By Bud Milroy
Sports correspondent
The Catholic Central High School baseball team picked up its first win of the season Tuesday, downing Kenosha St. Joseph 11-10 at Beaumont Field.
The win moves the Hilltoppers to 1-2 overall and 1-1 in the Midwest Classic Conference-South Division.
CCHS appeared to be en route to an easy victory early, taking a 2-0 lead thanks in part to a hit batsman and four walks.
In the third, Rayce Wadsworth led off with a double. Tegan Miles then advanced the runner to third with an infield out, and Nolan Girard reached when he was hit by a pitch.
Zach Mehring picked up an RBI with an infield out, and Jake Kaider reached on an error that brought in another run.
Wadsworth was cruising along on the mound through the first three innings before St. Joe’s reached him for a run in the top of the fourth following a single, a stolen basem a walk, a sacrifice and a wild pitch.
The Hilltoppers added another run in their half of the fourth. Matt Heiligenthal led off the frame with a solid single to center field. Aaron Sobbe replaced him on the bases when he hit into a fielder’s choice, and a balk advanced him to second.
After T.J. Walkington drew a walk, Jake Surges grounded into another fielder’s choice but left runners at the corners. The second wild pitch of the game allowed Sobbe to score and increased the Hilltopper lead to 5-1.
Wadsworth worked out of a fifth-inning jam, and it looked like Catholic Central had the game in hand in the bottom half of the inning after CCHS scored five more runs.
It looked like the Hilltoppers had a chance to win the game on the 10-run mercy rule, but Miles was called out for apparently being out of the batter’s box to end the inning after getting a hit that scored an 11th run before being called back.
“I’ve never seen that before,” said CCHS coach Tom O’Connell. “They said his back foot was outside of the batter’s box when he came to bat. When the batter’s box is wiped out, the umpire usually tells a hitter when he’s too deep in the box and to move out.
“After that, if the batter remains too far back, he’ll get called out,” the coach added. “Never is a btter called out after an at-bat.”
That call allowed the game to move forward, and St’ Joe’s made the most of its second chance.
The Lancers scored eight runs in the top of the sixth before CCHS added another in the bottom half of the inning to make the score 11-9 heading into the top of the seventh.
A lead-off double and a sac fly produced the final run of the night. Wadsworth picked up the winning going 5-2/3 innings, with Kross Krueger getting the save.
The Hilltoppers were denied their first win of the season in a heartbreaker Friday, falling 3-2 to Appleton East in the Metrodome in Minneapolis.
“We really played well in that game,” O’Connell said. “We got great pitching, played solid defense and came up with a couple of clutch hits.
“They are a real good Division 1 team (ranked seventh in the state),” he added.
The Hilltoppers trailed 1-0 heading into the top of the six. With two outs, Walkington and Wadsworth reached on back-to-back walks, and both would score on a Miles’ single.
Appleton East responded with two runs in the bottom half of the inning.
-
-
-
-
-