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Results and recaps from the Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association All-Star Classic

06/27/2016, 11:30am CDT
By Travis Wilson

The Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association held it's annual All-Star Classic in Oshkosh this weekend. Four games were played by four teams of the top senior players in the state. Recaps and box scores courtesy of the WBCA.

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South 11, North 9

The South team jumped out to an early lead and tacked on enough runs to hold off a late North rally, securing an 11-9 victory in the first game of the WBCA All-Star Classic. 

Jack Eagan (Wautoma) picked up the win, allowing no earned runs in 4 innings of work. Markesan's Cody Ryan earned the save. Jack Nelson (Portage) and Nate Loomis (Beloit Turner) each had two RBI for the South squad, while Tanner Kirchberg (Columbus) scored three times.


West 10, East 8

The scoring fest continued into game 2 when New Richmond catcher Caleb Manecke hit a three run homer just inside the left field poll to put the West All Stars up 3-0.  The East responded with hard hit line drives, aided by a tough sun that shone bright onto the left side of the field, as they put up six runs featuring a double by Beaver Dam’s Ryan Kaul and a triple by Arrowhead’s Johnny Duranso.

Back came the West in the bottom of the 2nd to tie it up.  Travis Berg, the West’s starting pitcher from Eau Claire Memorial, drove as double high off the left field fence, moving DC Everest’s Logan Langbehn to third, who has previously singled.  Both scored on a triple by Chippewa Falls McDonell’s Zach Gilles who in turned on a sacrifice fly.

The East put up two more in the 3rd to go up but the see-saw game continued when the West put up three in the fourth to take back the lead, 9-8.

Both teams brought in new pitchers in the fifth, with the West bringing in Aquina’s Alex Schulte while the East countered with Kenosha Indian Trail’s Jeremy Stouffer.  Schultz got through the fifth untouched, but the West was not so kind to Stouffer.  Chequamegon’s Caleb Armstrong  led the inning off with a single which was followed by a Bryce Graveen (Mosinee) single.  Armstrong scored from third on a sacrifice fly, while Stouffer was able to use a strikeout-caught stealing to avoid further damage.

Both teams failed to score in the sixth.  Schulte left the East scoreless in the 7th to get the save allowing no runs over the final three innings.  Berg got the win while Nickels took the loss.


East 7, South 3

South Milwaukee’s Matt McCarty, who will be taking his skills to the University of Louisville, took the hill for the East and pitched four innings of no hit baseball despite not recording a strikeout.  His counterpart, Portage’s Jack Nelson who started on the hill for the South, did not fare nearly as well.  The East put up four runs in the 1st and three more in the 3rd, to take a 7-0 lead.  Menomonee Fall’s Ryan Weber and Arrowhead’s Ryan Schmitt had doubles during that time.

Saint Francis’ Jacob Wiedower took to hill in the sixth, as did Sun Prairie’s Marquis Reuter for the South.   Both pitched scoreless fifth innings.  The shutout and no-hitter was broken up in the 6th when Ithaca’s Jacob Heubsch hit a soft single to RF.  Eventually the bases loaded on singles by Nelson and Evansville’s Dayton Zeitelmeier.  Westfield catcher Keegan Johnston’s hit a hard single to right, plating both Heubsch and Nelson.  Johnston took off for second, drawing a throw, allowing Zeitelmeier to score.  Wiedower got the third out to stop the rally.

The South had one more chance in the 7th but Muskego’s Caleb Wagner made two nice running catches in centerfield to keep the South stymied.  McCarty got the victory in the 7-3 victory.


North 3, West 2

The North sent Appleton East’s Nick Goudreau to the mound to face the West and Elk Mound ace, Brandon Bohl.  First blood was drawn by the North when they plated a single run in the bottom of the third.  

They followed with two more in the fourth when Oconto’s Grant Frazer led off with a single, which was followed by a free pass earned by Manitowoc’s Isaac Pethan.  Both scored on two West errors, giving the North a 3-2 lead after four innings.

The West rallied for two in the fifth on a Caleb Manecke triple down the right field line that knocked in two runs.  North pitcher Bret Skenandore from Kaukauna, who had entered the game in the fifth, got out of a bases loaded jam when he speared a line drive off the bat of Chequamegon’s Caleb Armstrong who flipped to first for a double play, keeping the single run lead intact.

Marathon’s Ryan Gassner, one of the DIII State Players of the Year came in the fifth and pitched a one-two-three inning which featured a diving catch on a foul ball by himself.

Skenandore gave up a single to Eau Claire North’s Cal Sauro but retired three other hitters to keep the lead intact going into the bottom of the 6th.  Gassner had an easy sixth, sending the game to the seventh with the West still trailing by a run.

Skenandore got Gassner to fly out to center, but hit Chippewa Fall’s Jake Sperry on the foot.  Manecke grounded to second, but the relay throw to double him sailed wide, putting him on second, representing the tying run.  DC Everest catcher Logan Langbehn flew to right on the very next pitch, giving Goudreau the win and Skenandore the save.


West 5, South 2

The South sent Ithaca’s Jacob Huebsch, the Division IV Player of the Year to counter the West’s Rece Dietrich, Barron’s Minnesota-Duluth recruit.

Chippewa Falls McDonell’s Zach Gilles led the game off with a single and stole second on the next pitch.  He scored easily as Chippewa Falls’ Jake Sperry tripled to centerfield.  Huebsch struck out Eau Claire Memorial’s Travis Berg on a breaking pitch to record the inning’s first out.  Phillips Ryan Giannoni hit one hard in the hole that was speared by Middleton’s Ryan Schmitt.  He scrambled and threw to 1B put pulled Madison East’s Donovan Tomony off the bag, with a Giannoni sliding under the tag and making the score 2-0.  Dietrich followed that up with a hard single to CF.  Chequamegon’s Caleb Armstrong flew out on a nice running catch by Pecatonica 2B Brooks Chandler to end the inning.

Wisconsin Dell’s Diggy Cimaroli led the bottom of the first off for the South. He lined a ball to the fence in centerfield but was cut down at third on a throw from Gilles to Sperry to Somerset’s Logan Johnson who tagged out the slidding Cimaroli.  Columbus’ Tanner Kirchberg grounded out to Sperry at shortstop who threw low to 1st, but was dug out nicely by Berg.  Beloit Turner’s Nate Loomis singled hard through the hole to put a runner on 1st with two outs.  Weston catcher Keegan Johnston walked on five pitches.  Tomony worked the count full then grounded in to the hole with both runners moving.  Sperry again made a good play and again needed help from Berg at first.  He got it again and the South was retired without scoring a run and stranding two.

Peterson took a 1-1 curve ball from Huebsch off the leg to start the second inning.  Marathon’s Ryan Gassner hit a hard ground ball that bounced over Huebsch’s head but was grabbed by Chandler who stepped on 2B and fired to first for a double play.  The speedy Gilles drew a walk and again stole second.  Sperry drew a second consecutive walk.  Berg, grounded out to Cimaroli at short who stepped on 2B to end the threat.

Schmitt grounded out to 2B for the first out in the bottom of the 2nd.  Huebsch drew a walk after taking a very close pitch for a ball on a 2-2 count.  Riverdale’s Elijah Cannon grounded hard to short, where Sperry flipped to Giannoni, who fired to Berg, for a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.

Giannoni started the top of the third by drawing a walk.  Dietrich flew to short right where he was robbed of a flare hit by the sliding Chandler who made and over the head, sliding grab, and then almost fired in time to double up Giannoni for a double play. Armstrong hit a one hopper back to Huebsch who threw to second where Cimaroli jumped above the sliding Giannoni and made a perfect throw to 1B to double up Armstrong and get the South out of the inning.

Chandler led the home half of the third off with a hard line drive up the middle.  Cimaroli got down early in the count by taking two strikes, but then fouled off four pitches before driving a double into the gap.  Armstrong misplayed the ball allowing Chandler to score ahead of the throw and Cimaroli taking second on the throw.  Kirchberg also got behind in the count, and like Cimaroli before him, fouled off several Dietrich fastballs and curveballs before taking a sharp breaking pitch for a strike and the innings first out.  Beloit Turner’s Nate Loomis flailed at a sharp  curve ball for strike one and then took a fast ball low for a ball.  Dietrich just missed with a curve before getting Kirchberg to ground out to Sperry at short for the 2nd out of the inning, with Cimaroli taking third.  Johnston flailed at another first pitch curve from Dietrich, and then another to get 0-2.  He took a sharp third, consecutive curve, for strike three.

New Richmond’s Caleb Manecke led off the top of the fourth for the West who jerked an inside fastball for a homerun just inside the foul pole for his second homerun of the tournament…the only two homers to leave EJ Schnieder this weekend, making the score 3-1 West.  Peterson hit a sharp grounder to third that was misplayed by Middleton’s Schmitt to reach safely.  Gassner took to consecutive fast balls low to draw a four pitch walk.  Ashland’s Matt Tarasewicz flied to centerfield which Loomis caught…but made a sloppy throw in to the infield, allowing Peterson to scamper to third and Gassner to take second.  Pepin-Alma’s Lance Johnson worked the count full, featuring two great blocks by catcher Johnston and then laid off a fast ball outside to load the bases with one out.  Huebsch was lifted for Middleton’s Alec Morrison who was called upon to put out the fire, facing Eau Claire North’s Cal Sauro. Morrison’s last action was in the State Tournament where he was hit in the head on the third at bat of the State Tournament’s opening game last Tuesday by a viscous line drive up the middle.  Morrison buzzed an inside fast ball for a called strike and then followed it with a low outside fastball for another called strike.  He laid off a high fast ball and then a high slider to run the count even at 2-2.  Morrison missed with another slider inside.  He ammended by buzzing an inside fastball for a taken third strike, with Sauro leaving them loaded.  Fall Creek’s Cody Cline got fisted and grounded weakly to 1st with Morrison indeed dousing the flames of what could have been a Southern house on fire.

Dietrich finished his excellent start with a 1-2-3 fourth.  Bohl made a sliding catch in right.  Dietrich then struck out Schmitt and then induced Morrison to ground out to Johnson at short who made a nice strong throw to first to leave the West up 3-1.
Mosinee’s Bryce Graveen lined a single up the middle to start the fifth.  Elk Mound’s Brandon Bohl popped out weakly to first for the first out.  Manecke continued to make a strong case for himself as tournament MVP with lining a hard single to left, his fifth hit of the tournament.  Aquina’s Alex Schulte.  On a full count, Schulte struck out on a foul tip.  Both runner’s were moving…Loomis throw to 2B sailed into CF, allowing Graveen to score with Manecke holding at 2B.  With SPASH’s Schroeder hitting, Manecke got a huge jump at 2B to take third… Loomis’ throw once again sailed high, allowing Manecke to score.  Schroeder grounded weakly to 1B to end the inning with the score now at 5-1.

The West now called on Graveen for a three-inning save.  Marquis Reuter grounded to third where Schulte made a strong throw for an easy out.  Markesan’s Cody Ryan struck out on a fast ball.  Two other quick outs were recorded.

Two pitches two outs in the top of the sixth… Sauro popped out to 2B for a five pitch inning.

Bottom of the sixth: Evansville’s Dayton Zettelmeier grounded to short, Loomis flied out softly to center. DeForest’s Logan Michaels got hit in the head with a curve ball to take first with no injury.  Portage’s Jack Nelson lined hard to deep right but Bohl ran it down, tumbling to the ground but still securing the ball.

The top of the 7th had Fall Creek catcher Cody Cline drove a fly ball hard to LF that was run down by Zettelmeyer.  Graveen reached on an error when Ryan dropped the ball at short.  With Bohl batting, Graveen took 2B on a wild pitch.  Bohl grounded to the left of the mound where Morrison made a nice play to throw him out at 1B for the the innings 2nd out.  Manecke grounded weakly to 2B for the third out.

In the bottom of the 7th, Crandall reached when a grounder to 2B hopped high over Cline’s head for a base hit.  Schmitt reached on a fielder’s choice and then Reuter lined hard to RF to put runners on the corners with one out.  Ryan drew a walk to load the bases.  Rio’s Trevor Kearny lined hard to right to drive in a run making it 5-2, with bases still loaded.  Zettlemeyer grounded hard to Johnson who flipped to Cline for one, who fired to Sauro at 1st for the game ending double play.


East 5, North 1

The East team scored a pair of first inning runs and the early lead help as they defeated the North 5-1 in the final game of the WBCA All-Star Classic. Milwaukee Lutheran's Nick Winter picked up the win on the mound, working 4 innings with just one unearned run allowed.

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