July 21, 2017 at 2:44 p.m.
Slumping Snowhawks drop third straight game
Slumping Snowhawks drop third straight game
On Monday, Lake Tomahawk lost. Again. For the third time in as many weeks.
The Snowhawks needed to win this game to get back on the right track and, after scoring five runs in the first inning, it looked like that was going to happen. Then WPS Local 420 started to hit. And hit. And hit. The visitors pounded its guests for run after run, resulting in a 23-16 win.
"We got a few in a row there and then we went into our hitting slump again," Snowhawks manager Jeff Smith said. "I think there were a lot more errors tonight ... too many errors. It was tough fielding the ball on both sides, but they hit the ball better than we did."
The Snowhawks scored five in the bottom of the first without an out thanks to hits from Smith, Derek Young, Cole Punches, Ryan Schowalter, Todd Niemuth and Brent Cella.
Lake Tomahawk also sat down the WPS side in order in the first and second innings, but in the third the bats came alive. Tarrod Wurz, Van Peterson, Shawn Sabatke, Bob Wittenberg, John Schultz and Troy Vollendorf all produced hits to tie the game at five apiece.
The Snowhawks responded with another run in the bottom of the third, but the runs kept coming from WPS and they managed to score a minimum of two runs in six consecutive innings to take control.
Lake Tomahawk managed to scrape runs throughout the game, but it couldn't keep up with production from WPS.
"It seemed like we couldn't get the third out again. It's the second game in a row," Smith said. "We had a chance to put them away and we had a couple dropped balls, balls that got through the infield and we could not go those guys to get the third out. It is discouraging. It's discouraging for all of us."
The Snowhawks had trimmed the lead to 18-14 at late in the game, but another 5-run inning doomed them, capped by a home run from Peterson.
Cella walked to get on base in the bottom of the ninth and Eric Hilmer earned a hit, but Lake Tomahawk couldn't bring them home, sealing its third straight loss.
"I don't know how long it's been (since losing three straight). It's been a long time," Smith said. "It seems like teams are getting better and better and they're playing us better. We have to tighten up on our end. We just don't have enough hits that are getting out of the infield. Everything's being played. We have to practice our line drives again."
The loss makes next Monday's game against Smiley's a must-win for the Snowhawks.
Lake Tomahawk is scheduled to play the Coaching All-Stars on July 31 and the team desperately needs momentum heading into that tilt.
"We absolutely have to have one. This is the one we have to have," Smith said. "We're looking to get out of this slump next week. You have to hand it to (WPS Local 420), they hit the ball well. If we hadn't committed so many errors, it might have been a little tighter."
The Snowhawks are scheduled to host Smiley's at 7:30 p.m. on Monday.
Nick Sabato may be reached at [email protected] or via Twitter @SabatoNick.
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