This story is sponsored by Victory Apparel
By Steve Pilz
For MarshfieldAreaSports.com
SPIRIT – The Marshfield Chaparrals amateur baseball team traveled to Spirit on Sunday afternoon and handed the home team a 13-3 loss in seven innings to run their winning streak to 10.
The Chaps (12-1), who have now outscored their opponents 108-31 this season, started out ready to play.
Austin Littman led off and reached on an error. Justin Rayburn hit into a fielder’s choice erased Littman, and Riley Erickson drove Rayburn in with a long single.
A wild pitch got Erickson to second and Kyle Westhuis had an infield single to score Erickson. Luke Wirtz reached on another Twins error before Bobby Pilz pushed a pitch to the right side to score Westhuis and the Chaps had a 3-0 lead.
The Chaps added to their lead with a big five-run third. Erickson was hit by a pitch, Westhuis pushed a bunt past the pitcher, and after two were out, Jack Donahue scored Erickson with a single. Austin Palacek scored Westhuis with a single, and Noah Panzer ripped a two-run homer to left-centerfield.
Spirit finally got on the scoreboard in the fourth when Darek Petruzalek hit a one-out single and Tyler Zocher followed with a two-run homer to make it 8-2 after four innings.
Erickson had another RBI in the fifth after lead -off walks by Donahue and Palacek, wrapped around an RBI sacrifice fly by Littman to score Rayburn, who reached on an error, making it 10-2.
“We took advantage of a few mistakes they made early on,” said Rayburn, Marshfield’s player/manager. “(Ryan) Metz was around the zone all game. Give Spirit credit, they didn’t strike out much. They put the ball in play.”
The Chaps put the cap on an early day when Rayburn blistered a single to left and scored on Erickson’s first homer of the season. It was Erickson’s fourth RBI of the day, giving him 20 on the season to lead the Chaps in just 11 games.
That put the Chaps lead at 10 and signaled the end of the day for Metz. The veteran righty scattered 10 hits, allowing just two earned runs, and walking two and striking out two.
Pilz struck out two of the three batters he faced in the bottom of the seventh to finish off the victory.
The Chaps’ next game is a non-league affair versus the Plover Pterodactyls on Wednesday at Marshfield’s Jack Hackman Field.
Chaparrals 13, Twins 3, 7 innings
Marshfield 305 030 2 – 13 10 2
Spirit 000 210 0 – 3 10 6
WP: Ryan Metz. LP: Derek Petruzalek.
SO: Metz (6 inn.) 2, Pilz (1 inn.) 2; Petruzalek (3 inn.) 1, Jake Borman (4 inn.) 2. BB: Metz 2; Petruzalek 2, Borman 2.
Top hitters: M, Riley Erickson 3×4, HR, 4 RBIs; Kyle Westhuis 3×5; Noah Panzer HR, 2 RBIs. S, Dayne Marenga 2×4; Tyler Zocher 2×3, HR, 2 RBIs; Zach Butera 2×3.
Records: Marshfield 12-1; Spirit not reported.