Thank you to these supporters of amateur baseball!
6/29/12
On Friday night the Tomahawk East League took a night off from regular season play to gather at the Stark Ballpark for a burger and a ballgame. The all-stars from the American and National Divisions faced off in an exhibition match-up in front of a large crowd. A pair of veteran hurlers took the ball for their respective divisions. However, it would not be a night about pitching, as the teams combined to score twenty-six runs. Extra-base hits were frequent as the teams mashed eight doubles and three homers. After falling behind 10-7, the Americans put up nine unanswered runs to cruise to a 16-10 win.
Stark southpaw Brad Mathiowetz made the start for the National Division. A lead-off single from Eric Portner led to a sacrifice fly from Zach Fischer, putting the American Division up 1-0. In the home half of the first, a walk to Alex Fink, a wild pitch, and an RBI double by Joey Wahl, tied the game at one.
Mathiowetz ran into trouble in the second when the Americans scored four times. Key hits came from Kyle Helget, who ripped a two-run double, and Portner who followed with a two-run home run.
The National Division went to Nathan Kral in the third. The American Division continued their scoring with a double by Kyle Fischer, followed by Helget's second hit to drive him in, making the score 6-1. The National Division got a run back in the third. Kral's defense helped him out in the fourth, turning a double-play to keep the Americans off the board, their only scoreless inning of the game.
Chris Peters took over the mound duties from starter Dayton Larson for the American Division in the bottom of the fourth. Brandon Menssen and Austin Kretsch greeted him with back-to-back two-baggers. A walk and a base hit loaded the bases. Next Johnny Pistulka crushed a grand slam over the centerfield fence to give the National Division a 7-6 lead.
Dusty Fleck was hit by a pitch to start the fifth inning. He came around to score when Helget got his third hit and fourth RBI of the game.
The American Division went back to Hanska for another pitcher in Portner for the bottom of the fifth. Portner struck out the side, but mixed in were three hits and a walk, including a two-run double from Joey Walter and an RBI single from Fink. The three-run fifth put the Nationals on top, 10-7.
Landon Zinniel got into a bases loaded jam when he took over on the hill in the top of the sixth. A groundout pushed across a run to cut the National Division's lead to two. An error and a pair of walks in the seventh spelled more trouble for the Nationals. A two-run double from Dave Hatle put the Americans up 11-10.
After Portner's tough first inning of work, he buckled down to work through the seventh, allowing just one more base runner on a two-out walk. A pair of walks from Erich Panitzke haunted him when Zach Hoffmann crushed a three-run bomb near the batting cage beyond the leftfield fence, making the score 14-10. Austin Kretsch allowed a pair of runs in the ninth to push the visitor's score to sixteen. Tony Stadtherr came on in relief for the Americans to work a pair of scoreless innings and make the final 16-10.
Kyle Fischer and Kyle Helget both had perfect nights at the plate going three-for-three. Joey Walter also had three hits. Eric Portner and Brandon Menssen added two knocks each to their team's totals. Portner earned the win on the mound, working three innings, allowing three runs on three hits, with six strikeouts. Landon Zinniel took the loss, going two innings, giving up four runs, just one of which was earned, on two hits, but issuing four free passes.
The Jeff Cook MVP award went to winning pitcher Eric Portner. At the plate, Portner was two-for-three, with a homer and two runs batted in. Thanks to Stark for hosting and to all who came out to support their favorite ballplayers! It's always fun to get the best of the league together for the love of the game. Best of luck to all teams as they resume their regular season games and move toward the playoffs!
Linescore
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | LOB | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
American | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 16 | 15 | 1 | 10 |
National | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 11 | 2 | 7 |
American All-Stars Box
AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Portner, LF/P | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | HR |
Hoffmann, LF | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | HR |
Stadtherr, SS/P | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
Ranweiler, 1B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Maurer, 1B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2B, SAC |
Z. Fischer, DH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | SAC |
Hatle, DH | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2B |
Larson, P | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
Peters, C/P | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
Munoz, C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
Buegler, C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
Fleck, RF | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | HP(2) |
Pfaff, RF | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3B |
K. Fischer, 2B/SS | 3 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2B |
Stueber, 2B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
Mickelson, CF | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
Helget, 3B | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2B |
Berberich, 3B | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
40 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 9 | 7 | ||
IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ||
Larson | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | |
Peters | 1 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 1 | |
Portner (W) | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 6 | |
Stadtherr | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
National All-Stars Box
AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Walter, CF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2B |
Fink, 3B/SS | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
Pistulka, RF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | HR |
M. Verdoes, RF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
Wahl, LF | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2B |
Panitzke, LF/P/3B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
Reiner, DH | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
Mathiowetz, P | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
Hager, 1B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Kral, 1B/P | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
Zinniel, P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
C. Verdoes, LF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Mangen, C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Menssen, C | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2B |
Bisel, C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
Schmid, SS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Kretsch, 3B/P | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2B |
Jenniges, 2B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Loomis, 2B | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
39 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 5 | 12 | ||
IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ||
Mathiowetz | 2 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 | |
Kral | 3 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | |
Zinniel (L) | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 2 | |
Panitzke | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | |
Kretsch | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
Pictures
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