This story is sponsored by: WDLB-AM 1450 and WOSQ-FM 92.3 radio
By Steve Pilz
For MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – The Marshfield Chaparrals amateur baseball team was at it again Wednesday night racking up their seventh consecutive win as they stymied a strong Waupaca team 9-1 at Jack Hackman Field.
The Lakemen came into the game with a 7-0 record, but were blanked my Chaparrals starter Bobby Pilz for six innings.
Pilz got all the runs he would need when the Chaps (9-1) sent all nine batters to the plate in the first, scoring four runs, all with two out.
After two were out, Riley Erickson was hit by a pitch. He promptly stole second and scored on Sam Schwanebeck’s liner up the middle. Luke Wirtz ripped a double to left-center to score Schwanebeck and Nate McDonald made it back-to-back doubles scoring Wirtz. McDonald later scored on a passed ball after Lucius Messerschmidt’s walk and a single by Austin Palacek.
The Chaps got two more in the fourth when Ryan Metz led off with a single. Austin Littman bashed a triple to score Metz and later scored on an infield grounder in which they tried to throw Littman out but failed.
McDonald singled to lead off the fifth and stole second. A force-out put McDonald on third where Palacek lifted a fly ball to right to score him to make it 8-0.
That was more than enough for Pilz, who gave up a double and a triple in the seventh for the Lakemen’s only run. Pilz left after seven innings, giving up just four hits, with four strikeouts and six walks. Kade Lancour threw two shutout innings to finish off the victory for Marshfield.
“It was easier to pitch with a nice lead early on,” Pilz said. “It was great to score early and get the crowd going. They were in it the whole night, as usual, so that helped. My control was somewhat better tonight and the defense was solid again with no errors.”
McDonald led off the seventh with a single and moved to third on pinch hitter Jack Donahue’s single. He scored on Palcek’s ground-out to short accounting for the final score.
“To beat a very good Waupaca team tonight was a really nice win for us,” said Chaparrals player/manager Justin Rayburn. “We need to keep the momentum going with a tough schedule coming up. It isn’t going to get easier but we’re looking forward to that.”
Littmann had three hits for the Chaps, and Schwanebeck and McDonald each had two.
The Chaps play Sparta Miller on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Jack Hackman Field.
Chaparrals 9, Lakemen 1
Waupaca 000 000 100 – 1 5 0
Marshfield 400 211 10x – 9 13 0
WP: Bobby Pilz. LP: Ryan Dayton.
SO: Dayton (5 inn.) 2, David Yeska (3 inn.) 1; Pilz (7 inn.) 4, Kade Lancour (2 inn.) 1. BB: Dayton 1; Pilz 6.
Top hitters: W, Walker Smith 3B; Tyler Dayton 2×4; Johnny Popham 2×5, 2B. M, Austin Littman 3×4, 3B, RBI; Nate McDonald 2×3, 2B, RBI; Sam Schwanebeck 2×4, RBI; Austin Palacek 1×3, 2 RBI; Luke Wirtz 2B.
Records: Waupaca 7-1. Marshfield 9-1.