Errors, big inning doom Demons
By Mike Ramczyk
GRAND CHUTE – Murphy’s Law was an inescapable reality for the Burlington varsity baseball team Tuesday morning at the WIAA state tournament.
Playing in a Division 1 quarterfinal against Arrowhead at Fox Cities Stadium, the team the Demons toppled in the state championship last year despite falling behind 4-0, anything that could go wrong went wrong in an 11-1, five-inning Warhawk triumph.
Burlington finished its season 21-5.
“I’m at a loss for words,” Burlington senior Zach Campbell said. “I feel empty right now.”
“We put the ball in play, but it was right at guys. We didn’t help ourselves in the field behind Trey. The outfield didn’t hit the cut at all. We made some dumb mistakes, and they made us pay for it.”
Two Burlington errors led to two Arrowhead runs in the second, and two more Demon defensive miscues opened the flood gates in a five-run third that turned the game into a blowout.
In all, Burlington committed as many errors as hits (five), and the Warhawks, who were vocal in a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article Tuesday about keeping their foot on the gas pedal if they got another early lead against the Demons, belted 11 hits and received stellar pitching from Derek Crawley.
Burlington starting pitcher Trey Krause, who entered the game with only three earned runs allowed all season, finally suffered an off game with six earned runs, six hits and three walks in 2-1/3 innings.
Demon coach Scott Staude, who said it was a no-brainer to start the red-hot Krause instead of senior ace Zach Campbell, was disappointed considering Burlington’s recent strong play.
“Sometimes you just have to shake your head and say they’re kids and nobody’s perfect,” he said. “It’s disappointing because I really thought we were playing as well as well as anybody could be. But momentum changes from day to day in baseball. We picked a bad time to play our worst defensive game of the year.”
“Confidence is a very dangerous thing, but the lack of confidence is as well. Our guys just weren’t confident, missing cutoffs, dropping easy catches, that’s just not us. Sometimes you press in that situation.”
Trouble starts in second
Krause, whose fastball was uncharacteristically up in the strikezone, found trouble in the second. A Collin Thiel blooper to short right was misplayed by a diving Joe Tully, who Staude said got the start due to his speed in the vast Fox Cities Stadium outfield, which reaches dimensions of 405 feet in right-center field.
Thiel would score on an RBI single by Jack Becker, who moved to third when Burlington third baseman Dale Damon’s throw behind him at second skipped past Riley Palmquist and into right field. Then, Matt Brockish singled to make it 2-0.
Krause got out of the jam thanks to a groundball to shortstop Grant Tully, who flipped to Palmquist, who fired to Jacob Lindemann for a double play.
Burlington’s best chance came in the top of the third, when the Demons loaded the bases after singles from Campbell and Damon, along with a fielder’s choice from Derek Koenen. With two outs, though, cleanup hitter Aaron Sturdevant fouled off two pitches and fell into an 0-2 hole.
After a meeting on the mound, Sturdevant was jammed into a slow roller that forced out Damon at second.
An RBI single in the bottom of the inning made it 3-0, and Campbell missed the cutoff on a throw home that went all the way to the Burlington dugout, plating another Arrowhead run. After a Bryce Toussaint double made it 5-0, Staude pulled Krause for Campbell.
“Trey lost a little aggressiveness and didn’t have the bite on his curveball,” Staude said. “I wanted to keep Trey in one more batter, but we needed a momentum change. We had to do something different.”
But Campbell left a fastball down the middle, Becker singled, and a throwing error from Koenen in left field led to two runs, extending the advantage to 7-0 and essentially putting the game out of reach.
Lindemann singled in the fourth and scored on a Turzenski fielder’s choice, but the Demons didn’t manage another hit.
Tully and Turzenski added a hit apiece. Becker finished 2-for-2 with three RBIs for Arrowhead, which benefitted from six walks.
Two years of dominance
Burlington players fought back tears on a bench atop a hill adjacent to the left-field bleachers moments after the game. Staude told players to take photos with family and cherish the final moments of their state experience, as trips to the biggest stage of high school baseball aren’t promised.
Lindemann, who will leave in July to pitch for Wichita State University, said it was tough to see his high school career end.
“I expected my high school baseball to end like this, but another state championship would’ve felt a lot better than it does now. Lack of energy, errors and walks killed us.”
Campbell, who will play outfield at UW-Whitewater next season, reflected on his successful journey.
“Making the team as a sophomore and being around all the older guys definitely helped,” he said. “Last year, winning it all was great. This year, coming back here, we didn’t know it was going to happen. We fell short of where we wanted to be, but it was a great career.”
The Demons amassed a 46-10 record over the past two seasons, including two Southern Lakes Conference championships, two sectional titles and a state championship.
Sturdevant, Campbell, Damon, Lindemann and Derek Morrow finished brilliant careers that saw Burlington make back-to-back state tournament appearances and take the town’s baseball tradition of excellence to a higher level.
“We’re losing seniors that have a lot of wins,” Staude said. “We can’t thank them enough for the service and leadership and guidance. They’ve kept the Burlington tradition going. It’s a tough way to go out, but wow, what a career.”
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