BASEBALL ROUNDUP: Portage splits games at Edgerton Tournament

Poynette picks up first win of the season.

Portage's baseball split a pair of games Saturday at the Edgerton Tournament, falling to Hartford 8-2 before beating Monticello 8-3.

Greg Koch went 5-for-7 on the day and picked up the win on the mound in the second game.

Edgerton won the tournament by defeating Hartford 11-9 in the championship game.

The Warriors began the day vs. Hartford, which scored 8 runs on 10 hits.

"Hartford was a very solid hitting team," Portage coach Mike Hemming said. "I thought both our young pitchers, Anthony Bortz and Ethan Greene really made nice pitches, but they (Orioles) were so disciplined."

Portage got the board first with one run in the second inning. The Warriors looked to continue their threat but Will Clark grounded into an inning-ending double play to nix Portage's best offensive opportunity.

Hartford (6-6, 5-4 Wisconsin Little Ten) senior righty Luke Robbe struck out four and earned the complete-game win.

Bortz took the loss for Portage despite striking out a game-best five batters.

Portage (3-11, 1-8 Badger North) reversed roles in the second game, where it pounded a season-high 15 hits en route to an 8-1 win over Monticello.

Portage's No. 7 hitter Brad Johnson went 4-for-4 in the game and had two RBIs.

Right behind him in the lineup was Koch, who was 3-for-4 in the second game.

"If you can get seven hits out of your No. 7 and 8 hitters, that's pretty darn good," Hemming said.

Kodi Schroeder, Kody Kanas and Greene also had multiple hits in the game.

"Our bats were very much in force," Hemming said.

EDGERTON TOURNAMENT

Saturday, May 10

HARTFORD 8, PORTAGE 2

Portage .....................010   100   0 — 2  6  1

Hartford...................  031   202  X — 8  10  0

Pitchers — Robbe (W); Bortz (L), Greene (6). SO leaders — Bortz 5, Robbe 4.

Hitting leaders — Stephans (H) 2x3, Guetzke (H) 2x4, Stefanich (H) 2x3, Giesen (H) 2x3, Conner (P) 2x2, Koch (P) 2x3. 2B: Giesen.

PORTAGE 8, MONTICELLO 3

Portage.................... 030   030   2 — 8  15  4

Monticello ................000   011   1 — 3    7   3

Pitchers — Koch (W), Voelker (6); Holz (L), Richard (4), Fink (5). SO leaders — Koch 4, Holz 1.

Hitting leaders — Greene 2x4, Johnson (P) 4x4, Schroeder (P) 2x3, Koch 3x4, Kanas (P) 3x4, Fink 2x3, Edge (M) 2x4. 2B: McGowan (M).

POYNETTE 6, LODI 3

LODI 11, POYNETTE 0 (5)

Poynette's baseball team felt the thrill of their first victory and the agony of a one-hit loss as the Indians split a pair of Capitol North Conference games Saturday vs. Lodi.

Poynette overcame sloppy defense to beat Lodi in the front end 6-3 but Blue Devils junior righty Hayden Hughey allowed just one hit in the finale to hand Poynette an 11-0 loss in five innings.

The Indians started the day by taking their first win in 12 tries.

"We did get fairly lucky," Poynette coach Davy Tomlinson said, pointing to the Indians six errors and Lodi's (7-7, 2-4 Capitol North) 14 runners left on base.

Stephen Howard hit two-run single in the third inning to put Poynette (1-12, 1-7) ahead for good.

Jon Koch struck out five in the complete-game win.

"Even though we didn't play the greatest, I thought we had great pitching out of Jon," Tomlinson said. "He did a great job working out of jams and we had some clutch hitting, which we haven't had very often."

The Indians' didn't have long to celebrate their first win, however, as their offense evaporated vs. Hughey in the second game.

Hughey struck out just four but had solid defense behind him.

Meanwhile Poynette struggled again defensively, committing five errors.

"One hit and five errors says it all," Tomlinson said.

Tomlinson said his players put the ball in play but couldn't find many holes.

"He throws hard, he did a nice job," said Tomlinson of Hughey.

game 1

Lodi...............................010   001   1 — 3  10  1

Poynette .......................004   200   X — 6    9   6

Pitchers — Koch (W); Elsing (L). SO leaders — Koch 5, Elsing 5.

Leading hitters — Moen (P) 2x3, Tr. Blumenstein (P) 2x3, Howard (P) 2x3, Miller (L) 2x4, Elsing 2x3, Paque (L) 2x3. 2B: Moen, Howard, Robertson (L), Ripp (L).

game 2

Poynette........................... 000   00  —   0    1   5

Lodi ..................................245   0 X — 11  10  1

Pitchers — Hughey (W); C. Koplin (L), Ta. Blumenstein (3), Howard (4). SO leaders — Hughey 4, Koplin 2.

Hitting leaders — Fryman (L) 3x3, Miller (L) 2x3, Hamann (L) 2x3. 3B: Fryman.

— By Kevin Morales, Daily Register