This story is sponsored by: The Marshfield Tiger Booster Club
By Steve Pilz
For MarshfieldAreaSports.com
HAUGEN – The Marshfield Chaparrals amateur baseball season came to an end Friday night when they lost 7-4 to the Haugen Knights in the semifinals of the Wisconsin Baseball Association playoffs at Haugen Ballpark.
The Chaps picked up right where they left off the last two games and by hitting the ball well. They got two hits in the first inning and then four more in the third.
Nate MacDonald led off the third with a walk, Justin Rayburn reached on a fielder’s choice, and Curtis Englebrecht hit a major league pop-up into shallow left centerfield that was apparently lost in the lights and fell for a hit. Sam Schwanebeck loaded the bases with a single and Luke Wirtz followed with a two-run double. Bobby Pilz drove in Schwanebeck with a single up the middle, and Wirtz scored on an error to put the Chaps up 4-0.
That chased Knight starter Jordan Crotteau, which turned out to be a bad thing for the Chaps.
Travis Thompson took the hill for Haugen in the fourth. He walked a pair but also struck out two, a sign of things to come, to get out of the inning.
Chaparrals starter Jack Donahue pitched unscathed until the fourth when he surrendered three-straight singles. He got out of the inning with three runs scored, just two earned, and the Chaps still led 4-3.
Thompson got the Chaps out 1-2-3 in both the fifth and sixth innings with three more strikeouts.
Murphy’s Law, the adage that states “anything that can go wrong will go wrong,” took full effect in the bottom of the sixth for Marshfield.
The Knights scored two runs on no hits with the help of two Chaparrals errors that put them on top 5-4.
The inning had it all and it was all bad for the Chaps. A hit batter, a base on balls, a sacrifice fly, all wrapped around the two errors and another unearned run turned the once promising into the season’s conclusion.
The Chaps just couldn’t figure out Thompson. He coaxed a double play to start the seventh before back-to-back singles by Wirtz and Pilz. He wiggled off the hook with yet another strikeout to end the inning.
After a walk, a sacrifice bunt and yet another Chaparrals error, Ryan Metz replaced Donahue after 7 1/3 innings. The Knights got two more runs, just one earned, to lead 7-4 in what would be the final score.
Marshfield ends the season with an 11-10 record, while Haugen (24-4-1) moves on to play another playoff game Saturday.
“I was proud of our effort all year,” Chaparrals player/manager Justin Rayburn said. “There was never any quit in us this season and I think we got better as the season progressed.”
Knights 7, Chaparrals 4
Marshfield 004 000 000 – 4 8 4
Haugen 000 302 02x – 7 5 2
WP: Travis Thompson. LP: Jack Donahue.
SO: Donahue (7 1/3 inn.) 5, Ryan Metz (2/3 inn.) Jordan Crotteau (3 inn.) 1; Thompson (6 inn.) 9. BB: Donahue 4, Metz 0; Crotteau 2, Thompson 2.
Top hitters: M, Luke Wirtz 2×4, 2B, 2 RBIs; Bobby Pilz 2×4, RBI; Curt Englebrecht 2×4; Sam Schwanebeck 2×4. H, Ryan Neil 2×2.
Records: Marshfield 11-10; Haugen 24-4-1.