Bullogs drop three of four baseball games

After a frustrating one-run home loss to small Dunn-St. Croix leader Spring Valley to start last week’s play, the Bulldogs found themselves even more flustered after losing three more contests including a pair of non-conference games at its own triangular this past Saturday.

Miscues and errors quickly added up for the youthful Bulldogs, who had dropped four straight before righting the ship a bit with a much needed 5-3 victory in Mondovi Monday night, May 16.

Durand flexed its offensive power as it scored early and often en route to a 10-5 home win Thursday, May 12.

Boyceville found little solace when it returned home Saturday to host Baldwin-Woodville and Prairie Farm in a round-robin triangular.

After an early lead, the Bulldogs collapsed in its opening contest against Baldwin-Woodville and fell 15-5 in five innings.

The Bulldogs play did not improve in the tournament finale as Prairie Farm blanked Boyceville 10-0 in five.

Boyceville has a busy final week of regular season play as it hosts Elmwood this Thursday before finishing at Plum City on Friday and at rival Glenwood City on Monday, May 23.

Regional tournaments will get underway on Thursday, May 26. The Bulldogs, 5-5 in conference and 6-7 overall, have not received their tournament assignment but will be competing in Regional C of the Division 3 Durand Sectional along with Colfax, Elk Mound, Glenwood City, Eau Claire Regis and Spring Valley.

Durand

The Panthers scored six runs in their first two innings including five in the second inning and went on to take a 10-5 win over the visiting Bulldogs Thursday, May 12.

“The second inning really hurt us,” stated head coach Michael Roemhild. “Hunter (Anderson) pitched a good game but our defense did not back him up.”

The Bulldogs defense committed four errors in the game.

“We were going against one of the top pitchers in our area,” said of Durand hurler Hunter Black, who earned the victory.

Roemhild said the Bulldogs did start to gain some confidence against Black as they begin to pick up hits.

Boyceville finished with seven hits to Durand’s 12.

Hunter Anderson, who pitched all seven innings and suffered the loss, had a pair of hits including a triple, and Micadin Kahl chalked up two hits in four appearances with a double to lead the Bulldogs’ offense.

“Micadin and Hunter hit the ball very well,” said Roemhild.

But so did the Panthers, who hit a pair of doubles, one each by Josh Biesterveld and Travis Bauer. Biesterveld along with Reid Hansen and Logan Polzer finished with two hits each. In fact, all but one Panther finished with a hit.

Boyceville scored a pair of runs in the third and sixth innings and one in the seventh while Durand added singles runs in the third and fourth frames and two in the sixth.

“They beat us 17-2 the first time without their throwing ace,” said Roemhild. “Did we improve in terms of score? Of course, but defensively we didn’t come to play.”

Home Triangular

Too many errors and too little offense led Boyceville to a pair of lopsided five-inning losses in its home triangular Saturday, May 14.

The Bulldogs committed 11 errors in the two games and produced just nine hits and five runs  in defeat.

The Bulldogs surrendered an early lead to Baldwin-Woodville and fell 15-5 and were shut out by Prairie Farm in their second game 10-0.

Boyceville scored four runs in the opening inning but just one run (in the fifth) after that as the offense struggled.

The Blackhawks managed just four hits of their own but took advantage of double digit walks and several hit batsmen to win by ten runs.

“It’s hard to win when we walked 11 guys and hit six of them,” said Coach Roemhild of the Baldwin-Woodville contest.

Luke Knudtson earned his first pitching start of the year and did well in the first inning but things quickly turned sour for the sophomore and the Bulldogs.

Baldwin-Woodville scored five runs in the second and third innings and four more in the fourth.

“After they scored five runs in the second, our head went down and the wheels came off,” added Roemhild. “They had only four hits and still scored 15, that’s hard to swallow.”

Hunter Anderson went 2-for-3 at the plate with two RBIs and a double. Micadin Kahl had a triple and Kyle Holden a single.

Knudtson pitched just an inning and two-third to suffer the loss after giving up a hit and five earned runs. Bryce Boda threw for an inning and a third and Kahl for two.

Alex Bishop of B-W took the win.

The Bulldogs, who looked to rebound against Prairie Farm, came out strong in the first two innings of the tournament finale.

Boyceville’s starting pitcher junior James Palmer retired five of the first six batters he faced.

But in the third, the Panthers got three hits including a double off of Palmer and took advantage of a trio of defensive errors to score five runs.

In the fourth the result was the same – three hits, three errors and five more runs. In all, the Bulldogs committed seven errors.

That’s all the Panthers needed in their 10-0 whitewashing.

“We made simple mistakes on routine plays,” said Michael Roemhild.

“We didn’t have good at bats and weren’t in the game mentally,” added Roemhild. “It’s tough to watch our ace out there pitch and not get much help. James threw four innings and out of the ten runs scored, none of them were earned.”

Boyceville had five hits. Max Engel had the lone extra base hit, a double, for the Bulldogs. Anderson, Boesl, Knudtson and Holden had the other hits.

Prairie Farm finished with nine hits.

Mondovi 

A three-run sixth inning helped Boyceville break a two-two tie in Mondovi this past Monday evening and put an end to its four-game losing streak with a 5-3 victory over the Buffaloes.

Hunter Anderson and Micadin Kahl both went two-for-four at the plate with a run scored to help the Bulldogs, who had nine total hits, get back on a winning path.

Anderson helped his own cause throwing seven solid innings to get the win. The senior limited Mondovi to just four hits although one went for a home run and struck out a dozen while walking seven.

Boyceville scored single runs in the first and third innings to take a 2-0 lead.

Mondovi scored two in the bottom of the third frame to tie the contest at two.

The Bulldogs plated three runs in the sixth and the eventual win. Mondovi added a run in the bottom of the seventh inning.