Toppers baseball blanked by Elk Mound, Spring Valley; drop pair in Amery triangular

A young Glenwood City baseball team was shutout in a pair of conference games against league leaders last week by identical 11-0 scores.

After falling in Spring Valley to the Small D-SC leading Cardinals 11-0 on Monday, April 13, the Hilltoppers found little solace at home Thursday, April 16 when they lost by the same count to unbeaten and large division leader Elk Mound.

Errors and a lack of offensive punch led to the Hilltoppers’ demise in both conference games. Glenwood City collected just seven hits in the two games and committed 18 errors including 13 in the Spring Valley game alone.

Looking to change it fortunes outside the conference, Glenwood City traveled to Amery Saturday, April for a triangular. While the Hilltoppers were able to hit the ball, scoring runs remained a challenged in losses to Unity and Amery.

Mounders win in GC

Glenwood City players and coaches had to be experiencing a bit of deja vu Thursday afternoon after giving up three, first inning runs to Elk Mound just like it had against Spring Valley three days earlier.

But unlike the Spring Valley game, the Mounders earned all three of its early runs.

Glenwood City starter Joel Ormson surrendered three consecutive hits to open the contest including a three run homer off the bat of Elk Mound Cole Tyman.

Ormson gave up back-to-back single following the home run but was able to get three of the next four Mounder hitters to fly out to retire the side without anymore runs scoring.

Tyman, who started on the mound and pitched five scoreless innings for the win, sat the Toppers down in order in their first plate appearances with two strikeouts.

Elk Mound then added two more runs in the top of the second for a 5-0 lead. A Toppers’ error and two Mounder hits helped bring in the runs.

In the Toppers half of the second, Ormson worked a lead-off walk from Tyman only to be stranded at third base.

A hit, walk, and another GC error helped the Mounders plate a sixth run in the top of the third inning.

Glenwood City’s best scoring opportunity came in the bottom half of the third. With one out, the Hilltoppers loaded the bases on consecutive base hits by Nick Schone, Jake Logghe and Mitch Hurtgen. But a pair of infield fly outs ended the locals’ scoring chance.

Ormson got a quick first out in the Mounders’ fourth but then hit a batter and walked the next one to bring an end to his day on the mound. Nick Schone came on in relief and recorded two outs but not before the Mounders made it 7-0 with a run on a fielder’s choice.

Tyman held the Hilltoppers bats in check in the fourth and fifth innings allowing just a Spencer Peterson single in the fifth while striking out three.

Elk Mound added a pair of runs in the fifth and sixth innings off Nick Schone to take a 11-0 advantage.

Trey Mohr took over pitching duties for Elk Mound in the sixth and got the Toppers to bounce into a trio of game-ending outs.

Ormson suffered the loss as he gave up seven run on eight hits and three walks in three and a third innings. Schone surrendered four runs on three hits and walks. Tyman gave up just four hits to the Toppers.

Cardinals soar over Toppers   

After opening the season in the cold and rain, the Hilltoppers’ baseball team welcomed the warmth of the sun when it traveled to Spring Valley on Monday, April 13.

Unfortunately, the on-field result did not change.

Glenwood City lost for the second time in as many games when it was blanked by Spring Valley, 11-0, in a Small Dunn-St. Croix contest.

Although Glenwood City starter Joel Ormson and his relief, Mitch Hurtgen, surrendered just five hits to Spring Valley, the Toppers’ defense committed an unlucky 13 errors that led to their shut out loss in six innings.

“We had too many errors,” said Glenwood City head Jake Score succinctly. “We did play a few innings of good ‘D’ but had just too many lapses.

The Toppers weren’t exactly sizzling on the offensive side either.

Cardinals’ pitcher Rem Schneider held the Toppers’ to just three hits and recorded a dozen strike outs in his shut out win.

“We were a little intimidated by the hard-throwing Schneider,” added Score.

Glenwood City did not pick up a hit until the fourth inning when Nick Schone belted a lead-off double only to be stranded on second. Freshman Peter Hill and sophomore Jake Logghe had the Hilltoppers other two hits – both singles.

Spring Valley put a quick three runs on the scoreboard in the first inning, aided by three Glenwood City errors and two walks.

Two more errors by the Toppers’ defense allowed the Cardinals to plate another run in the second.

Ormson was able to throw back-to-back scoreless innings in the third and fourth despite two more errors. But in the fifth, when yet another defensive misque allowed the lead off runner to reach, Ormson walked the next batter to bring his day on the mound to an end.

Relief pitcher Mitch Hurtgen did not fare much better.

After Ormson’s exit, Spring Valley scored three runs without the aid of a hit thanks to three more fielding errors.

A single, a double and one final defensive faux pas led the Cardinals to four more runs in the bottom of the sixth frame and brought an end to the contest.

Ormson took the pitching loss despite surrendering just two hits and three walks in four-innings of solid work which was undone by several defensive mistakes. He also had four strikeouts. Hurtgen, in two innings of relief, was charged with five runs on three hits and a walk.

Schneider picked up the complete game win for Spring Valley as he struck out 12 and walked two and surrender just the three hits.

Drop pair in Amery

Runs continued to be a scarce commodity for the struggling Hilltoppers baseball team when it played a pair of games in Amery Saturday, April 18.

Glenwood City lost to Unity 6-2 and Amery 7-0 in the triangular on the Warriors home field.

“Our youth showed,” said head coach Jake Score. “We started three freshmen and sophomores in each game. We had a lot of base runners but couldn’t get them around.”

Against Unity, Glenwood City did not score until its final at bat in the seventh inning. Trailing 6-0, the Toppers picked up a pair of runs off a Nick Schone walk, a Jake Logghe single and an Eagles’ error.

But that would be it for the Toppers offense which had just four hits, two of which were turned in by Jake Logghe. Mitch Hurtgen suffered the pitching loss.

Unity, which collected 10 hits, scored single runs in the first and sixth innings and a pair of runs in the third and fourth frames.

Just getting base runners against Amery proved a challenge for the Hilltoppers.

The Warriors allowed just five base runners in the seven-inning game as they blanked the Toppers 7-0. Amery scored three times in the second and third innings and added a final run in the fifth to take the win.

Although the hits were fairly comparable – eight for Amery and six for Glenwood City, the Hilltoppers came away empty in the run department.

Nick Schone had a pair of singles to finish as the only Topper with multiple hits in the contest.

Glenwood City has a pair of home games this next week. It will host Plum City on Thursday, April 23 and Spring Valley on Monday, April 27.