Bulldogs continue to roll through conference baseball opponents
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
BULLDOGS’ senior Connor Sempf (#12) picked up his second hit on this swing during a conference baseball contest in Colfax last Thursday, May 6. Sempf went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored in Boyceville’s 12-1 shellacking of Colfax. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
by Marlys Kruger
Sports Correspondent
With just two games on the schedule last week, the Boyceville baseball team – the top team in the Wisconsin Baseball Yearbook pre-season Division 4 rankings – took care of business early in both of them as they scored a combined 36 runs while holding their opponents to just two in the Dunn-St. Croix Conference wins.
Starting with a 24-1 whipping over the Elmwood/Plum City Wolves at home May 3, they took a drive down Highway 170 to Colfax three days later and defeated the Vikings 12-1.
Boyceville, now 5-0 for the season and 4-0 in conference play, has a busy week ahead including key conference contests against Spring Valley at home this past Monday and in Elk Mound on Thursday, May 13. Both the Cardinals and Mounders sit a game behind the Bulldogs at 3-1. Boyceville also hosted a non-conference game against Grantsburg on Tuesday, May 11 and will welcome Mondovi next Monday, may 17.
Elmwood/Plum City
The Wolves actually held a 1-0 advantage after the first half inning of play by scoring a run off Boyceville hurler Trevor Hollister, but that would be all they would get.
The Bulldogs began slamming the ball around and drew some walks to score ten runs in the bottom of the inning. They then tacked on a single run in the second, eight more in the third, and finished it off with five more in the fourth.
Trett Joles went 2-for-4 at the plate with a double and a grand slam home run and brought in seven runs while scoring four runs himself. Jacob Granley smacked a shot over the fence and added a double, going 3-for-4 with six RBIs and a pair of runs, Connor Sempf batted 3-for-3, crossed home plate five times and brought in one runner, and Walker Retz was 3-for-4 with a home run and a trio of RBIs while scoring twice.
Eight different Bulldogs had at least one hit and eight different Bulldogs had at least one RBI in the rout. Banging out one hit each were Devin Halama, Chase Hollister, Tyler Dormanen and Nick Olson in the five-inning blow out.
Trevor Hollister pitched the first four innings and allowed three hits with nine strikeouts and one walk. Chase Hollister came in for the final inning and struck out two of the three batters he faced.
“Even though it was a cold day our bats were hot tonight. We hit three home runs (Trett had a grand slam, Walker hit a home run for his third on the season, and Jacob Granley had his first home run of his varsity career. Connor Sempf, Walker Retz, and Jacob Granley led the team with three hits each. Trett Joles led the team with 7 RBIs with Jacob close on his heels with 6 RBIs. I was really happy with our approach as a team. We waited for our pitch and when we got it we attacked. 15 hits, 11 walks, and only striking out 3 times…I will take that every game,” said head coach Michael Roemhild.
“Everyone got a chance to get in the game tonight and everyone either scored or got a hit for us. It was nice to see freshmen Nick Olson and Devin Halama pick up their first varsity hits,” he added.
Colfax
This time the Bulldogs struck first with a four-run first inning when they visited Colfax Thursday, May 6.
Boyceville went up 9-0 before surrendering a run in the third inning, but put up three more in the fifth, then shut the Vikings down to take yet another game in five innings.
The team rapped 14 hits while drawing five walks off a pair of Colfax pitchers. Ira Bialzik was 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored. Retz picked up two hits with a double and two RBIs and scored twice and Granley had one hit with two RBIs and two runs scored. Joles was 2-for-4, scoring two runs, Trevor Hollister was also 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs and scored one run and Dawson McRoberts, Braden Roemhild, and Tyler Dormanen each had one hit.
Sempf threw the first three innings to get credited with the win, giving up three hits and one run with four K’s and three bases on balls. Granley finished things up, giving up a couple of hits while whiffing four Vikings.
“I thought offensively we came out aggressively in the first two innings,” coach Roemhild said. “Everyone was involved on the offensive end tonight. To take a 7-0 lead with Sempf on the mound made everyone breathe a little easier.”
“I’m not happy how we ran the bases because we had too many careless mistakes. Defensively, we had some errors and physically it’s starting to get to that time of the year where those are going to be costly. We need to shore up a couple of things to get ready for a big week ahead of us,” he concluded.