Toppers baseball drops games to E/PC and Durand
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When Glenwood City and Elmwood/Plum City met on the baseball diamond in Elmwood last Monday, May 2, both squads had just one win and were hungry for a second.
While the Hilltoppers’ one win came against conference foe Colfax, the Wolves had yet to earn a victory in the Dunn-St. Croix.
It was an evenly played game through the first three innings with the score knotted at two all.
But then the fourth inning came.
Glenwood City’s starting pitcher, Steven Booth, began to wear down and the defense started to string leaks.
The Toppers committed six in that inning alone, and had 11 in the game, which opened the scoring flood gates and allowed a deluge of Wolves runs.
By the time Glenwood City finally got out of the inning, they trailed 15-2, and went down in order in the top of the fifth to take the loss while EPC earned its first conference win of the season.
Three days later at home, Glenwood City played much better but still lost 11-3 to Durand.
The Hilltoppers (1-6) have a pair of games this week as they hosted Mondovi Monday and then travel to conference-leading Elk Mound on Thursday. Next Monday, May 16, they will play a doubleheader in Spring Valley.
Elmwood/Plum City
The Hilltoppers and Wolves were an evenly matched pair at least through three and a half innings of competition May 2 in Elmwood.
Elmwood/Plum City took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when a Glenwood City error allowed the run to score.
But, to the Hilltoppers’ credit, they took that run back the very next inning when Marcis DeSmith reached on an error and came around to score on a single off the bat of Peyton Rassbach.
Glenwood City took its only lead of the game in the third inning when senior Brady McCarthy smacked a one-out triple and eventually scored to put the Hilltoppers ahead 2-1.
The Wolves knotted the contest at two when another Toppers’ error allowed a batter to reach base and eventually score.
Glenwood City starting hurler, Steven Booth, was able to get the first out of the fourth inning but gave way to Blake Fayerweather after an error and back-to-back walks loaded the bases for E/PC.
Three consecutive hits, two singles and a double, pushed four runs across the plate for the Wolves.
Elmwood/Plum City would touch home plate nine more times as hits and Glenwood City errors mounted.
By the time Glenwood City finally got the third out against E/PC, the Wolves had plated 13 runs to take a commanding 15-2 lead.
When the Toppers went down in order in the top of the fifth inning, that score became a final one.
“The game at E/PC was going well and I felt we were two evenly matched teams,” noted Glenwood City head coach Dean Fayerweather.
“Steven Booth started on the mound and pitched well until he was running out of steam in the 4th. Blake Fayerweather came in the game with one out and then the barrage of errors occurred,” added Fayerweather.
“We shot ourselves in the foot by not taking care of the ball and helping our pitchers out,” he said of the team’s 11 fielding errors.
Booth took the mound defeat despite three sound innings of work.
The Hilltoppers were outhit 12 to four by the Wolves. The McCarthy triple and singles by Max Janson, Peyton Rassbach and Jayden Quinn were Glenwood City’s only hits in the contest.
Durand
The Toppers had another close game going when Durand visited Thursday, May 5.
After giving up three runs in the top of the first inning, Glenwood City scored a run of their own in the bottom half of the frame.
It remained a 3-1 contest until Durand plated four runs in the fourth and another quartet of scores in the seventh to win 11-3.
Unfortunately, no statistical information or game details about Glenwood City were provided to the Tribune Press Reporter or posted online prior Tuesday’s printing deadline.