By Tim Wester
Sports Correspondent
Union Grove Post 171 Senior Legion baseball team coach Mike Arendt can’t wait to show off his pitching depth in the Wisconsin State American Legion Class AA Tournament in Baraboo.
Union Grove (12-9), who is ranked third in the state in the Class AA rankings, will need all the pitching they can get in the grueling 5-day double elimination tournament against seven of the best teams in the state. The tournament kicked off Friday with Union Grove facing Onalaska.
“We’ve had some pretty good pitching and defense for the most part this year,” Arendt said. “Ben Miller, Connor Fedders, and Nate Schimanski are just three of our pitchers that have been pretty solid throughout the summer, which is good to see.”
“Add in the fact that we’ve been swinging the bats better as a team this summer and we’ve been a pretty good team.”
Onalaska certainly is a pretty good team in its own right. After knocking off the La Cross Northstars 10-7 in a regional championship game last Saturday, Onalaska is ready to battle the talented Broncos.
“Onalaska is a very good team and is a tough opening draw,” Arendt said. “In fact our half of the tournament, which also includes Merrill and Menasha, is pretty tough.”
The Broncos will counter with their talented pitchers, including ace and UW-Stevens Point recruit Miller, who retired the last batter in the Broncos 10-4 victory over Berlin in the Regional championship.
Leading the way for Union Grove’s offense is Matt Kupper and Zack Melendrez, who along with Grant Beck slugged home runs in a 5-4 victory over Berlin. Other hitters that have had solid summers include Justin DeLong and Sam Schaefer.
The Broncos’ offense proved to be the catalyst in the Regional tournament in Beaver Dam last weekend.
Union Grove unleashed an 11-run sixth inning against Beaver Dam last Thursday to earn the dominating 12-2 victory in its regional opener. Beck, Zach Borowski, Fedders, Miller, and Schaefer each drove in runs in the frame, while Kupper blew the game open with a bases-clearing double.
The Broncos had a more suspenseful victory Friday against Berlin in the semifinal game. After opening a 5-1 lead, Berlin cut the deficit to 5-4 in the bottom of the seventh before Union Grove regrouped and slammed the door on the comeback attempt. Catcher Jake Knight turned the fortunes around for his team in the seventh by throwing out a runner at second base.
“Jake (Knight) throw was crucial in preserving our victory,” Arendt said. “We almost squandered a nice lead in that game.”
Union Grove had little trouble against Berlin in the rematch and championship game Saturday, winning 10-4. After Berlin evened the game at 3 early in the game, the Broncos outscored their opponent 7-1 the rest of the way to pull out the victory. Miller and Melendrez each had multiple hits in the game to lead the offense.
The Broncos look to continue to ride the hot hand this weekend in quest of a state championship.
“If we hit the ball well and pitch like we can, we will have a good shot at it,” Arendt said. “We certainly have to do a lot of things right and win five games in a five-game tournament against good teams. Our depth will be tested up there.”
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