Sad ending to fairy tale
By Jim den Hollander
By Jim den Hollander Events sports Editor The clock struck midnight for the team that literally had a dark cloud over its head all weekend Monday night at Veterans Park. Certainly the youngest and most inexperienced team in the tournament, the Wisconsin Dells Legion Post 187 team had its share of breaks on the weekend, both good and bad. Apparently on its way out of the tournament early Saturday afternoon, the Dells’ nine turned one of its first good breaks, a forfeit win over defending Regional champion East Troy into a roller coaster ride to the tournament championship game. The locals never scored the first run in a game, often times blowing early offensive chances with horrific base running errors while at the same time making defensive gaffes that give the opposition early freebies. However, that seemed the perfect tonic for a team that appeared to be at its best when battling from behind. After dropping a 12-8 decision to Mauston in its first game, the locals trailed East Troy 9-4 when the East Troy pitcher was thrown out at first on a routine play and for some reason, tried to spike Dells veteran Dillon Hess on his way past. ‘Spiking’ is running over the shoes of a baseman with spiked shoes – a dangerous play that results in automatic ejection. In this case, the East Troy pitcher was tossed, leaving the squad without enough players to field a team. As a result, a 9-4 loss turned into a forfeit 2-0 win for the Dells’ crew. More importantly, the Legionnaires remained in the tournament and they took full advantage from then on. On Saturday night, playing Waterloo in a ‘win or go home’ contest for both teams, the Dells Legion surrendered three runs in the top of the first, then chipped away, grabbing its first lead at 5-4 in the third on its way to a 10-5 win, moving on to play Sunday. In that game, Jefferson waited with an unblemished 2-0 record looking to brush the locals aside and move into the championship game against East Troy. Happy-go-lucky group A happy-go-lucky group of Dells Legionnaires took the field without a care and despite a stellar effort from pitcher Alex Yacko, his third pitching appearance of the weekend but first start, the locals found themselves in a familiar position early on. Single runs in the second and third innings had the locals fighting from behind. Matt Lagoda got the locals on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning after being hit by a pitch, moving to second on a base hit by Dillon Hess, then advancing to third on a wild pitch before scoring on a ground out by Michael Hess. Jordan Holverson, playing in his fourth and final Legion tournament got things started in the fifth with a leadoff walk and moved to second on a sacrifice by Josh Ingersol and scoring the tying run on a base hit by Yacko. All even in the bottom of the sixth, Dillon and Michael Hess led off with back to back singles and moved into scoring position on a sacrifice by Kyle Holzem. A solid single by Kyle Stowers plated both and the local nine owned its first lead of the game at 4-2. After surrendering a single to lead off the top of the seventh, Yacko got some support from third baseman Hunter Hintze who speared a line drive and doubled the runner off at first. With that Yacko had reached his three day minimum of 12-innings pitched and Ingersol made his third pitching appearance, surrendering a walk but then ending the contest with a fly ball to Holverson in center field. Great position Suddenly it appeared the Dells and Jefferson had switched positions, as the locals with the win became the first team to clinch a spot in the championship game while Jefferson needed to move on and face East Troy to grab the other spot Sunday night. Jefferson did just that and once again the two squared off on Monday. The army of fans – mainly family and friends that gave Jefferson a home team advantage, even against the host Chiefs wasn’t in place on Monday as word definitely got out and there was a pro-Dells crowd in attendance at Veterans Park. But, it seemed nerves finally caught up with youngsters who appeared to be gripping the bat a little too tight from the opening pitch. A damp field was only partly to blame as well for a number of hops that eluded the locals defensively all night. As a result, the more experienced Jefferson team earned the spot at the state championship which starts today (Wednesday) in Mayville with an 11-1 win in five innings against the locals. Future looks bright As so often happens when a team comes so close, one looks at the future of the program and in this case, its hard not to get excited. For Dillon Hess and Jordan Holverson, this weekend was the end of the Legion road. Hess, a soft spoken leader who on-field performance to his talking and Holverson, an eternal optimist made their presence felt all season and both gave emotional and heart felt words to their teammates in the final meeting after the game. Other than that though, the team is made up of incoming WDHS, seniors, juniors and even a few sophomores, so the future looks nothing but bright. More than half of the team has two years of eligibility left with the team so the Wisconsin Dells bid for the 2011 state tournament appears to be perfectly timed. While disappointed with a missed opportunity in the championship game, Hess and Holverson, who filled a similar role in their senior year (2008) with the WDHS baseball team realize they are leaving behind a team with a great future. "We were pumped up the whole day. The whole day before the game, everybody was ready to go," said Holverson after the game. "What makes a little difference is, we’re used to playing under pressure, some of the other guys aren’t. Like, this is probably the biggest game they’ve probably played in," added Hess. Hess said after going into Sunday’s game as a clear underdog with no pressure on them, Monday night’s was much different. "Yesterday’s game was just an everyday normal game," said Hess. The players were unable to shrug off some early mistakes on offense and defense and the batters appeared to be trying to do too much when they got down early. However, having come back all weekend, Holverson said he just thought this game was par for the course early. "I thought we were in it the whole time, until it got to be about, eight runs, then I thought it slipped away. When we were down 4-1, I thought, we’re coming back in this game," said Holverson. "Me too, for sure," agreed Hess. "This ball club right here is going to be outstanding in the future," said Holverson. There’s some great young kids. It all comes with experience." Coaches Paul Hess and Marc Blumberg rely heavily on their veteran experience each year on a team that leaves a lot of offensive and defensive decisions up to the players themselves. For example, there is no steal sign per say and the catcher is in charge of calling the pitches and working out who will take the throws. Having that responsibility put on them is something Holverson and Hess appreciate and they agree it is something the team responds well to. "I like it...it keeps everyone on their toes. They’re not waiting for the coach. It helps with your instincts of the play," said Holverson. For Hess and co-coach, Marc Blumberg, the season will continue one more game as both will be included on the ‘South’ Legion all-Star Team that will play Aug. 16 at Miller Park in Milwaukee, prior to what could be a key regular season game between the Milwaukee Brewers and Houston Astros.