By Rich Palzewic
Sports Editor
GRAND CHUTE – The magical run for the Bay Port baseball team came crashing down in the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Division 1 state championship game.
Behind a six-run first inning, No. 6-seeded Milton, making its first-ever state tournament appearance, downed the Pirates in five innings, 11-1.
The June 16 game was played at Fox Cities Stadium, the home of the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers.
It was the second straight season Bay Port, making its 14th state appearance, fell in the title game.
“I can’t say enough about these guys,” Bay Port Head Coach Harvey Knutson said. “They were one of two teams left in the state. It would have been nice to take home a bigger trophy, but we’re still taking one home. It’s tough to say goodbye to the seniors.”
On their way to the state tournament, the Pirates (21-10) beat higher seeds Ashwaubenon, Hortonville and De Pere.
Once at the state tournament, No. 8 Bay Port beat top-seeded Sun Prairie in the quarterfinals before bettering higher-seeded Menomonee Falls in the semifinals.
“We battled hard all season but especially in the postseason,” Knutson said. “Nobody gave us much of a chance, but we proved the doubters wrong.”
Milton (24-7) scored its six runs in the first inning on six hits off Pirates starting pitcher Isaiah Grimm.
That came after Bay Port began the game in the top of the inning with a leadoff double from John Nickel.
After advancing to third on a groundout, two consecutive strikeouts stranded Nickel at third.
“That could have given us some momentum early on,” Knutson said. “It was a tough way to start, especially with what (Milton) did in the bottom of the inning.”
With Grimm lasting only 1 1/3 innings, Hayden Groff and Brandon Black also saw action on the mound – three pitchers who haven’t been used much the last month of the season.
“Winning three games in two days at state is hard to do – especially with this level of competition,” Knutson said, “Lots of things have to go right. I was proud of us getting to the state championship game. The three guys (Cole Bensen, Ethan Plog, Craig Kabat) we’ve been using down the stretch, we didn’t have them available today. You have to pitch who you have (in previous games) to keep going. I was confident in the pitchers we used today.”
The Red Hawks added a single run in the second inning and a pair each in the fourth and fifth.
The Pirates began the fifth inning with four consecutive hits, but they ended the frame with a flyout, a lineout and a strikeout.
Pinch hitter Austin Holton had an RBI single in the inning to score Grimm, who reached via a leadoff walk.
Weird ending
With Milton up 10-1 in the bottom of the fifth inning with the bases loaded and one out, the game had an unusual ending.
Red Hawks first baseman Braylen Vande Berg walked to force in the 11th run of the game for the five-inning victory, but he didn’t advance to first base before his teammates mobbed him.
The Pirates tagged first base for the second out, but after a short discussion by the umpires, they ruled the 11th run scored because Vande Berg was only the second out of the inning.
“I was reaching for anything I could get and didn’t want it to end,” Knutson said of the play. “We got the ball to first and got the out. It was the correct call.”