This story is sponsored by Dental Clinic of Marshfield
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – The outcome of the showdown of unbeaten Wisconsin Valley Conference baseball teams Tuesday came down to clutch hitting.
Stevens Point Area Senior High had it, and Marshfield didn’t.
All nine SPASH starters had at least one hit and Marshfield stranded 11 runners, five in scoring position, as the Panthers won 7-1 to take over sole possession of first place in the WVC.
Stevens Point improves to 10-0 overall and 6-0 in the Wisconsin Valley Conference while handing Marshfield (5-1, 4-1 WVC) its first loss.
Clay Giese hit the first pitch of the game for a leadoff home run for SPASH, which also got a two-out RBI single by Ryan Roman in the first inning and a bases-loaded walk with two outs in the second to take a 3-0 lead against Marshfield senior pitcher Trevor Larson, who was making his first career WVC start.
The Tigers got a run back in the bottom of the second when Bo Howard doubled off the base of the left-field fence and scored on a single by freshman Daulton Varsho.
However, that was all Marshfield could muster against SPASH pitcher Ryan Williams.
Marshfield had runners on first and second with no outs in the fourth only to see Williams strike out the next three Tigers. Williams, who finished with 11 strikeouts and five walks, got out of jams in the next three innings as well as the Tigers left four runners in scoring position.
“I give him (Williams) credit,” Marshfield coach Mark Zee said. “When he got guys on base, he beared down. They played good defense too, they didn’t make an error.”
SPASH added a run in the fifth when Williams doubled and courtesy runner Jacob Tepp scored on an RBI single by Brad Piotrowski.
The Panthers blew the game open in the sixth, scoring three unearned runs following a dropped fly ball and a pair of throwing errors by Marshfield, which committed five errors in all. Bobby Gregorich and Williams had RBI hits in the inning.
Marshfield jumps back into WVC action Thursday at Merrill and plays at the River Falls Tournament on Saturday.
“There’s a lot of baseball to be played here,” Zee said. “I told the guys, the month of May is going to be the survival of the fittest. It’s the team that can play good defense and put good throwers on the mound that’s going to be successful.”
Panthers 7, Tigers 1
Stevens Point 210 013 0 – 7 11 0
Marshfield 010 000 0 – 1 7 5
WP: Ryan Williams. LP: Trevor Larson.
SO: Williams 11; Larson 1, Sean Koran 0. BB: Williams 5; Larson 3, Koran 1.
Top hitters: SP, Clay Giese 1×3, HR, 2 runs, RBI; Bobby Gregorich 2×3, 2 runs, 2 RBIs; Williams 2×4, 2 2Bs, RBI. M, Bo Howard 2×2, 2B, run; Daulton Varsho 1×4, RBI.
Records: Stevens Point 10-0, 6-0 Wisconsin Valley; Marshfield 5-1, 4-1 Wisconsin Valley.