Campbell, Krause 3-hit Broncos
By Mike Ramczyk
Riley Palmquist and Luke Hansel may have to re-evaluate their friendship after Thursday night.
Teammates for the Racine Hitters club baseball squad, Palmquist describes his buddy as a “great guy.”
With a WIAA Division 1 regional baseball final between Union Grove and Burlington tied at 1-1, Burlington’s Palmquist faced Hansel, Grove’s pitcher, with two runners on and two outs.
Looking for a fastball, Palmquist zoomed a meatball right down the middle to right field, which scored Grant Tully for the walk-off game-winning run, and the top-seeded Demons escaped with a 2-1 win over the No. 8 Broncos.
Burlington improves to 19-4 with the win and advances to Tuesday’s Burlington Sectional at Beaumont Field, where the Demons will face Kenosha Indian Trail, a 2-1 winner over Wilmot Thursday.
Palmquist, a sophomore who secured the starting second base job only two weeks ago, couldn’t have picked a better time to knock his first career walk-off, in his first career playoff game.
“I honestly forgot it was a walk-off,” he said. “I thought it was a normal base hit until I saw the whole team charging at me.”
“It feels really good. It’s awesome. I credit my hitting coach, Jon Hasser. He’s an assistant coach at Carthage and for the Chinooks (Lakeshore). I was looking for a fastball. I’ve known the pitcher for three years. I knew he would throw a fastball. I was looking to drive something to the opposite field, and I got one right down the middle.”
Burlington players mobbed Palmquist on the infield by first base to celebrate after the game.
Burlington coach Scott Staude said Hansel pitched well, but he wasn’t surprised by Palmquist’s clutch performance.
“I wanted to see a quality pitcher and a good test before sectionals, if we got to sectionals,” Staude said. “We stayed the course. It’s always a big transition to play varsity for us, and we’ve high on Riley. The last two weeks, he’s taken the second base position and grabbed a firm hold.”
“When you hit all winter long, like Riley does, and you play high-level competition all year long, he doesn’t get scared or intimidated. He ended up being the perfect guy in that situation.”
Tully’s winning run wouldn’t have been possible without some hustle.
With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Tully kept the game going with a single to right.
A Derek Koenen grounder to shortstop could’ve ended the game, but the flip toss to second base was late as Tully slid in safely.
Hansel, who scattered six hits and gave up one earned run in 6-2/3 innings, dominated through four innings before trouble in the fifth.
Trent Turzenski’s single skipped past left-fielder Peter Rossman, which sent him to second base.
Pinch-runner Derek Morrow tied the game at 1-1, thanks to Tully’s sharply-hit grounder to short, which was thrown past the first baseman.
Burlington senior lefty Zach Campbell, who fell behind 1-0 in the third on an Alec Spang RBI single, was having difficulty locating the strike zone early in the game, getting behind on Grove batters.
Campbell, who was fighting a bout of bronchitis, settled down later in the game. In the fourth, he benefitted from a leaping force out by Tully at shortstop to get out of a jam, and Campbell followed it with a 1-2-3 fifth.
“Zach was a bulldog,” Staude said. “He was coughing on the mound all game. I’ve always called him ‘Clutch Campbell.’”
In the sixth, Peter Rossman capped an 11-pitch at-bat with a walk to load the bases, but Campbell forced a comeback groundout by Tyler Gamble to keep the game tied.
Trey Krause struck out two in a 1-2-3 seventh.
“Burlington comes up clutch in big situations and doesn’t get scared,” Grove senior Bradley Hansen said. “They keep pushing, and they have confidence and good coaching and a good team all-around.”
“We could’ve had a few more hits, but we were solid today.”
Campbell only allowed three hits and struck out three with three walks.
Tully went 2-for-3.
“I know a couple of guys on their team, so it makes it sweeter when you get them out,” Hansel said. “We really wanted this game, so it was tough.”
Union Grove coach Michael Arendt said Burlington’s late rally was a learning experience.
“We didn’t get the pitch we wanted on Tully’s hit in the seventh,” Arendt said. “We have to learn from some mistakes. I told Luke he can’t hang his head about giving up one earned run to the state champs. Luke threw an outstanding game.”
“It was a disappointing end, and we knew it was going to be a battle. They just made more plays than we did. I told them Burlington has to respect them for how they played today.”
Burlington moves on to Tuesday’s sectional at Beaumont Field, where the Demons will face Kenosha Indian Trail (12-8), the No. 5 seed but a team that’s been inconsistent this season.
The Hawks feature power right-hander Brad Hoertel, who fires a 90+ mile-per-hour fastball and will pitch at Division 1 Auburn University.
“He has a chance to get drafted and throws hard,” Staude said. “We don’t want to change anything, just stick to our plan. We want to have good at-bats, and we know how to work pitchers. It’ll be exciting. That’s what you want with a chance to go to state. You want to play the best.”
Waterford 3, Kenosha Bradford 2
In a WIAA Division 1 regional final at Waterford Thursday, Austin Hoefs was masterful.
“He threw an unbelievable game,” said Waterford coach Lance Bestland. “It was a great pitched game on both ends.”
Ryan Jungbauer relieved Hoefs in the seventh, and only needed three pitches to earn the victory.
Down 2-1 in the bottom of the seventh, the Wolverines put on their rally caps.
After one out, Zak Ksobiech and Jungbauer singles were followed by a Nolan DeGreef base hit to tie things at 2-2.
With runners on first and second and one out, Bradford intentionally walked Hoefs to load the bases.
Paul Schmidt, who struck out in a previous at-bat, wrapped a sharp grounder to the shortstop, who bobbled the ball and allowed Jungbauer to score the winning run.
Waterford improved to 17-7 and won its first playoff game since 2011, when it lost to Bradford in sectionals.
“It is a relief to win a playoff game after several early exits,” Bestland said.
“It was sort of a oh my gosh, can’t believe it happened win.”
Waterford will battle Lake Geneva Badger, which beat Kenosha Tremper, 5-3 in nine innings Thursday, on Tuesday in Burlington.
Ksobiech went 2-for-3 to lead the Wolverines.
Hoefs only allowed three hits and struck out 10 batters with two walks.
Other playoff scores
Lake Geneva Badger 5, Kenosha Tremper 3 (9 innings)
Kenosha Indian Trail 2, Wilmot 1
Softball
D1 Sectional Final, Burlington High School
(2) Wilmot 11, (1) Westosha Central 9
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