August 19, 2021 at 9:49 a.m.
Snowhawks walk it off in ninth to beat WPS
Snowhawks walk it off in ninth to beat WPS
By by Brett LaBore-
It came down to the last inning but the Snowhawks found a way to pull it off. They won 12-11 on a walk-off hit by Todd Niemuth to extend their winning streak to six.
"There's nothing better in baseball," player Cole Punches said. "When you're with your friends when you're 10 years old, need one run to win, that's the scenario you run. To win that way there's nothing better."
WPS had the early lead with hits by Quinn Goretski and Van Peterson. They ended up scoring to give WPS a 2-0 lead.
Moving to the bottom of the second, the Snowhawks jumped all over WPS and put together a big inning. Gunnar Dunbar singled to shallow second base to drive in a run. Billy Kuckahn singled to right center to tie it at 2-2.
Next, Dave Nance hit an RBI double down the left field line to give them the lead. Don Moore singled on a pop fly to shallow center to drive in the fifth run. The Snowhawks had a 5-2 lead.
"Our money innings tend to come after the fifth or sixth inning where we really start rolling. If we can keep it close in the first few innings, we know we have a shot," Punches said.
Even though the Snowhawks were down a couple of top hitters (Jeff Smith, Punches), they were still producing runs.
WPS took the lead back in the fourth. Sean Aderholt singled to get the inning started. Then, Tyler Beran homered over the right center fence to make it a one-run game.
With the bases loaded, Luke Minnema hit an infield RBI single to tie the game at five apiece. WPS officially took the lead on an RBI fielder's choice by Todd Suebert. They scored their fifth run when a run scored on a dropped fly ball off the bat of Taylor Andrews.
WPS got the lead back at 7-5.
"They played phenomenal," Punches said. "Guys looked like they played all year. They really put a good team together last night."
The scoring continued for WPS in the fifth with all runs scoring on two outs. Infield hits by Sam Theilen and Matt Marzcak scored runs to give WPS a 10-6 lead.
In the bottom half of the inning, the Snowhawks played long ball to score runs. With two on, Jesse Robinson hit a deep ball to center field. It got by everyone and he rounded the bases for a three-run inside-the-park home run.
"He tried for it the inning before and didn't get a good hit on the ball with left center playing him a little shallow," Punches said. "Sure enough he got a hold of one."
Nick Merckz tied the game at 10-10 with an RBI single and then Dunbar drove in the fifth run of the inning, the go-ahead 11th run.
WPS didn't go down lightly. Beran doubled to right center with two outs. Joe Utech tied the game with an RBI double to left. It was 11-11.
The Snowhawks didn't take advantage of their runners in scoring position. With two on and two out, Derek Young grounded out to end the inning.
A similar situation happened in the eighth. Now there were two on with one out. That's when Kuckahn lined into a double play to first.
"For a team that's never had guys play snowshoe before and a handful played but only once a year, it's pretty extraordinary on their part to put together a team like that for one game and play solid for one game," Punches said. "They hit, they played defense, pitching was really good."
Meanwhile, WPS found it hard to get anything going in the eighth and ninth innings in a tie ballgame. It was up to their defense in the ninth.
Moore got a hustle double with two outs in the ninth. Niemuth took to the plate next. He lined one into center that was dropped by the WPS outfielder. Moore rounded the bases to score the walk-off win.
"Donnie's got the speed. If he thinks he can get a double out of anything he's going to go for it," Punches said. "Todd's usually pretty clutch and he came through with a big hit. I think it was their left center - he dropped it and hit it right in the chest. They didn't drop a whole lot of balls in the outfield so pretty fortunate for us."
Up next, the Snowhawks take on Pukall Lumber Studs on Monday, Aug. 23 at Snowshoe Park in Lake Tomahawk. First pitch is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Brett LaBore may be reached at [email protected] or [email protected].
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