Defensive miscues, bad at-bats catch up to Toppers
By Mike Ramczyk
Last week, Williams Bay junior Austin Pfeil had a day off from the Bulldogs baseball team and was asked to fill in for the varsity golf squad.
In his first varsity golf competition of the season, Pfeil fired an 89 and helped the Bay advance to sectionals.
On Tuesday, he had a tough decision – help the golf team qualify for state by playing at sectionals in Fond du Lac, or pitch for the baseball team, a No. 3 seed that traveled to second-seeded Burlington Catholic Central in a WIAA Division 4 regional.
Pfeil chose the latter, and the Toppers probably wished he would’ve chosen the links.
The 5-foot-10, 165-pound hurler needed only 76 pitches and didn’t surrender a walk as he one-hit the host Toppers, 3-0.
It was the Bay’s second victory over the Toppers in school history, with the first coming in the playoffs in 2015.
Pfeil carried a no-hitter into the bottom of the seventh before inducing a pop out to first base and a line out to left field. One out away from a no-hitter, Charles Robinson laid a textbook bunt down the third base line for an infield single. After hitting the next batter, Pfeil forced a fly ball to end the game.
It was a masterful performance by Pfeil, who struck out six utilizing simply a fastball and a curve.
“He was dealing,” Catholic Central head coach Jim Friend said. “You have to give hats off to Austin. In the beginning, we didn’t have the best approaches. We swung at bad pitches. Then, he settled down and was very efficient.”
Pfeil said it was the best game he’s ever pitched, and he made the right decision of baseball over golf.
“Everything was going, and my arm was feeling good,” Pfeil said. “The week of rest really helped. We had a day off of baseball, and I filled in for golf and helped advance them. Unfortunately, I couldn’t go today. It was in Fond du Lac. Tee times were at 10 a.m. It would’ve been pushing it.”
“In the seventh, I knew I had a no-hitter, but it’s whatever. It’s exciting. We get to go to Johnson Creek and play them a third time. It’s another revenge game for us.”
A Twitter post by Bay golf teammate Grant Germano to push Tuesday’s 4:30 start back to 7:30 to allow Pfeil to play in both events gained traction, including more than 30 retweets and a request for transportation from Fond du Lac to Burlington from a Milwaukee TV station’s helicopter.
The Bay will travel to top-seeded Johnson Creek Thursday.
Catholic Central finished 9-9 on the season. The Toppers didn’t do themselves any favors Tuesday night.
Despite a solid start from junior Chad Zirbel, who scattered nine hits, allowed three earned runs and struck out seven in six innings, the Toppers’ defensive woes continued.
The Bulldogs scored a run each in the first and second innings.
After a walk in the first inning, an errant Toppers throw put a Bay runner on second base, and an RBI single made it 1-0. Then, in the second, a miscue on the infield led to a Bay stolen base, and another RBI knock made it 2-0.
The Bulldogs added their final run with a base hit to left-center field in the sixth.
“To win high school baseball games, you can’t have snowball fights,” Friend said. “You have to play clean, and the Bay did. I feel bad for my seniors. Jordan (Kopac), Connor (Wegge), Austin (Neuhaus), Bryce Hocking and Kyle Goethal. They’ve been through the program all four years, and you wish they could’ve had a little more success.”
Catholic Central made some noise after Robinson’s single in the seventh. Zirbel was hit by a pitch, and the tying run was represented by Kopac.
But Kopac flied out to left field to end the game, and Pfeil and the Bulldogs celebrated on the infield.
“Disappointment,” said Wegge, who overcame a shoulder and back injury to play this season. “We were expecting to go to the next round. It stinks to be done this early.”
Jack Kuiper, Caleb Edington and Eric Norton all tallied two hits for the Bulldogs.
Kopac said Pfeil was good, but the Toppers had the ability to win.
“It’s so disappointing because we know we can be so good,” Kopac said. “At the beginning of the season, we went a few games in a row without a single error, then we had a few errors today. We couldn’t hit square off Pfeil. We had energy in the end, but it was too late.”
For Zirbel, who was relieved by Luke Heiligenthal in the seventh, it was about throwing strikes and hoping some hits would fall.
“It was just one of those days where we didn’t get hits,” Zirbel said. “We are usually a very good hitting team, and we didn’t know what to expect. He was throwing strikes, and we didn’t have an answer.”
Kopac, who was part of Catholic Central’s sectional final run last season, said it was a fun season.
“We had high hopes for this season,” he said. “This year was no less fun. I enjoyed this team, and I wouldn’t want to be with any other guys. The seniors were a great group, and the freshman have great potential.”
“I’m not disappointed at all,” Friend said. “We played with everybody this year. We were only out of one ball game. I always look for the positives.”
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