Late surge falls short
By Jim den Hollander
By Jim den Hollander Events Sports Editor Did you ever try to break a balloon in your hand? You squeeze it and all of the air goes to one side. So, you squeeze the other side and the air goes back again. The Wisconsin Dells Rivermen Home Talent baseball team kind of know that feeling. After a pair of tough games last week that saw both Dodgeville Knights and Reedsburg Pirates rally late to pull away from the Rivermen, it was ironic to see the team drop a 10-5 decision at home to the Cross Plains Businessmenwith all five of the Dells' runs coming in the late innings. In the other contests, the Rivermen fell 6-3 at Dodgeville and made a quick exit from the straight elimination tournament in Cazenovia with a 12-2 loss at the hands of the Pirates. Knights 6 Rivermen 3 The Rivermen suffered its first league setback and fell to 1-1-1 on the season at Dodgeville. Actually, the game featured just one run in the first five frames, that one coming in the second for the host Knights. Just when it started to look like that might stand up as the game's lone run, the Rivermen grabbed control with three in the sixth. However, the hosts struck right back with five of its own in the bottom half of the frame, then shut down the Rivermen in the final frame to clinch the win. For the Rivermen, Aaron Van Schoyck went to the mound and pitched into the sixth, picking up two strikeouts through the first five innings and limiting the hosts to one hit and a couple of walks, the lone run against him unearned. Kevin Crass started the fifth for the Rivermen, Trevor Hannes coming on later in the frame and finishing the game. Offensively, the Rivermen managed just a single from Josh Baysinger in the first inning along with a couple of walks before its fifth inning uprising. Andrew Hess started it off with a one out single, then moved up on a two out knock by Kalen Mace. Baysinger walked to keep the inning alive and back-to-back base hits from coach Donnelly and Baraboo-based third baseman Jeff Spreckles plated all three base runners. Unfortunately for the locals, the lead was brief. Pirates 12 Rivermen 2 At the annual Caz tournament, an event the Rivermen reached the finals in a few years ago, the locals ran into a tough first round opponent Saturday morning and simply couldn't stay with the high powered offense of the Pirates. Hess started on the mound and pitched into the fourth inning before making way for Donnelly who bridged the gap to Spreckles who finished up. Reedsburg got to Donnelly for a pair of first inning runs, but then the hurler put up a couple of goose eggs and the score was knotted at 2-2 heading to the fourth. Kevin Kuehl started up the Rivermen offense was a leadoff walk in the third and Max Miller followed the trend. Another walk to Spreckles loaded the bags with none out and Zach 'Winkie' Zamzow plated the first with a sacrifice fly to center field. Josh Baysinger plated Miller with the other run with a single to left but Spreckles was ultimately left standing 90 feet away. The Pirates responded with a fourth-inning explosion for seven runs, then added two more in the fourth and ended the game early with a 10-run rule inducing score in the fifth. Businessmen 10 Rivermen 5 The Rivermen finally played in front of friendly fans Thursday night for the first time since its season opener back on May 14 when the Cross Plains Businessmen came to town. The visitors scored twice in the top of the first inning against Rivermen starter Kalen Mace and that lead held up until the fourth inning, when they added four more. Trevor Hannes came in for Mace to make the final out of the fourth, then pitched one more frame before Marcus Crump finished for the Rivermen. The Businessmen added another in the sixth and appeared on its way to a shutout victory when suddenly the Rivermen bats came alive. Actually, it was patience at the plate and some good speed on the basepaths that played as much a part in the Rivermen getting on the board. Adam Larson started up the offense getting hit by a pitch to lead off the sixth and was followed by consecutive walks to Crump and Hess to load the bags. Zamzow hit a slow roller to the shortstop, but the base runners got good jumps, leaving the defense with only one option, getting Zamzow at first and presenting him with a shutout breaking RBI. Hannes followed and showed good hustle reaching first on a bobble at short while Crump scored the team's second run. Just when it seemed the Rivermen would break things wide open though, the Businessmen got back to back strikeouts to escape the frame. Just to make sure, the lead was good enough, the Bussinessmen tacked another three on it in the top of the seventh, but the Rivermen were far from finished either. A one out walk to Spreckles followed by an infield error that put Miller aboard started the rally and once again the Rivermen had the bases full when Brandon Westerfeldt reached on a walk. Despite a pair of infield outs that followed, all three base runners crossed the plate to make it a 10-5 game before a ground out ended the contest. Its back on the road for the 1-3-1 (1-2-1 in league play) Rivermen as they travel to Sauk Prairie for a league contest on Thursday. A scheduled home game against Reedsburg a week later has now been moved to late July and July 2 is a make up night, so there will be a long delay before a home game again for the locals. Black Earth will be the opponent on July 9 at Veterans Park and Mazomanie will be in town a week later.