held in check for most of the evening. Their sole run in the first eight innings of play came on a two-out home run by Castillo in the third. The solo jack tied the game at 1-1 but the Chaparrals went on to score eight unanswered runs over the next few innings, with a four-run seventh solidifying their hold over the contest.

While the Chaparrals were able to get plenty of baserunners on by collecting 11 hits, bases on balls also hurt Abbotsford, as they allowed 11 Marshfield batters to reach via walk.

The Merchants gave the Marshfield lineup plenty of different looks, putting up five different pitchers on the mound. Castillo, Jakobi and Lopez all went two innings while Aaron Morrow and Stahnke wrapped up the game by combining to pitch the seventh and eighth innings. Only Stahnke came out unscathed, only surrendering a walk in his one inning of work. The Abbotsford pitchers only registered three strikeouts, with Lopez taking down two and Castillo picking up the other.

Castillo was the only Merchant with multiple hits in the game and his home run in the third was the only extra base hit. He finished the day with three RBIs and a run scored. Lissner picked up two RBIs on his ninth inning hit and Lopez, Stahnke, Morrow, Blake Bargender and Ty Peterson all had singles.