Three errors lead to four Park runs
By Mike Ramczyk
Sports Editor
The Burlington baseball team had everything it wanted to open the WIAA Division 1 playoffs Tuesday night.
A home playoff game. An opponent with only four wins. And a hard-throwing starting pitcher on the mound.
The fifth-seeded Demons jumped out to a 5-2 lead through four innings over visiting No. 13 seed Racine Park, and the Burlington boys seemed well on their way to a first-round victory.
But all it took was one inning, and dreams of playing at state quickly turned to nightmares before the home crowd could digest what happened.
Park erupted for five runs in the fifth inning, thanks in part to two errors, and the Demon bats went silent the final four innings in an 8-5 defeat.
“We got beat by a team that was more aggressive than us,” Burlington coach Scott Staude said. “They were a step ahead of us. When we made a mistake, they pounced on us. It’s very disappointing because this team could’ve gone far.”
In Park’s decisive fifth inning, Burlington center fielder Mark Wallace drifted back on a difficult but catchable fly ball, and the baseball went off his glove.
That led to an unearned run, then Park capitalized with a few clutch hits. After another Burlington error, the Demons found themselves down 7-5.
In the sixth, Park tacked on an insurance run when Burlington’s shortstop threw the ball in the dirt past the first baseman.
Burlington starting pitcher Houston Cowan gave up seven runs through five innings, but only three were earned.
“It was a play that Mark Wallace knows he should make,” Staude said of the first error. “He’s made some unbelievable catches this year. Houston threw pretty well, but we had three big errors.”
Burlington finished the season 16-9-1, and Park improved to 5-20 and will take on fourth-seeded Westosha Central Thursday.
Burlington beat Park, 5-0, in the playoffs last season, and crushed them, 16-5, earlier this season.
On paper, Burlington’s loss will go down as an upset, and the Demon faithful was stunned late in the game.
But don’t try to convince Staude it was an upset. The playoffs are a fresh start for every team, regardless of record.
“I think everybody has new life in the playoffs,” Staude said. “They’ve had issues with suspensions and players quitting, but once you get to the playoffs, everyone is fresh. Everybody is 0-0. They got momentum, and they felt like they could beat anybody.”
“We had a nice balance of pitching and hitting. I feel bad for our four seniors.”
One of those seniors, Chandler Meseberg, put the Demons on his back in the beginning of the game. He smacked three hits and drove in three of Burlington’s five runs to help build the 5-2 lead.
Wallace doubled in the sixth, but the Demons couldn’t mount a rally. Then, in the seventh, after Tanner Strommen reached on a walk, Eric Behnke put a charge in one to deep left, but it was caught.
Evan Schlitz struck out to end the game.
Behnke was 3-for-4 for the game, and Dane Helnore tacked on two hits.
Park’s Bryce Hansche closed the door in relief, allowing only one hit in the final two innings.
Aaron Mutter and Wallace were effective in relief of Cowan for Burlington, but the damage had already been done.
Burlington now says goodbye to four seniors, Meseberg, Wallace, Bennett Conrardy and Will Pulda.
“We made some big strides this year,” Staude said. “We only brought back three guys with extensive playing time from last year. The younger guys would’ve benefitted from a playoff win, but we just didn’t get it done today.”
Burlington 13,
Kettle Moraine 4
The Demons closed out the regular season with a big victory at home Friday night.
Former Demon star Dylan Friend, a 2010 graduate, threw out the first pitch. Friend and the UW-Whitewater baseball team won the Division 3 national championship last week.
Burlington went off for 14 hits and took an 11-3 lead after four innings. Everybody got into the act, as 11 Demons recorded hits.
Meseberg, Mutter and Strommen led the way with two hits each, and Cal Tully, Helnore, Wallace, Conrardy, James Tully, Schlitz, Mitch Klug and Austin Baker each notched a hit.
Wallace picked up the win on the hill with no earned runs and seven strikeouts in five innings.
Burlington 8-1,
Elkhorn 6-0
The Demons wrapped up the Southern Lakes season in style May 29 at Elkhorn.
Burlington won game one, 8-6, and followed that up with a 1-0 win in the night cap to finish tied for second place in the SLC with Westosha Central at 9-5.
In the 1-0 win, Strommen was masterful on the mound, scattering five hits and striking out four in a complete-game shutout.
Conrardy played the hero, as his single in the bottom of the seventh brought home Strommen for the winning run.
In game one, Burlington erased a 5-4 deficit with two runs in both the fourth and sixth innings.
Helnore, Mutter and Klug paced the team with two hits each, and Wallace smashed a three-run double.
Burlington was electric on the base paths with 10 stolen bases. Wallace, Strommen and Klug each stole two bases.
Cowan gave up only one earned run in six innings of work to get the win. The Demons committed three errors.
Mutter tossed the final inning for the save.
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