Back - to - back for Pirates

Brady Ambrose/Times Press

The Reedsburg Pirates won their second straight Thursday Night League championship with a 4-0 shutout of Waunakee at Sauk Prairie.

Playing without five members of the team, the Pirates showed how important role players are to any team as Adam Dempsey and Justin Backeberg played big roles in the win. Without Brandon Peyer, Kris Rosholt, Scott Williams, Steve Considine and Josh Krueger, Reedsburg was forced to rearrange their normal lineup, moving centerfielder Travis Van Zile to short stop with Backeberg going behind the plate and Dempsey to the outfield while Tom Molitor was the DH for starting pitcher Steve Hedgepath. "The team played great as a whole last night but the real heroes of the game were Adam Dempsey and Justin Backeberg," said Pirate player/manager Paul Molitor. "Adam and Justin are two guys that probably didn't play as much as they had hoped all year, but came to every game and were there whenever they were called upon. In order to be successful you need role players and I commend each of them for sticking in there all year and helping us win our second Night League championship in the past three years."

Hedgepath was masterful on the mound in the win. The right-hander tossed a complete game one-hitter with nine strikeouts as the Pirates won their 100th game over the last three seasons. The only hit of the game for Waunakee was a grounder down the third base line by Brandon Spahn that Pirate third baseman James Corwith made a  great play on, but Spahn beat the throw for an infield single. Molitor said that Hedgepath "pitched a great game. Waunakee never got the ball out of the infield. The only hit was on a ball hit down the third base line that James made a great play on but unfortunately the runner just beat the throw. Steve has pitched well for us all year under some difficult circumstances (losing his father this past spring) and the team really appreciated his efforts through those tough times."

Reedsburg struck in the top of the first off Waunakee starter Matt Adler. Adler hit Travis Van Zile to start the game and Corwith's grounder moved Van Zile to second. Paul Molitor then singled to left to score Van Zile for a 1-0 lead. Hedgepath retired Waunakee in order the first two innings before giving up a lead off walk to Matt Adler in the bottom of the third inning. The Pirates had extended their lead to 2-0 in the top half of the third when Van Zile singled and stole second, scoring on Trevor Berndt's RBI base hit to right later. Hedgepath again sent Waunakee down 1-2-3 in the fourth, but the Pirates could only manage one base runner of their own through the next two innings when Marcelino Alonso drew a one-out walk in the fifth.

The Pirates added two more runs in the top of the seventh to give Hedgepath a little cushion to work with. Corwith walked and Paul Molitor doubled. With one out, Don Molitor doubled scoring his brother and Corwith to give Reedsburg a 4-0 lead going into the bottom of the seventh. Waunakee mounted their only real threat of the game when Matt Ripp reached on an error on Van Zile at short. With two outs, Hedgepath walked Matt Adler and Jim Marks to load the bases, but Hedgepath recorded his ninth strikeout of the game when he got Brandon Spahn to end the game and give Reedsburg the championship.

Paul Molitor was 2x3 as was Van Zile, who scored two of the Pirates runs. Trevor Berndt and Don Molitor also had RBIs and Tom Molitor, who had not suited up all season, was 1x3 in his only game of the year. "As I have stated in the past, Reedsburg Home Talent is very fortunate to have a solid group of guys that are hard-working and dedicated to what can seem like a very long season," added Molitor. "Last night was our 100th win in last three years, which is quite an accomplishment in itself."

Reedsburg finished the HTL season with an overall record of 32-10.