First place A/C baseball sweeps Athens, beats Spencer
One team sat at the top of the Marawood- North conference standings Tuesday evening. With a 6-1 conference record, the Abbotsford/Colby co-op stood alone, the winners of four straight games going into Tuesday evening. A sweep of the Athens Bluejays last week and a road trip win against Spencer helped the coop cement their position as contenders for the title of conference champions. A loss to Rib Lake Tuesday night would snap that win streak, however, and show that more work still needs to be done.
2-1
Looking to build on their extra innings victory on Monday, the Abby/Colby club invited Athens to Red Arrow Park on April 28 for a conference showdown. In what would end up being a low scoring affair, the co-op emerged victorious, topping the Bluejays 2-1.
The co-op got things started early in the first inning, as the top of the order did its job and put runners on base ahead of Carlos Lara. Lara didn’t miss this prime opportunity and put the co-op up by slapping a single to the outfield, scoring two on the play. While the Athens defense tightened up to end the inning without any further damage, this seemed to be an early indication that the Abby/Colby lineup would continue to put pressure on their opponents.
And indeed they would, as the very next inning the co-op found itself in prime position to add to their lead. With runners on the corners and no outs, the Abby/Colby club opted to be aggressive on the basepaths, calling for a delayed double steal. Nano Lopez raced home after the throw went down to second, but a bullet back to the plate would beat him there, resulting in an out on a close play.
Despite the setback, the co-op remained bold and Jaxon Polivka stole third, putting himself in prime position to score. The next play, a pitch snuck by the catcher and Polivka tried to score. A generous bounce off the backstop allowed for another tight play at the plate, which again went in Athens’ favor. A runner picked off at first would end the co-op’s second inning threat, leaving the game 2-0 after two.
Pitcher JV Castillo cruised through the first three innings, even flashing the leather in the third by making a play on a quickly falling pop up just in front of the mound and then tossing out an Athens base runner caught between first and second to complete the double play. The fourth inning would prove to be Castillo’s greatest challenge. It began with two hit batsmen, one of which would come around to score on a single later in the inning. The Bluejays managed to load the bases, but Castillo cut the rally short by striking out the final batter of the inning.
The co-op mustered another attempt to extend their lead in the bottom half of the frame, but left two men stranded on second and third, leaving the score 2-1. Luckily for the home team, it would turn out that they would not need the insurance runs, as Castillo and the co-op defense left Athens looking for answers in the next two innings. Mateo Lopez would come on for the save attempt in the seventh, and while two walks would make things interesting, the co-op managed to close the game out, claiming the victory 2-1.
Castillo was credited with the win and would end the game with five strikeouts, two walks, and one earned run on two hits. Mateo Lopez gave up no hits and struck out two in his inning of work, earning the save.
Lara tacked on another hit and a walk after his single in the first, finishing 2-2 with two RBIs for the co-op.
Athens, 13-10 in 8 innings
The Abby/Colby baseball team would travel to Athens the day after beating the Bluejays at home, setting up a rematch between the conference rivals. The co-op would take the second game as well, riding two five-run innings to win 13-10 in extra innings.
It was Athens jumping out to an early lead Friday, going up 2-0 in the first inning. If the game was to play out anything like it did the night before, this opening deficit could prove to be difficult for the co-op to overcome. Going back to the previous game, the co-op had been shut out for an impressive seven straight innings by Bluejays’ pitching. That streak, however, was about to come to an abrupt end.
The Abby/Colby hitters got to Athens’ Brooks Kraus in the second, tagging the home team’s starter for five runs. Going into the bottom of the second, things were looking good for the co-op, up 5-2 and with their offense now out of a gamelong scoring slump. But, as the saying goes, there was still a lot of game left and this one was far from over.
Athens weathered the onslaught like a veteran boxer, absorbing hits and waiting patiently for their chance to strike. The home team would counter in the bottom of the second, dealing a haymaker of their own. Four runs would score as batted balls turned into hits for the Bluejays, finding the gaps that had eluded them in the previous game. Abby/Colby starter Nick Olvera managed to get through the inning, but not before the Bluejays had reclaimed the lead 6-5.
The Abby/Colby hitters would deal the next blow in the fourth inning, retaking the lead by plating two runs. Not to be outdone, Athens would come right back in fifth to score two runs of their own. After six innings and with four lead changes in the books, the Bluejays had an 8-7 lead going into the seventh inning. But opposing teams should beware this Abby/Colby team in tight games.
With their backs against the wall for the second time in three games, the co-op rallied in the top of the seventh to tie the game 8-8. Behind the pitching of Mateo Lopez, the visitors forced extra innings by keeping Athens scoreless in the bottom half of the inning.
Building off the momentum they had gained in the previous inning, the Abby/ Colby offense exploded for their second five-run inning of the evening, giving them a 13-8 lead. A comeback effort in the bottom of the frame by the Bluejays was mitigated by a combination of Lopez and Evan Reis and the co-op found themselves victors of their second extra innings game of the season with a score of 13-10.
Lopez pitched much of the game for the co-op, going five and two-thirds and picking up the win. He gave up four runs, only one of which was earned, on five hits while recording six strikeouts. Olvera finished with two innings pitched, one strikeout, and having given up six runs, though only three of those runs were earned.
14-1
The co-op would then face off against Spencer on Monday. Because of the field conditions in Spencer, both teams would make the trek to Mauston in order to play the game on time. While technically the away team, the Abby/Colby club looked far more at home than their opponents at the neutral site, soundly defeating the Rockets 14-1.
It was another good night for the co-op bats, which accumulated fifteen hits and three walks over six innings en route to their fourth straight victory. They got started early, scoring one run both the first and the second innings before adding three in the third.
Even with a comfortable 5-1 lead going into the second half of the game, the offense did not let up, adding four more runs in the fifth and five in the sixth. Led by a perfect four hits in four at bats performance from Reis and three hit night from Castillo, every member of the coop’s starting lineup recorded at least one hit.
The co-op also showed off some speed on the basepaths. Castillo had three stolen bases in the game, Reis and Polivka collected two a piece, and Braxton Smith and Jackson Snapp each swiped a base, giving the co-op a total of nine stolen bases in the game.
Perhaps even more impressive than their offense was the pitching performance put together by a combination of Reis, Olvera and Schreiber. Reis started the game for the co-op, matching his offensive outing by going four strong innings and getting the win. In those four innings, Reis struck out eight and only gave up two hits. Olvera and Schreiber picked up where Reis left off, holding the Rockets hitless over the final two innings. Olvera struck out two in his inning of work and Schreiber also set down one on strikes.
The co-op invited second-place Rib Lake into town Tuesday, looking to increase the gap between themselves and their guests in the Marawood-North conference standings. Both teams came into the game on four-game win streaks and only one would leave with that streak intact. After all was said and done, Abby/ Colby could not quite muster up enough offense to match Rib Lake’s production, falling 15-11.
Rib Lake established themselves early in this match-up, making themselves feel right at home at Red Arrow Park. The visitors scored five runs in the first inning, putting the co-op in an early hole and setting the tone for the rest of the game.
The co-op would get a run back in the bottom half of the frame and the Abby/ Colby defense would settle down the Rib Lake bats long enough for the home team to take back two more in the third, making the score 5-3 going into the fourth inning. Despite the less than ideal start, the co-op was creeping back into the game.
However, every time the Abby/Colby club seemed to have brought themselves within striking distance, Rib Lake would have an answer for them. The visitors would score two runs in the fourth and three in the fifth, effectively countering the five runs that the co-op would score over those same innings. The score was 10-8 going into the seventh inning. If the co-op could just get one more stop, their offense had been consistent enough that scoring two runs seemed like a reasonable feat.
In some sense, it was, as they would go on to score three runs in the bottom of the inning. But, just as they had been all evening, Rib Lake was a step ahead. The visitors had put up another five-run inning in the top of the seventh to go up by seven at the time, effectively putting the game out of reach.
It was a tough evening for Abby/Colby pitching, as a mixture of well timed hits by the opposing team and too many free passes ultimately resulted in the fifteen runs that came across the plate for Rib Lake. While the combination of Olvera, Schreiber and Castillo would end up striking out ten batters over the course of the game, the eight walks that were also issued by the team were not easily overcome.
Despite playing from behind the entire game, the co-op put up a solid offensive performance, scoring eleven runs on nine hits. Castillo, Polivka, and Mateo Lopez led the way with two hits each. Castillo drove in two and Blake Bargender also had two RBIs for the home team.
