Southwest trips up Ashwaubenon in legion baseball

By Murray Gleffe

Correspondent

GREEN BAY—The Green Bay Southwest Wave picked up a 7-3 victory over the Ashwaubenon A’s June 19 at VandenPlas Field on the campus of Southwest High School.

Ryan Green pitched a complete game giving up three runs and seven hits in getting the victory.

Southwest Wave starting pitcher Ryan Green throws in a legion baseball game versus Ashwaubenon. Photo by Murray Gleffe

Aaron Bliek took the loss for the A’s giving up seven runs and 11 hits.

Each team had three errors for the game.

“Ryan is a competitor when he gets up on the hill,” said Southwest head coach Jared Barker.  “His curve ball and fast ball were on tonight and we as a team bore down to get this victory.”

Neither team generated any scoring opportunities in the first, but in the bottom of the second Southwest got on the board first.

Will Sullivan led off with a walk. That was followed by the wheels of Ian Way getting to first base and subsequent balls thrown awry by the A’s. Sullivan scored to give the Wave a 1-0 lead.

Green continued to retire Ashwaubenon batters while Southwest was back at it in the bottom of the third inning.

Marcus Hornacek led off with a single and advanced to second base on a wild pitch by Bliek.

Tyler Nystrom then drove home Hornacek with a shot to right field to give Southwest a 2-0 lead.

Alex Dill got the first hit of the evening for the A’s in the top of the fourth but Green squashed any momentum by retiring the rest of the side.

“We were off our back heels on some infield grounders,” said Ashwaubenon head coach Ben Perry. “Their kids were fast to the bag. Give them credit for their hustle. We dug ourselves a hole early with their hitting.”

In the bottom of the fourth, Southwest built a nice cushion for the rest of the game.

Bret Whiffen opened with a single, and advanced to third on a wild pitch.

Luke Platkowski then smashed a double to the fence scoring Whiffen.

Jim Wilke singled and then Dayne Massey settled in at first after another A’s error.

The error brought in another run to give Southwest a 4-0 lead.

They tacked on two more in the inning to give the home team a six-run margin through four innings.

“Marcus and Bret gave us some timely hitting tonight,” added Barker. “They did a nice job seeing the ball.”

Ashwaubenon didn’t go down without a fight.

Jordan Casper was hit by a pitch to open the top of the fifth and moments later Clayton Monfils sent a ball to left field.

Will Adair then stepped in the box and drove home Casper. Eventually Monfils came home on a tag-up from third to cut the margin to 6-2 but it was little too late for the A's.

Each team added an additional run in their last at bat to provide the final margin.

“The guys are playing good baseball in the last five to six games,” said Barker. “We’ve scored double digit runs and our offense is clicking.”

Box Score:

Ashwaubenon: 000 020 1—3 7 3

Southwest: 011 401 x—7 11 3