By Tim Wester
Sports Correspondent
Timely hitting and dominant pitching are key ingredients to making a deep playoff run in baseball.
Union Grove featured both of these ingredients prominently in its WIAA Division 1 regional semifinal Tuesday, May 29.
TJ Manteufel belted two home runs, while pitcher Luke Hansel stymied Lake Geneva Badger’s offense for 6-2/3 innings to help the Broncos cruise past Lake Geneva Badger, 5-1. Union Grove, which tied for fourth place in the Southern Lakes Conference with Westosha Central, got rolling in the top of the third when Manteufel rifled a line drive homer over the left field fence to make it 2-1 Broncos.
Manteufel added insurance in the sixth with another homer to left field. The Broncos later tacked on two more runs in the frame on Mitch Gibson’s two-run double.
A four-run lead was more than enough for Hansel, who allowed just one run on four hits and 10 strikeouts. Matt Keller replaced Hansel in the seventh to record the final out of the game.
The Bronco pitching was even more dominant against Racine Horlick in its regular season finale Thursday, May 24.
Four Bronco pitchers combined to throw a shutout as the Grove rolled to a 6-0 victory.
Cameron Drier got the victory by virtue of throwing two scoreless innings to start the game. Zach Lehner and Jake Zimmerman then each threw a pair of scoreless innings before Keller closed out Horlick in the seventh.
Dylan Mutchie led the offense with a two-run single in the second. The Broncos then scored single runs in the third, fourth, fifth, and six innings to open a 6-0 lead. Jack Clark, Hansel, Manteufel, and Jakob Petersen each drove in a run in the contest.
Dam finishes stellar career
Union Grove senior Alec Dam played in his final high school tennis match at No. 1 singles at the WIAA Division 1 Mukwonago Sectional tournament Wednesday, May 23.
Dam (11-12), who qualified for state in his sophomore season, was upended in his match.
Meanwhile, No. 2 doubles Ethan Squires and Finn Hourigan (15-9) took fourth, and No. 3 doubles Tommy Hempel and Mickey Rewolinski (6-8) finished second to help the Broncos finish fourth in team scoring with 17 points. Team points are combined from the subsectional and sectionals.
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