August 5, 2016 at 1:34 p.m.
Zimmy's All-Stars no problem for 'Hawks
Robinson hits 3 HRs in Lake Tom's 21-7 win
Zimmy's All-Stars no problem for 'Hawks
By Evan Verploegh-
Mother Nature brought some gorgeous weather for the contest and the 'Hawks reciprocated with some top-notch snowshoe baseball in a 21-7 victory.
Feeding off Jesse Robinson's three home-run effort, the Snowhawks had no trouble racking up the runs. A stout brand of defense ensured Zimmy's offensive output stayed in check. The home squad pounced on any cracks in the All-Stars infield and let the fans know just what snowshoe baseball is all about.
"That was just an old-fashioned, classic game of snowshoe baseball," Snowhawks third baseman and head coach Jeff Smith said. "It was a beautiful night in front of a great crowd. There was a lot of pie getting purchased tonight, too, so a lot of people had fun."
Zimmy's got things started in the top of the first inning with a leadoff run from snowshoe jack-of-all trades Jeff Ziemba. Lending his services to a host of teams throughout the year, Ziemba consistently proves himself as an invaluable member of whatever roster he finds himself on.
An RBI hit from John Bruce gave Zimmy's a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, but Cole Punches drove in Don Moore to tie the game in the bottom of the inning. Moore reached on a double earlier in the frame.
Zimmy's went scoreless in the bottom of the second before the 'Hawks extended their lead to 4-1 after Derek Young and Brent Cella crossed home. Robinson cracked his first home run of the evening to insert a sense of life into the Lake Tomahawk offense.
Zimmy's kept pace with two runs of their own in the top of the third when Jeff and Tom Ziemba each crossed the plate.
Leading 5-3 entering the bottom of the fourth, a determined Snowhawk squad maxed out at five runs in the inning, including a Todd Niemuth homer. Lake Tomahawk would not look back for the remainder of the contest.
"We had some really timely hits," Smith said. "Things started off a little slow, but we started to finally get the bats going. We played good defense in the game, as well."
Four runs in the sixth and five in the eighth made certain a Zimmy's comeback would not be in store. Smith said he was anticipating a closer contest, but was thankful to come away with such an emphatic win.
"These guys can do a lot of damage once they start stringing hits together," he said. "Some of the double plays we were able to pull knocked down a lot of their momentum and killed a few innings of theirs."
Smith said he looks back on each meeting with Zimmy's fondly. No matter the outcome on the scoreboard, he said that it is always an enjoyable experience.
"They are a great group of guys," he said. "We really like playing Jeff Ziemba's team. There are a lot of really solid ballplayers on that team."
Smith said next week's meeting with the D&R Bombers will be a challenge. Especially as their power hitting left-center fielder Robinson will be suiting up for the opposing side.
"That was the team that Jesse originally played for, so he wants to give it one more go before he'll return to our team the following week," he said. "We're going to have to pitch him extra special."
The game will be a challenge, according to Smith and the Snowhawks will have to improve their play in a couple of departments if they expect to come away with a victory.
"I'm glad our guys got our defense together for this one and hit the ball a little better. Some of those hits came on errors, though so we know we'll have to be a little sharper next week in terms of hitting gaps," he said. "It should be a great ball game, though."
First pitch, as always, is set for 7:30 p.m. at Snowshoe Park.
Evan Verploegh may be reached via email at [email protected].
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