By Jason Arndt
Editor
After stringing together 10 consecutive victories, the Burlington baseball team underwent some bumps within the last week, but bounced back with a much needed victory on Tuesday to close out the regular season.
The Demons, one day removed from dropping a 7-0 decision to Kenosha Indian Trail, edged non-conference opponent South Milwaukee at Burlington’s Beaumont Field with a 7-2 verdict behind a four-run first inning.
“It was really important to come back and score early, we got shutout last night against Indian Trail, we just couldn’t string multiple hits together,” said Burlington coach Scott Staude. “But coming out and scoring four runs in the first just kind of relaxed us a little bit and put us in a good place.”
Burlington concluded regular season play 17-9 overall and 10-4 in the Southern Lakes Conference.
The Demons, who finished third in the league standings, will open WIAA Division 1 postseason play as the fifth seed against No. 12 Elkhorn on Tuesday.
“I thought we could compete for a conference title and we were close,” Staude said. “We finished 10-4 and Union Grove and Waterford were just ahead. We are looking forward to the playoffs, we want to play our best baseball and we are right now.”
Staude, meanwhile, said the team should be able to find some rhythm as the playoffs begin.
“These guys are resilient. They bounce back. We had a couple of three-game losing streaks at the beginning of the year,” Staude said. “We have a senior-driven team and they have been through a lots of ups and downs.”
As for the win against South Milwaukee, after pulling ahead 4-0, the Demons and Rockets traded runs in the second inning.
Burlington then posted two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to build a 7-1 advantage and held on for the victory.
Aben Beinlich (4-1) struck out seven, walked none and allowed only one unearned run on two hits through four innings to earn the victory for Burlington.
The Demons received contributions from Murphy Diggins (2-for-3, run), Kaleb Zabielski (1-for-2, two runs, RBI), Beinlich (1-for-3, RBI), Ethan Daubner (1-for-3, run, RBI), Ryan Dummer (1-for-3, double, two RBI), David Kraus (1-for-2, RBI) and Donovan Appleby (1-for-3, run).
Indian Trail 7, Burlington 0
Indian Trail limited Burlington to five hits en route to a 7-0 shutout on Monday at Burlington’s Beaumont Field.
The Hawks broke a scoreless tie with a three-run top of the fourth inning, added three more in the sixth inning, before tacking on another in the seventh inning.
Daubner went 2-for-3 to lead the Demons while Wren Dietz (1-for-2), Beinlich (1-for-3) and Dummer (1-for-2) each recorded a hit.
Burlington 4, Delavan-Darien 3
The Demons scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to claim a 4-3 conference victory on May 19 against visiting Delavan-Darien.
Burlington, which previously lost to the Comets, split its regular season series with Delavan-Darien.
The Demons, who trailed 2-1 after four complete innings, put the contest in a 2-2 stalemate with a run scored in the bottom of the fifth inning.
However, Delavan-Darien responded with a run in top the seventh inning, before the Demons added two in the bottom half.
Beinlich produced a stellar performance on the mound, where he struck out 10, walked two and allowed one earned run on three hits through six innings.
Drew Weis, in relief of Beinlich, picked up the victory after he allowed one earned run on one hit in the seventh inning.
Diggins (2-for-3, RBI), Zabielski (1-for-3, three RBI), Beinlich (1-for-3), Daubner (1-for-3, run), Drew Weis (1-for-3, double, two runs) collected the Burlington hits.
Tremper 7, Burlington 5
Burlington led 5-1 after four innings before host Kenosha Tremper responded with three runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to hand the Demons a 7-5 loss on May 18.
Dietz (3-for-3, triple, run, RBI), Beinlich (1-for-3, two RBI), Diggins (1-for-4, run), Dummer (2-for-3), Weis (1-for-3), and Appleby (1-for-2, two runs, RBI) finished with hits for the Demons.
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