Bay Port softball catcher Emma Hock had a single, double and a homer in the Pirates’ second game vs. Green Bay Preble May 3 (Rich Palzewic photo).
BY RICH PALZEWIC
CORRESPONDENT
GREEN BAY – Green Bay Preble softball pitcher Brittany Baneck was nearly perfect on the mound in game one of the Hornets’ Fox River Classic Conference doubleheader sweep of Bay Port May 3 at the Finger Road Softball Complex.
The senior Baneck out-dueled the Pirates’ Sydney LaPoint in a 1-0 victory to open things up, before Preble won the nightcap, 7-5.
Baneck had a perfect game going into the seventh inning until she hit Kyleigh Schuette with a one-out pitch. She would retire the next two batters to complete the no-hitter.
“Baneck was on top of her game,” said first-year Bay Port head coach Dave Luedke. “She’s a good pitcher, but we have to have hits and baserunners to score. We are a young team, but I think we are making strides. It stinks to lose, but I was proud of the way my girls fought and hung in there. Our own pitcher (LaPoint) threw a whale of a game, too.”
Baneck also accounted for the only run in the opener when she hit a two-out homer off LaPoint in the bottom of the first.
For the most part the Pirates put the ball in play during game one, but with the exception of a few hard hit balls, couldn’t muster any real threat offensively.
Bay Port batters struck out eight times against the UWGB recruit, had six fly-ball outs and seven groundball outs in a game that lasted less than 75 minutes. The hard-throwing righty didn’t walk a batter.
“The first game was a good example of what happens when you have two good pitchers on top of their game,” Luedke said. “Baserunners are at a premium – you can’t score if you don’t get on base. You saw two of the best pitchers in the conference.”
The Pirates’ best chance at a hit came in the fourth when Schuette hit a hot smash to Preble third baseman Katie Kugel, who dove to her left and got a glove on it. From there, the ball caromed perfectly to shortstop Cam Baenen who threw to first to get Schuette by a step. Another six inches to Kugel’s left and Bay Port has a hit.
LaPoint was the hard-luck loser in giving up just the lone run. The St. Cloud State recruit struck out five, gave up five hits and walked three. Two of her three walks were to Baneck, including one that was intentional.
Evelyn Hoge had two hits for the victors, while Cam Koch and Cam Baenen each added one.
Box Score – Game 1
Bay Port: 000 000 1 – 0 0 1
Preble: 100 000 x – 1 5 0
BP: Pitching – LaPoint (LP): 6.0 IP, 1R, 5H, 5K, 3BB.
Preble: Leading hitters: Baneck 1×1, Hoge 2×3; RBI: Baneck (1); 2B: Koch; HR: Baneck; Pitching – Baneck (WP): 7.0 IP, 0R, 0H, 8K, 0BB.
Game 2 – Hock has big game for Pirates …
This time Bay Port rapped out plenty of hits, but defensive woes contributed to the 7-5 loss.
Bay Port catcher Emma Hock had a single, double and a homer in the Pirates’ 13-hit attack, but Baneck – who also started game two – stranded a pair of Pirates on first and third in the bottom of the seventh to end the game.
“We hit the ball hard,” Luedke said. “We had enough hits to win, but we stranded too many runners (10) and gave them too many outs with our (three) errors. The bottom line is we just didn’t make enough plays defensively. Emma really hit the ball – we had opportunities.”
Preble got three runs on four hits in the first off LaPoint, but the Pirates tallied one of their own in the bottom half of the inning. Hock got the first hit of the day for Bay Port to lead off the inning, before LaPoint knocked her in with an RBI single two batters later.
The Pirates would tie the game at three in the third after Hock blasted an 0-2 pitch over the right-center-field fence for the second run. Schuette then singled and scored on a Jourdan Lee RBI single.
Alexis Tingley – who came on in relief of LaPoint in the third inning – gave up a pair of runs in the fourth and sixth innings, but just two of those runs were earned due to an error.
Hock nearly hit another one out of the park with two outs in the sixth, but her laser hit the top of the fence and bounced back into play. An inch higher and the junior has her second dinger of the game.
After a fly-ball out began the seventh for Bay Port, Maddy Ehlke, Jourdan Lee and Karigann Wood had consecutive singles to load the bases. Tingley then came through with a two-out, two-RBI single to cut the deficit to 7-5.
Tingley gave up seven hits on the mound in her five innings of work. The senior struck out one and didn’t walk a batter.
Baneck was the winning pitcher once again, striking out five and walking just one.
Besides Hock’s big game, Ehlke, Lee and Wood had two hits apiece, while Nicole Vandervest added a single.
Baneck was 3-for-3 with three RBI, while Koch, Baenen and Keegan Piton each had a pair of hits. Cassie Foytik – who is also a St. Cloud State recruit – added a triple for the victors.
The Pirates travel to Sheboygan North Saturday, May 5, for another FRCC doubleheader, before hosing conference rival Ashwaubenon Tuesday, May 8, in two games.
Note: Preble didn’t have an error the entire night, while Bay Port committed four.
Box Score – Game 2
Preble: 300 202 – 7 11 0
BP: 102 000 2 – 5 13 4
Preble: Leading hitters – Baneck 3×3, Piton 2×4, Koch 2×4, Baenen 2×4; RBI: Baneck (3), Foytik (1), Piton (1), Koch (2); 2B: Baneck (2), Piton, Koch; 3B: Foytik; Pitching – Baneck (WP), 7.0 IP, 5R (5ER), 13H, 5K, 1BB.
BP: Leading hitters – Hock 3×4, Ehlke 2×4, Lee 2×4, Wood 2×4; RBI: Hock (1), LaPoint (1), Lee (1), Tingley (2); 2B: Hock; HR: Hock; Pitching – LaPoint, 2.0 IP, 3R (3ER), 5H, OK, OBB; Tingley (LP), 5.0 IP, 4R (2ER), 7H, 1K, 0BB.
