By Mike Ramczyk
Sports Editor
It was evident from the first inning that the young Burlington baseball team wasn’t going to back down from the conference’s best pitcher, Waterford’s Dylan Malecki.
The Demon bats built a 6-0 lead off Malecki and held on for a 9-7 victory in a wild slug fest that featured 26 combined hits.
Burlington handed Malecki his first loss of the season (9-1) and dealt Waterford, the No. 5-ranked team in Division 1 in the state, only its second SLC defeat (11-2).
The Demons improved to 10-9 overall and 6-6 in the SLC with their ninth win in 12 games.
“I was really encouraged by the way we swung the bats tonight against a very good pitcher,” said Burlington coach Scott Staude. “They are a very good team. We knew they would make a comeback, and I was proud of the way we responded every time they mounted a threat.”
On a brisk evening, Burlington starter Cal Tully shut down Waterford in the first inning. In the Demon half, Tanner Strommen led off the game by booming the second pitch over the left fielder’s head for a leadoff double.
A Bryan Sturtevant sacrifice bunt moved Strommen to third, and Aaron Mutter completed the small ball with an RBI sac fly to give Burlington an early 1-0 lead.
Then, Mutter broke things wide open in the third.
The powerful junior, who stands 6-foot-4 and is about 220 solid pounds, crushed a meatball over the fence for a three-run homer, giving Burlington a comfortable 5-0 lead.
But the game was far from over, as Waterford refused to die.
The Wolverines cut the lead to 6-3 in the fourth, but Burlington’s bats didn’t go away.
Senior Luke Gannon banged a two-run single to give Burlington an 8-3 lead in the bottom of the fourth.
The back-and-forth show continued in Waterford’s fifth, as Chris Saltzmann hit a towering fly ball off the center-field fence to plate two more runs and cut the lead to 8-5.
Sophomore pitching sensation Jacob Lindemann replaced Tully, and he got out of a one-out jam with two runners on base.
Waterford got to within 8-6, but Sturtevant lined an RBI single to make it 9-6 Burlington in the fifth inning.
Lindemann, boasting a fastball in the high 80s and a sharp-breaking curve, was on his game until the seventh.
He got some help from center fielder James Tully, who made two diving catches, one running back and another after running from right-center to left-center field.
By the top of the seventh, Waterford’s Michael Schmidt hit one over James Tully’s head to reduce the deficit to 9-7.
But Lindemann struck out the tying run to end the game, and the Demons pulled off a huge confidence-boosting win over one of the state’s best teams.
Gannon went 3-for-4 with two RBIs to lead the Demons. Strommen was 3-for-3 with three runs scored, and Sturtevant added two hits.
Austin Baker, Eric Behnke, Evan Schlitz and Cal Tully each added a hit.
“Our hitters got into some good hitters’ counts and were able to hit some of his mistakes,” Staude said. “We have been close, but that was the first time we had consistent at-bats for the whole game.”
For Waterford, Saltzman was 4-for-4 with two RBIs and three runs. Ryan Kiedrowski had three hits, and Schmidt totaled two.
Track Hunsucker, Tyler Terrian, Matt Wezyk and Ryan Jungbauer each added a hit.
Malecki is now 9-1. Cal Tully picked up the win, and Lindemann earned the save.
Burlington now tries for the sweep at Waterford Thursday afternoon.
“Aaron Mutter will pitch on Thursday,” Staude said. “Our goal is to simply continue to get better and play consistent baseball. We feel we have enough talent to compete with anybody.”
The Demons travel to Whitefish Bay Saturday and host Wilmot in their SLC finale Tuesday.
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