One-and-one, and done

Photo by Dan Larson / Sauk Prairie Eagle

Sauk Prairie second baseman Trent Sorg steals second in the fourth inning of the Twins' 4-1 first-round win over Dodgeville in the NBC Upper Midwest Regional tournament July 11 at Sauk City Athletic Field. Sorg scored what proved to be the game-winning run later in the inning on an RBI groundout by Lucas Koenig.

By Dan Larson, Sauk Prairie Eagle

As Verona starting pitcher Zach Spencer saw it, he was "effectively wild."

From Sauk Prairie right fielder and manager Trent Sorg's perspective, Spencer was more effective than wild.

"He was pretty wild, (but) all of a sudden he would come back and hit a corner on us and it was kind of keeping us off our toes. It was effective for him," Sorg said after Spencer pitched Verona to a two-hit, 5-0 win over the Twins in the second round of the National Baseball Congress Upper Midwest Regional tournament on July 12 at Sauk City Athletic Field.

Verona plays Chaseburg-Coon Valley at 1:30 p.m. July 19 in a semifinal game at Sauk City Athletic Field, with the winner advancing to face either Kewaskum or Middleton in the championship at 4.

Spencer flirted with a no-hitter in the seven-inning contest — all games preceding the championship last seven innings — before allowing a one-out infield single to Chase Suchla in the fifth.

Still, Spencer, who hit Sorg with a pitch in the first inning and scattered four walks through four, said he was more concerned with managing his control than keeping the no-hitter in tact.

"I was just focusing on throwing strikes (and) if they got a hit, they got a hit," said Spencer, who allowed just one walk over the final three innings.

Early on, though, it was Verona's offense that was in control. Verona took a 1-0 lead in the first when Mark Bender hit Derek Prochaska with a pitch to drive in Spencer, and Nick Krohn and Dan Koss followed with RBI singles to make it 3-0. Nick Barelli capped the four-run inning with an RBI groundout.

Matt Peetz hit a towering home run to center field in the fourth that hit a tree about 15-feet above the wall before coming to a rest on the outfield grass to make it 5-0, and Verona's defense did the rest.

It turned a double play to end the second - stranding Lucas Koenig in scoring position - and for the first two outs in the fourth before Spencer settled down to secure the win.

Sauk Prairie 001 201 0 — 4 5 0

Dodgeville   000 001 0 — 0 6 3

Pitchers — C. Spangler (W); Wepking (L).

SO leaders — C. Spangler 8; Wepking 4.

Leading hitters — Sorg (SP) 2x4; James (D) 3x3. 2B — Pacholke (SP); Sullivan (D).

Verona 5, Sauk Prairie 0

It wasn't necessarily pretty and it definitely wasn't the display of power Sauk Prairie put on in its previous two games.

But it was fundamental baseball, and in the end it was enough.

The Twins got an RBI groundout in the third inning and another in the fourth and played error-free baseball behind pitcher Chris Spangler en route to a 4-1, first-round win over Dodgeville in the NBC tournament on July 11 at Sauk City Athletic Field.

"This wasn't a home run-fest," said Twins' right-fielder and manager, Trent Sorg, whose team combined for five home runs in wins over Mazomanie and Cazenovia on July 4 and 6, respectively.

"You've got to play small-ball when you have to and that's what we did."

Indeed, it was small-ball. Chuckie Shara led off the third with an infield single and, after stealing second and third, scored on an RBI groundout by William Gorsuch to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.

Sorg followed suit in the fourth, leading off with a single before stealing second and third and scoring on an RBI groundout by Lucas Koenig. The Twins got another run in the inning when Steve Pacholke, who hit a two-out double for the Twins' only extra-base hit, scored on a single by Spangler.

Spangler did the rest on the mound. The left-handed brother of shortstop Bob Spangler scattered four hits over the final four innings and allowed one run while striking out three to preserve the win.

"The umpire was calling the plate consistent on the outside, so I figured ... hit that outside corner and work with my change-up to keep them off balance. Most times it worked," said Spangler, a former Twin who now lives in Pennsylvania but was able to play because he was in town for the weekend to visit his brother.

Bob Spangler scored in the sixth on a wild-pitch to punctuate the Twins' scoring.

Sauk Prairie 000 000 0 — 0 2 1

Verona 400 100 x — 5 10 0

Pitchers — Bender (L); Spencer (W).

SO leaders — Bender 2; Spencer 2.

Leading hitters — Spencer (V) 2x3, Krohn (V) 3x3. HR —Peetz (V). 2B — Spangler (SP); Spencer.