Burlington bests Waterford for 5th conference championship in school history

By Mike Ramczyk

[email protected]

BURLINGTON – Scott Staude beamed with pride like a father who just saw his son take his first steps.

It was that kind of emotion that seeped from the veteran coach’s mannerisms moments after his Burlington varsity baseball team beat visiting Waterford, 5-2, Thursday night in a de facto Southern Lakes Conference championship game at Ginger Beaumont Field.

The Demons captured their first Southern Lakes Conference title since 2010, when Burlington was 25-2 and produced four Division 1 college players.

Waterford (12-2 SLC) finished one game behind Burlington (13-1) in the standings.

Burlington earned a No. 3 seed in a WIAA Division 1 regional, which opens Thursday, June 2 at Beaumont Field in Burlington at 4:30 p.m. The Demons will face the winner of (6) Westosha Central – (11) Racine Case.

Waterford is the No. 4 seed in the same sectional and will host (5) Kenosha Bradford/Reuther or (12) Racine Park at the same time.

Winona State University recruit Aaron Mutter, a senior pitcher, went the distance on the mound, allowing two runs in the sixth inning.

With the bases loaded and two outs, a Waterford batter beat out an infield single, which cut the Burlington lead to 5-2. The next batter hit almost an identical dribbler down the third-base line, but third baseman Dale Damon charged full speed, bare-handed the baseball and fired in first base in one motion, barely retiring the runner.

Damon’s extraordinary effort prevented a 5-3 score with the bases loaded and the potential for much more damage.

Aaron Sturdevant broke open a 0-0 tie in the bottom of the third inning. After a wild pitch advanced the Burlington runners into scoring position, the junior catcher banged a deep line drive to the fence in right-center, and Damon and Bryan Sturdevant scored.

Then, Cal Tully’s triple to center scored Aaron Sturdevant.

The next inning, Mutter and Damon each added an RBI.

Bryan Sturdevant finished 3-for-4, and Zach Campbell added two hits.

Mutter scattered six hits and struck out five.

Waterford No. 1 pitcher Tony Ray allowed five earned runs in six innings. He gave up 11 hits and walked one.

As a team, Burlington did not strike out at the plate.

Stay tuned to www.myracinecounty.com this weekend for a video and photos from this game.

Also, visit Facebook for an exclusive video of Burlington seniors Mutter, Tully, the Sturdevants and Houston Cowan.