By Murray Gleffe
Correspondent
ASHWAUBENON—The Ashwaubenon A’s scored four runs in the sixth inning to defeat Seymour 6-2 and advance to the AA Legion State Baseball Tournament out of Region 3.
“It’s awesome, they are competitors,” said Ben Perry, Ashwaubenon head coach. “We got some timely hits late by Logan (Blazek), Riley (Siudzinski) and Will (Adair) to give us the runs we needed. Give Seymour credit though. They played over 20 innings of baseball today. They fought to the end.”
Luke Jacobs went five innings for the A’s giving up two runs and three hits.
The Championship game between Ashwaubenon and Seymour (July 21) was delayed by almost two hours as Seymour Post 106 needed 12 innings to defeat the Ahnapee Trailblazers in the prelude to the final.
In the bottom of the second, with the game still scoreless, Alex Dill connected on a single to left field.
“We moved Alex from lower in the order to number four and he’s been big for us all summer,” added Perry. “It’s a tough spot to hit and he’s run with it.”
Jon Wolcanski walked and then Ashton Steinike ripped a single that bounced over the head of the third basemen for Seymour to score Dill and give Ashwaubenon an early 1-0 lead.
In the top of the fourth, Seymour tied the game at one apiece after starting pitcher Peyton Gritt scored off an RBI double by Austin Fulton.
Each team added a run to even the score back up at two through five innings.
In the bottom of the sixth, Ashwaubenon took control of the game.
Siudzinski led off with a single to left field, followed by a walk to Wolcanski.
Steinike was hit by a pitch and suddenly bases were loaded with no outs.
Sam Nooyen hit a sacrifice fly to score Siudzinski and then Adair hit a single to left field that the outfielder mishandled allowing Clayton Monfils (pinch running) and Steinike to score and give the A’s a 5-2 lead.
Adair added a run later in the inning to give Ashwaubenon a four-run advantage heading into the final inning.
Ashwaubenon closer Jordan Casper didn’t allow a runner to get in scoring position as the A’s closed out the game and advance to State to take on an opponent from Region 7 on July 26 at Woodside Sports Complex in Wisconsin Dells.
“We got a taste of what State was like last year in Baraboo,” added Perry. “This year, I know we can do some damage if we remain as a team and fight through every inning. We can’t worry about the draw…just the team at hand.”
Box Score
Seymour: 000 110 0—2
Ashwaubenon: 010 104 x—6
