Mounders avenge Durand loss to stay in baseball title hunt

by Samuel Ripp

A conference baseball championship is still within Elk Mound’s reach thanks to a pair of conference wins last week including a one-run victory at home Monday, May 9 against conference-leader Durand.

The Mounders avenged an earlier loss to the Panthers with a 3-2 win to move within a game of the large Dunn-St. Croix front runner and keep their hopes for a championship alive.

Elk Mound, 8-2 in conference play and 13-2 overall, finished the week with a 9-3 road win in Mondovi last Thursday, May 12 to keep pace with Durand, who was a 10-5 winner against Boyceville that same day.

Elk Mound was scheduled to host Eau Claire Regis in a non-conference game at Village Park Saturday but the contest was canceled due to cold weather.

With just three games remaining – all against conference foes, the Mounders will need to win out and hope the Panthers slip up and lose one or two games to earn a share or outright ownership of the 2016 D-SC baseball title.

The Mounders have a pair of home games this week against rival Colfax on Monday, May 16. They will host Pepin/Alma Thursday, May 19. Elk Mound will wrap up the regular and conference season in Elmwood next Monday, May 23. The opening round of WIAA tournament play begins Thursday, May 26.

Durand

The Mounders’ baseball team played conference-leading Durand at home on Monday, May 9 and came out on top with a 3-2 walk-off victory. The two teams split the home-and-home season series with each taking wins on their respective home fields. The win allowed Elk Mound to move within one game of Durand and the conference lead.

After a shaky first inning, Elk Mound senior ace Brandon Bohl settled in on the mound and pitched very well as he allowed Durand just a pair of first-inning runs and three hits. He struck out 15 Panthers in the seven-inning contest to earn the win.

It looked as if Bohl would have a quick first inning when he struck out the first two Durand batters. But then he hit the third batter and then had trouble getting the Panthers out. Bohl allowed a double that scored a run and the next Panthers’ batter singled to drive in another run to give Durand and early 2-0 cushion.

The lead did not last long as the Mounders got to Panthers in the bottom of the second with two of their own thanks to RBI singles from seniors Ryan Conlin and senior Grant Kjellberg.

The game remained deadlocked at two until the bottom of the seventh inning. Elk Mound junior Trey Mohr lead off the inning with a single and then stole second after being called safe on a controversial call. Junior Hunter Adleman drew a walk as did senior Cole Tyman to load the bases with nobody out. Durand pitcher Hunter Black unloaded a wild pitch that allowed Mohr to score from third base to give the Mounders the walk-off win.

The Mounders tallied seven hits in the game. Seniors Alex Hollister and Ryan Conlin each had a pair of hits while Mohr, Tyman and Kjellberg had one hit apiece.

Mondovi

Just three days after a huge win against Durand, the Elk Mound baseball team was on the road in Mondovi to take on the Buffaloes. The Mounders returned home victorious with a 9-3 victory in the Thursday, May 12 contest.

Junior Trey Mohr gave the Mounders another strong pitching performance as he grabbed the win. Mohr pitched five innings and allowed just three runs, only one of which was earned. Mohr allowed three hits, five walks and struck out six Buffalo batters.

Sophomore Ethan Kjellberg that came in for two innings of relief pitching in the win. Ethan only allowed one hit and struck out one in his short time on the mound to help Elk Mound seal the win.

The game went back-and-forth through the first few innings until Elk Mound started to pull away.

The Mounders grabbed the early one-run lead in the first, but Mondovi answered right back in the bottom half of the inning to tie it up.

In the third, the Mounders took back the lead back when they put another run on the board.

The Buffaloes responded again, but this time they added two to take their first lead of the game and put a scare in the Mounders.

Elk Mound tied the game back up in the fifth inning and then took control in the sixth and seventh innings as it added two more runs in the sixth and then put the game out of reach for good in the top of the seventh by pushing across four more runs for a six-run advantage.

The Mounders collected only seven hits, but were very patient as they drew nine walks to help move runners into scoring position. Collecting the hits for the Mounders were senior Alex Hollister, junior Carter Pritchard with two, Ethan Kjellberg with three including a double, and junior Dane Lew.

All nine of the Elk Mound’s runs came from RBIs. Adding to their season totals were Hollister, Pritchard with three, senior Cole Tyman, senior Grant Kjellberg, Ethan Kjellberg, and senior Brandon Bohl with two.

Elk Mound used the steal sign a lot in the game to move runners into a better position to score as they tallied seven stolen bases during the game. Mohr stole five  with Dane Lew, Alex Hollister and Trey Mohr also finishing with a stolen base.