July 14, 2022 at 7:56 a.m.

Snowhawks win duel over Dazzle's Demons

Snowhawks win duel over Dazzle's Demons
Snowhawks win duel over Dazzle's Demons

By Brett LaBore-

Last time out, the Snowhawks got into a slugfest with the Chicago All-Stars on the Fourth of July. This time around, it was a defensive duel against one of their top rivals.

The Snowhawks beat Dazzle's Demons 7-1 Monday night at Snowshoe Park in Lake Tomahawk.

The biggest inning came in the first. The Snowhawks pushed across four runs to give them an early cushion that they never gave back.

Todd Niemuth, Don Moore and Cole Punches all got hits and scored in the first. Brent Cella walked to keep the inning going. Ryan Schowalter and Derek Young added hits in a productive first inning.

"For once, we got things going in the first inning," coach Jeff Smith said. "It was nice. Boy, the way the game turned out, we're lucky we had that first inning."

Half of the runs in the game were scored in that first inning.

It looked like the Snowhawks were going to put the game away early in the second. With the bases loaded, Moore lined out to second for the first out. Then, Punches had an RBI single on a hit back to the pitcher.

Dazzle's Demons then got Cella to ground into a double play to end the inning. The Snowhawks scored just one time in the inning.

After two innings, the Snowhawks led 5-0.

"(We) jumped on the game with five runs and boy did that help and change the whole dimension of the game," Smith said. "It put us on the offensive seat."

For the next few innings, runs were hard to come by.

Moore walked to load the bases with no outs again in the fourth inning. Punches lined out and Dazzle's Demons ended up getting an out at home for the double play. It kept them in the game. Cella grounded out to strand two runners.

"It was just a lot of good defense. There was no errors when we needed an error. We had guys on base almost every inning," Smith said. "It seems like they got out of it all the time. We left a lot of guys on base."

Dazzle's Demons had only given up five runs, but they couldn't score. After four innings, the Snowhawks still led 5-0.

A couple of big hits got Dazzle's Demons on the board in the fifth. Benny Ives singled to right to start the inning. Two batters later, Jamie Robinson reached with a base hit, moving to second on the throw.

Logan Ice drove in Dazzle's first run with an RBI single to center. The Snowhawks were up by four runs.

"They always want to beat us. They're a great group of guys, play baseball all together their whole life and it's on their list to beat us," Smith said.

Again, it was the defense of Dazzle's Demons that kept them in the game. With a runner on third, Nick Mercks hit a dribbler that only went a few inches. The catcher picked up the ball and got Schowalter in a pickle at third.

If you think running in a pickle in baseball or softball was hard, try doing it in snowshoes. Third basemen Nate Schmidt ended up tagging out Schowalter as he fell to the ground. No runners scored as Dazzle's kept the score at bay.

"One of those nights where you're looking for that run, it didn't happen. A walk here and there, but for some reason, we could not get a run cross the board," Smith said. "I got to give them credit, they had some really strong throws from the outfield."

Over the course of the next two innings, Dazzle's Demons could not get anything going. In fact, they went three up, three down in both the sixth and seventh innings.

The Snowhawks added to their lead in the seventh inning, their first runs since the second. Schowalter tripled to right center field to score one run. Then, Derek Young hit a sacrifice fly to left field to bring Schowalter home.

"We knew that even if they got five in their eighth, we wouldn't have gone behind. We would've been tied or one or two ahead at that point, but then going into the ninth, all bets are off. That's a free-for-all inning," Smith said. "That was a little comfort there and it's what we needed, that's for sure. It's always good to get a couple more runs to tack on what you had. Felt good to get a couple guys across the plate. We had guys on base the whole game, we just could not get them around."

The Snowhawks led 7-1 with two innings to go.

Moving to the ninth inning, Dazzle's Demons had something brewing. Eric Hasselberger singled to right. Next up, Tyler Henkel reached on an infield single. It looked like Dazzle's might finally catch their break.

Defense came up big again. The Snowhawks turned a double play off the bat of Randy Robinson. Marcus Knudsen struck out to end the game.

"It was one of the lowest scoring games in recent snowshoe baseball memory. Both team's defenses played well, but ultimately it was two strong offensive innings by the Snowhawks that won them the game," The Rhinelander-based Dazzle's Demons stated on their Facebook page. "We had several well hit balls but they were straight at Snowhawks, and overall a weak offense.

"Thank you to the Lake Tomahawk Snowhawks for allowing us to play against you again, and for being so competitive and with great sportsmanship."

Up next, the Snowhawks (3-1) take on Pukall Lumber Studs Monday, July 18 right back at Snowshoe Park in Lake Tomahawk. The game is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m.

Brett LaBore may be reached at [email protected] or [email protected].

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