Burlington Catholic Central advances to regional final Thursday night
By Mike Ramczyk
WILLIAMS BAY – According to the Society of American Baseball Research, a triple play only occurs about five times per year in Major League Baseball.
There are nearly 5,000 regular season games in one MLB season, and only five triple plays.
Though rare, the circumstances of 0 outs and two or more base runners must be present.
Catholic Central senior Ben Heiligenthal found himself in the right place at the right time for a triple play in a WIAA Division 4 regional semifinal Wednesday in Williams Bay, and it helped reverse the momentum in a 9-5 Catholic Central victory.
After the host Bulldogs had scored three runs to open the bottom of the fifth inning, Hilltoppers sophomore Frank Koehnke was in a world of trouble with the bases loaded and nobody out in a 9-5 game.
Call it a stroke of luck or a good play, and it was probably both, but the next Bay hitter smoked a line drive to Heiligenthal, who caught it, stepped on first base and fired to third base, where Owen Dirksmeyer was waiting on the bag for the force out.
Dirksmeyer tossed the first four innings and allowed two runs, as Catholic Central built a 9-1 lead through 4-1/2 innings.
Heiligenthal’s heady play changed the momentum of the game, as nearly team scored the rest of the way.
Koehnke, who threw sparingly this season, settled down and closed the door in the sixth and seventh for the save.
The Hilltoppers (10-10) travel to top-seeded Barneveld, the 16th-ranked team in the state in Division 4, Thursday at 5 p.m.
Catholic Central head coach Jim Friend said he hasn’t been involved in game with a triple play since his Little League days.
“Nothing was going our way at that point,” Friend said after the game, which was played on Theatre Road in the village of Williams Bay. “We were struggling to throw strikes. The baseball Gods were smiling on us.”
“It took the wind out of their sails. They were creeping back into the game, we got the triple play, and that was it.”
The Hilltoppers scored three runs in the first, second and fifth innings.
“We had a better plan at the plate,” Friend added. “We tell them to try to get a fastball they can hit, and they did.”
Dirksmeyer earned the victory on the mound.
Koehnke was 3-for-3, and Cole Kresken and Heiligenthal each added two hits.
In the fifth, Kresken and Heiligenthal singles turned into a two-run single by Koehnke, which extended the lead to 9-1.
“It was a good team win,” Friend said.
Friend said it will take a similar effort to beat Barneveld (15-8) Thursday night.
“If we hit the ball and steal bases, we should be alright,” he said. “We will have a chance if we play like we did tonight.”
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