Ouch
Jake Williams, pitcher for the Wisconsin Dells High School varsity Chiefs baseball team jumps to receive a quick throw from catcher Matt Snyder following a wild pitch against Nekoosa Tuesday night. The Chiefs lost to Nekoosa twice this week and also dropped a non-conference decision to Lodi, but looked to get on the winning track yesterday afternoon with another home contest against the Mauston Golden Eagles.
By Jim den Hollander
The Wisconsin Dells High School varsity baseball team looked for a change in fortune along with a change in weather on Tuesday afternoon. Facing the same Nekoosa team they lost 5-2 against in Nekoosa 24 hours earlier, it seemed everything was different on the home field. Teams played in weather more suited to baseball, the location was friendlier to the locals and while the previous game came down to the final at bats, this one was basically over early. The guest Papermakers scored six times in their first turn at the plate, then piled on another half dozen in the third inning on their way to a huge 19-1 win over the Chiefs. The Chiefs, in the midst of a four-game week needed to search for a little depth in pitching. Junior Jake Williams started on the mound and sophomore Kyle Stowers took a turn in the second half of the game. Neither could be blamed for all of the Chiefs woes in this one though as five defensive errors behind them contributed to the problems. There were several wild pitch/passed ball runs as well though and too their credit, neither pitcher appeared to get too flustered when the going got tough. The Chiefs scored their lone run in the bottom of the third but three more in the fourth and fifth ended this one early for the Papermakers. Trevis Szulcewski who led the offensive charge a day earlier with a homer and double, showed himself as a complete player, adding a triple for the Papermakers at WDHS and also picking up the win on the mound. The guests pounded out another homer and added three doubles in its 13-hit attack. The Chiefs collected three hits, including a double off the bat of Josh Ingersol. Shaking it off Blue Devils 6 Chiefs 1 With so many games crammed together, the good news for the Chiefs is they have no time to sit around and feel sorry for themselves. They clearly put Tuesday's game behind them immediately and looked like a different team Thursday when former conference rival Lodi Blue Devils came to town on Thursday. Freshman southpaw Alex Yacko got the ball once again and he was cruising along entering the fifth inning. Goose eggs were the norm for both teams though through the first half of the game, a run in the bottom of the first for the Chiefs standing up as all of the offense heading into the home stretch frames. The Blue Devils however, got its own offense untracked in the fourth inning, scoring four times and then added single runs in the sixth and seventh frames, off of reliever, Ingersol to move away from the Chiefs. Again defensive errors played a part in the contest, three miscues robbing the team of perhaps its best chance to get off the shnide in its seventh game of the season. Offensively, senior leadoff hitter Jordan Holverson and sophomore Matt Lagoda led the way at the plate, knocking out a pair of singles in three appearances each, for four of the Chiefs' five hits in the contest. The four-game week was scheduled to wrap up with another home contest yesterday against Mauston Golden Eagles. The Mauston squad collected a narrow 6-4 win in their meeting April 15 in Mauston. The Chiefs are entering another busy week with games a little more spaced out. The schedule sees the Chiefs playing host to Adams-Friendship Monday, then making a return trip to Adams on Friday before hosting its annual Invitational tournament on May 10. A bulk of the make up games will be played the following week as the Chiefs play six times between Tuesday May 13 and Tuesday May 20.