Wildcats Win Waupun Baseball Tournament

The sun was warm and it shined on the undefeated University School baseball team this weekend.  The Wildcats won the Waupun Baseball Tournament Saturday afternoon by defeating Waupun High School 10-5 in the championship game at Waupun.  USM advanced to the championship round of the tournament, which boasted eight of the top twenty ranked teams in the state, defeating Edgerton 13-4 Friday night and Prairie Du Chien 11-1 Saturday morning.  The Wildcats outscored their opponents 34-10 in the tournament.

USM took a quick lead in the championship game against the hometown team.  Lane Stanford led off the top of the first with a single.  After Jack Wells walked, Josh Baker singled to score Stanford and send Wells to third. Baker stole second. Tommy Pennington grounded out, but drove in Wells and advanced Baker to third.  Billy Lawton then doubled to drive in Baker.  Austin Heun ran for Lawton and scored on Nathan Burke’s single to make the score 4-0.

Jordan Daanne hit a homerun in the bottom of the first to pull Waupun a bit closer, but USM’s starting pitcher, Lawton, slammed the door closed on the rest of the Waupun hitters in the inning. 

USM got the run back in the top of the second.  With one out, Stanford singled.  After another out, Baker walked.  Both runners advanced on a wild pitch, and Stanford raced across the plate on a throwing error attempting to get him at third.

Waupun scratched out another run in the second.  Collin Visser walked, advanced to third on a passed ball and a wild pitch, and scored on Adam Schmitt’s single.  The Warriors then loaded the bases, but Lawton bore down and got out of the inning with no further damage.

Like the controlled burn that was taking place in nearby Horicon Marsh, the Wildcats were on fire.  They kept on scoring, adding two more runs in the top of the third.  Pennington led off by smoking the ball for a double and Lawton lit the scoreboard lights with another double, driving in Pennington with what would prove to be the game-winning run.  Duncan Brown singled to send Lawton to third. Patrick Lubar then drove in Lawton with another single for USM’s seventh run.

Waupun made it 7-3 in the bottom of the inning.   Daane led off with a walk.  His courtesy runner, Jared Larsen, took second on a wild pitch, went to third on a ground out, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Visser.

It was then USM’s turn to score again, and the Wildcats soon made the score 9-3.  Baker doubled. Lawton then slammed a long homerun over the scoreboard in left center field.

The crushing blow did not destroy the Warriors chances, and they did their best to close the scoring gap by putting two runs across in the bottom of the fourth.  With one out, Sam Lenz reached on a two-base error.  He stole third.  USM head coach Tim Bartz brought Pennington in to pitch for Lawton.  Nate Hopp walked and stole second.  Colin DeBoer grounded out. Lenz scored and Hopp went to third.  Hopp scored on an error a play later, making the score was 9-5.

Pennington and Nathan Burke, who pitched in relief for the final two innings, did not relinquish another run.  The USM batters slathered icing on the championship cake with one more run in the sixth when Baker singled and eventually scored on a single by Burke.

Pennington pitched one and two third of an inning and was credited with the win, and Daane was tagged with the loss.  Lawton pitched three and third inning as USM’s starter, and he struck out five.  Burke pitched two hitless innings of relief.

In the game, the USM batters hit like champions. They pounded out 14 hits, 5 of them for extra bases. Their individual leaders were Lawton, who went 3 for 3 with a homerun and two doubles and 4 RBIs; Baker who went 3 for 4 with a double and an RBI; and Stanford and Burke who were each 2 for 4.  Stanford scored two runs, and Burke drove in 2 runs.

USM reached the tournament’s championship round by beating Edgerton 13-4 Friday evening.  As they did all tournament, the Wildcats began by scoring multiple runs to put their competitor in a hole. They score six runs in the first against Edgerton, who never got closer than three runs in the contest. The Wildcats also scored three in the second and two runs in both the fourth and the fifth. In the game the Wildcats had 13 hits, four of which were doubles.  USM’s third, fourth and fifth batters, Pennington, Baker and Lawton, led the team in plate production.  Pennington went 4 for 5 with a double and 3 RBIs.  Baker was 2 for 3, scored 4 runs, and smacked a double.  Lawton was also 2 for 3 with 3 RBIs and a double.  Greg Trinkl and Lubar were each 1 for 3 as well.  Baker started and won the game, striking out 8 batters in four innings.  Pennington and Trinkl pitched in relief and each struck out one.

In Saturday morning’s game against Prairie Du Chien, the Wildcats needed only six innings to win 11-1.  They started the game scoring two runs in the top of the first.  The Blackhawks got their only run in the bottom of the first, and the game stayed close until the fourth when the Wildcats erupted like Mount Etna to score four runs.  They score four again in the top of the sixth to end the game early.  Once again Pennington, Baker and Lawton led the way for USM’s offense.  Baker and Pennington each smashed home runs. Pennington was 3 for 3 with 2 doubles, 3 runs scored, and 4 RBIs. Baker went 2 for 2 with 4 runs scored and an RBI.  Lawton was 3 for 4 with a double and 2 RBIs.  Stanford was a stand out on the mound.  The lefty pitched a complete game, striking out 8 batters, allowing only 1 earned run, only 2 hits, and only 1 walk in securing the win.

USM is now 7-0, and 4-0 in The Midwest Classic Conference North.  The Wildcats return home for a conference game against a solid Brookfield Academy team at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

(Thanks to Riley R. Kelly for patient help in preparing this report.)