Flames’ attack silenced in tourney defeat
The visiting Plymouth Flames managed only four hits off Cedarburg ace lefty Joe Daniels as the Mercs won, 5-1, Sunday afternoon in an opening-round game of the Land O’ Lakes Baseball League Northern Division tournament.
Daniels walked three, struck out five and allowed one unearned run en route to a complete-game win. He retired the first 13 batters before Dusty Medved doubled with one out in the top of the fifth inning.
The Flames qualified for the first round with a 5-2 victory over the eighth-seeded West Bend Benders Wednesday night in a play-in game at Plymouth’s Loebe Field.
“Daniels pitched well. We just couldn’t get anything going,” said Flame player-manager Rick Meyer.
“He had pretty control and a variety of pitches. He pretty much kept us off balance.”
The No. 7-seeded Flames ended their season with an 8-19 record. Cedarburg, the No. 2 seed and defending division champion, advances to the semifinals Saturday at home versus No. 3-seeded Saukville at 1 p.m.
Cedarburg grabbed a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first on John Regnitz’s RBI single and John Vandenberg’s bases-loaded walk. Flame pitcher Evan Walsh allowed three walks in the frame.
The Mercs stretched their advantage to 5-0 with two runs in the fifth and one in the sixth. Walsh had more control trouble in the fifth with two walks and a hit batter that led to both runs.
In the fifth, the Mercs scored the first run when Nolan Gilbertson was hit with the bases loaded and tallied the other on a sacrifice fly by Regnitz.
Daniels’ RBI double made it 5-0 in the sixth.
The Flames ruined Daniels’ shutout bid in the ninth. Justin Gephart led off with a single and was forced at second base on Ryan Wachter’s grounder. Paul Gloede followed with a walk.
After a strikeout, Chad Nickolai walked which loaded the bases with two outs. Butch Cain reached first on an infield error that brought home Wachter. Daniels avoided further damage by getting Walsh to ground out which ended the contest.
Walsh was the starting and losing hurler. He threw six innings and gave up five earned runs on six hits with six walks, a hit batter and four strikeouts. Wachter allowed no runs on one hit with one walk, a hit batter and one strikeout in two frames.
“We had a pretty good game overall and had no errors. Evan and Ryan pitched well,” Meyer noted.
“Even though our won-loss record wasn’t very good, we didn’t roll over and we showed we can play with anyone.”
Gephart had a team-high two hits. Bert paced the Mercs with a pair of hits. Regnitz led in RBIs with two.
WEST BEND GAME
Walsh went the distance to earn the victory against the Benders. He surrendered two earned runs on eight hits with five walks, two hit batters and eight strikeouts.
Despite struggling with his control, Walsh bore down when he needed to. The Benders stranded 12 baserunners.
“Evan had a pretty decent performance. He avoided the big inning,” Meyer said. “He kept his composure and got out of some jams. He mixed his pitches [fastball, curve and changeup].
“We had good hitting overall. The team played well,” Meyer said.
Plymouth scored a run in the bottom of the third to take the lead for good, 3-2. Eric Heidenreiter led off with a walk and stole second. He took third on Medved’s base hit and stole home on the end of a doublesteal in which Medved swiped second.
The Flames added two insurance runs in the seventh to push their lead to 5-2. An infield error allowed Medved and Walsh to score after they had singled earlier.
Plymouth banged out 12 hits, led by Medved and Walsh with three each. Gephart and Meyer contributed two apiece.
The Benders’ offense was led by Pat Weber, E.J. Sexton and Eric Gremonprez with two hits each. Joel Seagraves took the loss – allowing five runs (two earned) on 11 hits with three walks and six whiffs in seven innings.
BASEBALL
FLAMES 1
CEDARBURG 5
Score by Innings
Flames…………….…000 000 001 – 1 4 0
Cedarburg………..…200 021 00x – 5 7 1
Evan Walsh, Ryan Wachter (7) and Dusty Medved; Joe Daniels and John Vandenberg. W – Daniels. L – Walsh, 6-4.
2Bs – Flames, Medved; Cedarburg, Brian Bert, Daniels.
| BASEBALL
| | |
| WEST BEND | 2 | |
| FLAMES | 5 | |
Score by Innings
West Bend………..011 000 000 – 2 8 1
Flames……………..111 000 20x – 5 12 2
Joel Seagraves, E.J. Sexton (8) and Matt Hotovec; Walsh and Medved. W – Walsh, 6-3. L – Seagraves. 2Bs – West
Bend, Sexton; __________ _F_la_m__es_,_ P_a_u_l _G_lo_e_d_e_._
