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Walk-off homer by Weber wins it for De Pere

By Rich Palzewic
Sports Editor


DE PERE – De Pere baseball player Derek Weber said he was expecting a fastball.

And a fastball he got.

Weber’s dramatic, walk-off, two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning propelled the Redbirds to a 5-4 Fox River Classic Conference victory May 13 over Pulaski.

Derek Weber

The leadoff hitter Weber, who ended the game 3-for-3 at the plate, hit the first pitch he saw in the seventh off Red Raiders pitcher Easton Vertz over the left-field fence.

The only question was whether the ball would hook foul or stay fair.

“My mentality was, see a fastball, hit a fastball,” said the senior Weber. “When I started walking toward first, I said, ‘Oh, it’s turning and curving.’ I saw it was gone, and the game was over.”

Weber said he talked to the team in the dugout before the last inning and predicted what type of pitch he’d see.

“With (Easton) seeing the lower end of our order to start the seventh, I figured we’d see early fastballs,” he said. “I saw it and hit it. I’ve never had a walk-off homer before, so it was exciting and special.”

Entering the bottom of the seventh, De Pere trailed 4-3 after Pulaski had taken the lead in the top of the inning.

After Ethan Hoops grounded out to Vertz to begin the inning, Hunter Pribeck singled before Luke Brosig struck out, setting up Weber’s blast.

“We started the game slow and were low on energy,” said Weber. “We gained momentum in the later innings and overcame some adversity.”

Vertz shut down the Redbirds for the first five innings before they scored three in the sixth to grab a 3-2 lead.

Weber singled and Bennett Spaeth walked with nobody out.

With two outs, Wyatt Fischer ripped a two-RBI single to tie the game and then stole second base.

Adam Duevel was inserted as a pinch-runner for Fischer before Garrett Foth singled to put runners at the corners.

Dylan Pardini pinch ran for Foth before De Pere used some trickery to grab the lead.

With Vertz pitching out of the stretch, Pardini broke toward second, which enticed the senior pitcher to run toward him.

Pardini was eventually tagged out in a rundown but not before Duevel broke for home with the go-ahead run.

“When I was playing high school ball at De Pere, Dennis Riddle was my coach,” said Bob VanRens, the current De Pere head coach. “We did that same play in a sectional semifinal game to make it to the sectional finals. I won’t tell you what we call that play, but I was the runner on first that game as a senior, and it worked for us. We had good guys on the bases tonight for that to work. Pardini is fast and elusive, so when he got in the rundown, we knew we were going to score.”

Trailing 3-2 entering the top of the seventh, Pulaski runners Thomas Mooren and Donatello Badalamenti were plated on a two-RBI double by Jarret Olson, who was 3-for-4 at the plate overall.

Vertz scored a run in both the second and fourth innings to give the Red Raiders a 2-0 lead.

In the second, Mooren knocked in Vertz with a single, while in the fourth, Logan Kurth drove him in with a double that nearly left the park in left-center.

Vertz pitched all seven innings and gave up eight hits, struck out three and walked one.

De Pere starter Austin Litts pitched six-plus innings and surrendered three runs, four hits and struck out five.

Despite giving up the go-ahead run in the seventh, Bryson Webb picked up the win on the mound for the Redbirds.

VanRens said a victory like this gives his squad more confidence.

“On (May 10), we played Notre Dame (Academy) and were down 2-0 the whole game,” he said. “We scored three in the last inning to win that one. We have a special group of kids that will do whatever it takes to win.”

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