By Rich Palzewic
Sports Editor
GREEN BAY – Max Wagner had eight RBI combined in Green Bay Preble’s doubleheader sweep of Green Bay Southwest May 6.
The Hornets recorded 7-1 and 12-1 Fox River Classic Conference victories at Green Bay Southwest High School.
The Trojans recorded only three hits combined in the two games and struck out 17 times at the dish.
Wagner, a Clemson University recruit, was 3-for-3 with five RBI in game one and belted a three-run homer in the nightcap.
“I’ve been going to the cage and working hard on getting some extra work in,” said Wagner. “I wasn’t too ecstatic about my performance earlier in the season, but I feel pretty locked in right now.”
Wagner had a sacrifice fly and two doubles in the opener before cranking his round-tripper off Southwest’s Payton Cornelius over the left-field fence in the second inning of game two.
“I’m not usually a big-fly hitter,” added Wagner. “I’m more of a line-drive hitter. I thought it might hit the fence. Out of the box, I jogged a little bit, so I was relieved when I saw it go over.”
In game two, the Hornets scored four runs in the first, three more in the second and finished things off with a five-run fourth.
“Max is locked in,” said Preble head coach Andy Conard. “He doesn’t give at-bats away and will always give you a good at-bat. He hits the ball well to all fields, and we know when guys get on base in front of him, we are going to score some runs. I was really happy with the way we played tonight.”
Josh Nicklaus had two hits and two RBI in game two, while Bryce Miller added two hits and three RBI for the Hornets.
Kyle Zorn added a two-RBI single in the fourth.
In game one, Preble led 3-1 after five innings but got some breathing room with a four-run sixth.
“The way the first game started, I thought [Southwest’s] Ian Way pitched really well,” Conard said. “He’s a quality pitcher and kept them in the game. We had to scratch and claw to get a few runs off him. We were able to get a little bit of a cushion and Max was able to get us out of a jam there.”
After the Trojans got the first two runners on base in the bottom of the fifth, Wagner relieved starter Ryan Stefiuk.
Wagner recorded a strikeout, a foul pop-out and a ground ball to end the inning.
Connor Shefchik, Ben Graff, Bryce Miller and Jake Petasek all had a pair of hits in the opener.
Weather permitting, the Hornets will host Bay Port on Thursday, May 9, at Joannes Park in a battle of two of the top teams in the FRCC.
Both Preble and Bay Port have 10-2 conference records.
“Regardless of the records, we always enjoy playing Bay Port,” Conard added. “It’s always a competitive game, and we have good battles with them. It’s fun to test yourself against a good team like that. They beat us 6-0 last time – it’s hard to win when you don’t score.”
The victory for Preble was its eighth win in a row.