This story is sponsored by Forward Bank
By Steve Pilz
For MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – The Marshfield Chaparrals amateur baseball team was firing on all cylinders Sunday afternoon at Abbotsford’s sun-splashed Red Arrow Park as they downed the hometown Merchants 11-1.
The win runs the Chaps record to 8-1 and they’ve now won six in a row.
Two Chaparrals pitchers allowed the Merchants just one run. The Chaps defense had one inconsequential error and the offense bashed out 18 hits. Perhaps their only Achilles’ Heel was that they left 16 runners on the base paths after a relatively slow start, a fact not lost on player/manager Justin Rayburn.
“We got off to a slow start.” Rayburn said. “We got guys on early but couldn’t bring them in. Riley (Erickson) jump started us with his three-RBI double. That really opened things up for us offensively.”
After three scoreless innings, shortstop Bobby Pilz led off the top of the fourth with a single to right. Jack Donahue followed suit with his own single to left. Nate McDonald walked with one out and Rayburn reached on an error, scoring Pilz. Erickson then smashed a double that two-hopped the wall in dead center, scoring Donahue, McDonald and Rayburn. Sam Schwanebeck lifted a fly ball to leftfield plenty deep enough to score Erickson and the Chaps were up 5-0.
The Merchants got their only run of the day on an RBI single by Tyler Klieforth, scoring Garret Rau, who led off the sixth with a single.
Chaparrals starter Kade Lancour pitched a solid six innings, scattering six hits with six strikeouts and two walks to earn the win. Hunter Korger tossed three shutout innings to finish off the victory.
Meanwhile, Erickson was at it again in the seventh, ripping a single to right to score Donahue, who had also singled and Rayburn, who reached on an error. Erickson scored on a Luke Wirtz ground-rule double and the Chaps were up 8-1.
Pilz led off the eighth with another single and scored two outs later when McDonald hammered a triple to center. McDonald scored on another Merchant infield miscue (they had six on the day) and the Chaps were up 10-1.
Lucius Messerschmidt put a cap on the scoring with an RBI single, scoring Austin Palacek, who had led off with a single, to provide the 11-1 final score.
“Gotta give credit to our pitchers today,” Rayburn said. “Kade (Lancour) and Hunter (Korger) were around the plate all day and didn’t make any mistakes.”
Erickson had four hits for the Chaps, Donahue had three and McDonald, Wirtz, Palacek and Pilz each had two.
Marshfield hosts the Waupaca Lakemen at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Jack Hackman Field. It is Military & DAV Appreciation Night, and there will be a Wood County Crime Stoppers /Jordan Zimmermann Autograph Raffle.
Chaparrals 11, Merchants 1
Marshfield 000 500 321 – 11 18 1
Abbotsford 000 001 000 – 1 10 6
WP: Kade Lancour. LP: Aaron Morrow. SV: Hunter Korger.
SO: Lancour (6 inn.) 6, Korger (3 inn.) 2; Morrow (7 inn.) 5, Trevor Stutgen (2 inn.) 1. BB: Lancour 3, Korger 1; Morrow 3.
Top hitters: M, Riley Erickson 4×6, 2B, 5 RBIs; Jack Donahue 3×6; Nate McDonald 2×5, 3B, RBI; Luke Wirtz 2×5, 2B, RBI; Bobby Pilz 2×5; Austin Palacek 2×2. A, Garret Rau 2×3; Stuttgen 2×4, 2B; Ryan Schumacher 2×4.
Records: Marshfield 8-1. Abby not reported.