GILMAN BASEBALL - Pirates off to a 3-1 start, beat Greenwood in conference opener

GILMAN BASEBALL

The Gilman Pirates scored in every inning but the second and junior pitcher Dawson Robinson made it stand up with a strong six-inning start in the team's 8-4 win at Greenwood Tuesday in the Eastern Cloverbelt Conference baseball opener for both teams.

Greenwood tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the third, but the Pirates quickly countered with two runs in the top of the fourth and scored single runs in each of the next three innings to improve to 3-1 in a busy first week of game action for 2025.

Robinson struck out seven batters and allowed just three hits and two walks. One of Greenwood's runs was unearned.

The Pirates outhit the Indians 8-3 with the bottom half of the order doing the most damage. Robinson was two for four with a double out of the sixspot and eight and nine hitters Max Pockat and Trevin Duellman also went two for four.

Hits from the top two batters, however, sparked a two-run first inning for Gilman. Lucas Halida eventually scored on a Dawson Grunseth groundout and Beau Pockat scored on a wild pitch. Robinson's double drove in Talyn Podolak, who walked and scored three times in the win, made it 3-0.

The Indians made their push in the third, tying the game on a walk, a hit batter, two hits and an error. But in the fourth, Max Pockat singled, stole second and went to third on a wild pitch. After Halida walked, an error on a ball hit by Beau Pockat allowed both runners to score. Tate Krizan's groundout scored Podolak in the fifth, Halida scored on a wild pitch in the sixth to make it 7-4 and Max Pockat's base hit to right drove in Podolak with the final run in the seventh.

Max Pockat struck out one in a scoreless bottom of the seventh to close it out.

The teams are scheduled to meet again today, Thursday, in Gilman. The Pirates will host Prairie Farm in non-conference play Friday and Stanley-Boyd on Monday. All three games start at 5 p.m.

Woodside weekend

The Pirates got their season underway with three games in two days in the High School Baseball Challenge held at the Woodside Sports Complexes in Mauston and Wisconsin Dells. They had a chance to go undefeated, but in Saturday’s game at Mauston, Flambeau won the matchup of pitching depleted teams 18-8 in five innings.

Flambeau outhit Gilman 11-3. Ten walks and four hit batters as well as four errors did the Pirates in as the Falcons outscored Gilman 13-0 in the third and fourth innings.

Gilman had a pair of early two-run leads. The Pirates jumped ahead 2-0 in the top of the first as Halida blooped a single and scored on Beau Pockat’s bloop single. Pockat would score on a wild pitch.

After Flambeau tied it on two singles and two RBI groundouts in the bottom half, the Pirates went up 4-2 in the top of the second. Krizan and Max Pockat were hit by pitches and eventually worked their way around the bases.

The Falcons tied in their half and then took the lead for good with a five-run third, highlighted by a two-run single by Tanner Nelson. An eight-run fourth made it 17-4. Nelson had the big hit in that inning with a bases-clearing double.

Gilman extended the game for a few minutes by scoring four in the top of the fifth. Robinson knocked in one with a single. Podolak drew a bases-loaded walk. Krizan drove in one with a fielder’s choice and the last run scored on an error on a ball hit by Duellman.

But Flambeau ended the game in the bottom half on an RBI single by Asher Ralph.

Beau Pockat pitched two innings for Gilman, Connor Nichols had a tough oneplus inning and Makii Austin got four outs.

Nelson was four for four atop Flambeau’s lineup and drove in five runs.

The weekend started at Wisconsin Dells Friday with a solid 9-3 win over Prentice. Grunseth and Robinson both threw strikes and the offense kicked into gear the second and third times through to erase an early 3-0 deficit.

The Pirates took the lead in the bottom of the fourth. Grunseth got the rally started by slicing a triple to the left-centerfield gap and scored on Podolak’s double over the head of leftfielder Adam Raab. Robinson singled and Beau Pockat got a base hit to left to score Podolak. After a flyout by Max Pockat and a wild pitch, Duellman lined a base hit to right to score Robinson and Beau Pockat scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch.

Podolak’s RBI single in the fifth scored Nichols. In the sixth, Gilman broke it open. The Pockat brothers led off with singles and Duellman bunted for a hit with Beau Pockat scoring on an errant throw to first by Prentice pitcher Jonas Staroba. Halida lined a two-run single to right-center and Nichols later added a sacrifice fly.

Grunseth went 4.2 innings to collect the win. He struck out two, walked one and allowed three hits and two earned runs. The Bucs scored a run in the second and got RBI singles from Raab and Jaxon Franz in the third. Robinson had his breaking balls working in the final 2.1 innings as he allowed a double to first hitter he faced, Hardy Hueckman, and struck out six of the next seven batters.

Grunseth, Podolak, Beau Pockat and Duellman each had two of Gilman’s 11 hits. Seven of the nine starters had at least one hit.

In game two Friday, Gilman got out to a 7-0 lead over the Wausaukee Rangers, lost that lead in a seven-run bottom of the fifth, but then scored six straight runs to secure a 13-9 win.

Robinson continued to throw well, striking out three and allowing just three hits and one fourth-inning run in the first four innings. Meanwhile, Gilman got an unearned run in the top of the first and then scored three runs in the third on Grunseth’s RBI single and a two-run double by Beau Pockat. In the top of the fourth, with the bases loaded and two outs, Podolak came through with a tworun single and Beau Pockat later walked with the bases loaded.

Max Pockat made his varsity pitching debut in the bottom of the fifth. After a shaky start with two walks, two hits and a run allowed, he got a ground ball for the potential third out, but it was misplayed and that opened the door for the Rangers’ big inning that put them ahead 8-7. Gavin Thomson’s two-run triple was the big hit.

The Pirates came right back with two in the top of the sixth to regain the lead. Nichols hit a leadoff triple and scored on Grunseth’s groundout. Beau Pockat later added an RBI fielder’s choice. A four-run seventh put it away. Halida’s single and a walk to Krizan set up Nichols’ two-run double. Nichols scored on a base hit by Grunseth and Austin drove in the last run with a fielder’s choice.

Grunseth was two for four with three runs driven in and three runs scored. Nichols was two for three with four runs scored and two driven in. Halida was two for three and drew two walks. He scored four runs.

Max Pockat wound up striking out five hitters. He allowed eight hits and eight runs, but only two of the runs were earned.