Burlington baseball preview
Demons fire off to 5-2 start
By Mike Ramczyk
If you are wondering what to think about the 2016 Burlington baseball team, look no further than Aaron Mutter and Zach Campbell.
On Monday night, moments after a grueling 8-7 loss to Kenosha Bradford at Beaumont Field in Burlington, Mutter and Campbell, two of the better players on the team, weren’t in a hurry to hop in their cars and drive home.
It would’ve been perfectly understandable, considering it was about 7:15 p.m. and both had a full day of school followed by a two-hour game in which each player pitched.
Mutter threw 100 pitches.
Instead of getting some rest, it was straight to the batting cage outside of the left-field fence.
Mutter and Campbell took some extra swings, utilizing both soft toss and the tee.
Burlington head coach Scott Staude, who is now in his 18th season with the Demons, said this kind of dedication tells the story of why the team is off to a 4-2 start.
“That says it all right there,” Staude said Monday afternoon while watching Mutter and Campbell after the game.
“Zach had two hits today and three innings in relief, and there’s Mutter, who pitched 100 pitches.”
Burlington rallied with three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning Monday, thanks in part to a two-run single by senior Cal Tully.
In a game earlier this season, the Demons were down by one run with the bases loaded in their last at-bat, and Cal’s brother Grant, a sophomore, came through with the game-winning two-run single with a 2-2 count and two outs.
“No moment is too big for Grant Tully,” Staude said. “He’s a gamer and a competitor. You can’t tell if he’s 24 or 14. He won’t blink.”
In only six games, the boys have shown resiliency and also dominance.
Junior pitcher Jacob Lindemann fired two complete-game shutouts, and the combination of Cal Tully, Campbell and Bryan Sturdevant tossed a two-hitter.
Last weekend at UW-Whitewater, Burlington pitchers combined to allow seven hits and strike out 23 in a doubleheader sweep of Hartford.
At the plate, the Demons average 5 runs per game, and the entire team contributes.
Seniors like Mutter, Sturdevant and Cal Tully are complementing the emerging young stars such as Campbell, Aaron Sturdevant, Dale Damon, Lindemann and Grant Tully.
Derek Koenen and Derek Morrow are also varsity newcomers that have contributed.
Burlington welcomes back pitcher Houston Cowan, who missed last season due to injury.
The right-handed power pitcher enjoyed a strong start in a 2-1 loss at Westosha Central, and he pitched in relief Monday night.
Finally, Tanner Strommen returned Monday from recovery from offseason shoulder surgery.
Last year’s leadoff hitter was only able to hit, and he was 0-for-4 in the fifth spot in the lineup.
Strommen will need game reps to heal, but it’s simply another piece in the massive puzzle of talent Staude and his coaching staff will mold this spring.
No shortage of pitching
“We’re experimenting, but the nice thing is we have a lot of arms,” Staude said. “It’s great because when it’s 40 degrees, we’re not throwing a guy more than 70 pitches. Getting innings for guys won’t be a problem, and neither will playing four or five games a week.”
Staude said the team was short on pitchers last weekend, due to soreness, and Burlington still swept its opponent with ease and used four pitchers.
“I’ve challenged our guys to play 21+ outs, and we’re not there yet,” Staude said. “That’s the goal. We won’t be there until we don’t give up at-bats and we stay in entire games mentally. It’s a process.”
Each of the past two seasons, Burlington has been ousted at home in the first round of the playoffs.
Staude isn’t thinking about June yet.
“Every year is different, every team is different,” he said. “Our goal is to teach them the game and improve as the year goes on. We want to win conference first, and schedule the toughest non-conference schedule possible. We want to play well through the playoffs. In high school baseball, playoffs are tough and we have a tough sectional.”
Come playoff time, Burlington will face powers like Kenosha Indian Trail, Kenosha Tremper and an always-strong Racine Horlick squad.
In the Southern Lakes Conference, the depth is solid.
“I see us toward the top of the conference,” Staude said. “There’s some good depth. Waterford is good, Westosha battles and Wilmot has a pitcher going to Oklahoma State. There isn’t going to be someone going 13-1 to win conference. Everybody has a good, legitimate No. 1 pitcher.”
Staude said he attended some coaching clinics in the offseason, and it’s done out of his own pocket.
The Dyer Elementary School teacher is taking on a more important challenge, coaching his daughter’s softball team, as well.
Burlington travels to Delavan-Darien (5-2) Thursday afternoon at 4:30 p.m.
Burlington 6, Delavan-Darien 3
The Demons improved to 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the Southern Lakes Conference Tuesday night at Beaumont Field.
Derek Koenen pitched six innings and struck out six while walking one and allowing two earned runs.
Mutter went deep for a home run, and Aaron Sturdevant, Bryan Sturdevant and Damon each added two hits.
Strommen, playing in his second game of the season, collected his first hit.
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