Burlington hosts Waterford-Badger winner at 5 tonight in sectional final
By Mike Ramczyk
BURLINGTON – A large, raucous crowd witnessed the continued maturation of a star pitcher in the making Tuesday afternoon at Beaumont Field.
With people flooding the main bleachers, saturating the brick seats behind home plate and packing the left-field line and extra bleachers on a hot, sunny day with a cool breeze, Burlington sophomore Trey Krause proved for the second time in two weeks that no stage is too big for his cerebral, calculated demeanor.
The southpaw starter, who was the team’s No. 3 pitcher for much of the season, saw his team-leading earned-run average dip to 0.66 with seven innings of two-hit baseball, and the top-seeded Demons picked him up at the plate with a five-run sixth inning to run away with a 7-0 WIAA Division sectional semifinal victory over No. 5 Kenosha Indian Trail in a game that was closer than the score indicates.
Burlington plays for a shot at its second straight state tournament tonight at 5 p.m. at Beaumont Field. The Demons play the Waterford-Lake Geneva winner, which should be determined by approximately 4:30.
Lauded for his mental make-up, confidence and masterful control from Burlington head coach Scott Staude after the game, Krause was magical through five innings with a fastball that moved and slow, sweeping curveball.
Thanks to an RBI double and RBI single from Zach Campbell, Burlington held a 2-0 lead into the sixth, where Krause found himself in a world of trouble.
After a leadoff double and a walk, Krause allowed a bunt single down the third-base line to load the bases with two outs. But the sophomore showed ice-cold veins in jamming Ryan Hoerter for an infield popout and forcing a comeback groundout, where Krause nearly overthrew catcher Aaron Sturdevant at home plate, for two quick outs.
The next batter grounded out to third baseman Dale Damon, who ended the inning with a toss to second base.
“I fell behind, but I trusted my stuff and tried not to do too much to overthrow,” Krause said with a business-like tone. “I’m really excited, I’m just not showing it too much. My curveball was breaking well, and my fastball was lively.”
Staude said pitching coach Bob Lee has helped shape Krause into a tough-minded pitcher, and Tuesday was simply his turn in the rotation.
“He’s been pitching so well,” Staude said of Krause. “I like his make-up, and he’s a very confident young man. I knew his command would be great, he doesn’t walk a lot of guys.”
“They made a great bunt in the sixth. Trey got one of their best hitters to pop out. It was gutsy. That was a momentum changer right there.”
Campbell finished with three clutch hits and three RBIs, the first scoring Grant Tully in the second and the second a line drive to the fence in center to score Derek Morrow.
Campbell’s RBI single in the sixth began a flurry of five straight Demon hits against Indian Trail’s relief pitcher, including singles from Damon, Sturdevant and Krause, along with a deep double to left-center by Jacob Lindemann.
Hoerter, a Division 1 Auburn University recruit, showed off his 90+ fastball and vicious curve for five innings, but Campbell used familiarity to his advantage.
Despite Hoerter’s overpowering fastball, the Demons consistently had good approaches at the plate and worked the count, chasing Hoerter to the bullpen with a high pitch count after five innings.
“We knew it would be a low-scoring game,” Campbell said. “I’ve seen him (Hoerter) before, playing him in the summer, and Coach Staude helped us this week to shorten our distance and just put the ball in play.”
“We’ve already seen Waterford and Badger twice, so I think we’ll be fine tonight,” Krause said about tonight’s sectional final, which begins at 5 p.m. at Beaumont Field. “We can beat both of them.”
Staude said Hoerter was impressive on the mound, but the Demons made him work.
“He works so fast, but we made sure to make him work,” Staude said. “We had a good plan and executed for the most part. He had some real long innings.”
“We didn’t blow out anybody this year. Badger and Waterford have the advantage of playing back-to-back.”
Burlington is looking to make it back-to-back state tournament appearances for the first time in school history.
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