July 8, 2015 at 3:29 p.m.
Snowhawks split holiday series with Chicago All-Stars
Snowhawks split holiday series with Chicago All-Stars
But the All-Stars got the last laugh Monday, handing the Snowhawks their first loss of the season. The loss tied the two-game series at a game apiece and has both teams looking forward to next year.
Jeff Smith, the Snowhawks' playing manager, said he knew playing the All-Stars would be a challenge for his team and they knew coming into the game they would need to generate some offense if they wanted to come out on the winning end.
"We knew going in that we had to score runs and if you don't score runs against these guys it's a tough win then," he said.
The Chicago All-Stars come to Lake Tomahawk each year to challenge the Snowhawks in the two-game series. The team is comprised of a family of ball players from the Chicago area and the group is notorious for putting up a fight against the Snowhawks.
After the Fourth of July parade, spectators filled Snowshoe Park to watch the two teams battle on the ballfield.
The Snowhawks found themselves trailing 6-2 after six innings of play, but a leadoff triple by John Konopacky in the seventh inning provided the spark needed to get things going for the team, paving the way for the most dramatic win the Snowhawks have had all year.
Jesse Robinson, playing in his first game of the season with the Snowhawks, drove in Konopacky. Smith then drove in Robinson for the second run of the inning. Eric Hilmer and Cole Punches got in on the action to total four runs for the Snowhawks in the inning.
The Snowhawks went on to win the game 10-7.
"We were down 6-2 and then finally put some runs together," Smith said. "We had a leadoff triple for one of those hits and we started rallying after that. It was a great, great time in a packed house."
Storms moving through the area on Monday cleared just in the nick of time to provide the All-Stars a chance at redemption.
The Snowhawks shut out the All-Stars to start the first inning and did some offensive damage in the bottom half of the inning, plating five runs before the inning was stopped due to the five-run rule. Todd Niemuth, Punches, Jack Dunbar, and Donnie Moore all came around to score for the Snowhawks, making it a 5-0 game after the first inning.
The All-Stars limited the Snowhawks to a pair of runs, scored by Moore and Derek Young, for the remainder of the game and got their bats going in the third. The team mustered up just enough offense to beat the Snowhawks by one run.
Dave Maize scored on a single by Ryan Maize in the third inning to get things started for the All-Stars.
In the fourth inning Ryan Maize hit a home run over the right field wall and the team plated three runs in both the fifth and sixth innings with Billy Bongartz and Matty Richardson adding to the list of All-Stars to cross home plate.
Smith credited the All-Stars victory to their ability to make plays on the defensive side of the ball.
"We got them the first time and came back and got a bunch of runs, but tonight it just didn't happen," he said. "There was a lot of double plays and they made some good defensive plays on us."
Last week, after the Snowhawks beat Smiley's, Smith said he would like to see better throwing in the infield from the Snowhawks and this weekend they did just that.
The problem Monday was lack of offense and Smith said the team will work on it.
"We need more hits. We have to work on hitting. Our throwing is getting better now and we're really gelling but sometimes hits just don't happen and when we got our hits, we got doubled off on the bases," he said "They made good plays. We need to get the bats back."
With the series tied at one win apiece both fans and players are eager to see who will win the rubber match between the Snowhawks and the Chicago All-Stars, but it won't be settled this season. The two teams will face off again next year on the Fourth of July.
"Until next year. Then we'll settle it," Smith said.
The Snowhawks will face another tough opponent Monday when they host Dazzle's Demons, a group of hardball players out of Rhinelander.
Lindsey Nylund may be reached at [email protected]
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