Boyceville baseball nearly pulls upset of unbeaten Elk Mound, defeats Prairie Farm

PROTECTED CONTENT

If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.

Username

Password

Login

Lost your password?

Username and Password Help

Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.

Email

Submit

← Back

BOYCEVILLE — Last week Boyceville nearly did something no else has been able to do all season – defeat Elk Mound on the baseball diamond.

The Bulldogs battled the Mounders throughout their April 29 Dunn-St. Croix contest at Evenson Field. Twice Boyceville erased deficits to knot the game before taking a one-run, 7-6, advantage in the bottom half of the fifth inning after chasing the Mounders’ senior pitching ace Kaden Russo from the mound. Unfortunately, Boyceville was unable to hold on. Elk Mound scored twice in the sixth inning and added another pair of scores in the seventh to rally for a 10-7 win.

“This was a tough loss to handle,” said Boyceville head coach Michael Roemhild. “We knew we would see Elk Mound’s ace, Kaden Russo. He has only given up four hits the whole year and is undefeated on the season.”

“We were prepared for him and I think offensively its showed,” continued Roemhild. “We were patient and were able to get five hits off of him, walk seven times and score six runs off him.”

Roemhild added that the Bulldogs made Russo throw 96 pitches in his four innings on the mound, just four short of the maximum allowed per game.

“You couldn’t ask for a better scenario,” said Roemhild. “The upsetting part is I think we could have scored more runs, we left seven guys on base while Russo was pitching.”

Despite the disappointment in a missed opportunity to knock off the undefeated league leaders, Boyceville rebounded four days later by beating a solid Prairie Farm squad at home by a 7-1 count.

The Bulldogs headed into this week’s action with a 6-2 record in conference games and a 9-3 overall mark. Boyceville hosted Durand-Arkansaw Monday. The squad then goes on the road for conference games in Glenwood City on Thursday and at Mondovi Friday. The Bulldogs return home next Monday, May 13 for a game with Elmwood-Plum City and then play in Elk Mound on Tuesday, May 14.

Elk Mound

Their was plenty of fight in the Bulldogs when Elk Mound and ace Kaden Russo visited Boyceville Monday, April 29.

The Mounders scored a run in the top half of the first, but the Bulldogs answered with a score of their own in the bottom half.

In third, Elk Mound plated four runs, highlighted by a three-run homer off the bat of Russo, to move in front 5 to 1. Boyceville, however, was not about to roll over. The host responded with three scores of its own in the bottom half of the frame to pull to within a single run. 

The next inning, Elk Mound added a score for a 6-4 lead only to have Boyceville even the contest with a pair of runs in the bottom half.

Boyceville then scored a run in its half of the fifth to take a 7-6 advantage. But, Elk Mound rallied for two runs in the sixth and two more in the seventh and held on for the 10-7 win as relief pitcher Kamron Diermeier closed the book on the Bulldogs with three solid innings in which he allowed just one Boyceville hit for one run and struck out five Bulldogs batters and allowed just two bases on balls to earn the mound victory.

Russo, who started and threw four innings in which he allowed five Boyceville hits and six of its seven runs with six strikeouts but walked seven, got a no decision.

Senior Zach Kersten and sophomore Carson Roemhild led the Bulldog offense with a pair of hits each in three plate appearances. One of those Carson Roemhild hits went for a double while Kersten finished with three RBIs. Landyn Leslie also added a double and walked twice and Devin Halama picked up the Bulldogs other game hit.

Leslie, who threw two and a third innings for the Bulldogs, took the loss. The sophomore allowed four runs on three hits and walked three without a strikeout. Senior Devin Halama gave up six runs on five hits to the Mounders in his four frames on the mound including Russo’s home run and walked eight with just one strikeout. Another Boyceville sophomore, Carson Roemhild, threw just two-thirds of an inning without surrendering any hits or runs.

Both teams finished the game with three fielding errors.

“The game came down to pitching and mental mistakes,” stated Coach Michael Roemhild. “We can’t walk 11 and hit a batter! That was 12 free bases to the undefeated conference leaders,”

“When you have a pitcher’s  (Russo) number you have to take advantage of its and we did, the only problem is we didn’t continue with the same mindset when Elk Mound brought in their next pitcher.”

Prairie Farm

In a non-conference game played at Evenson Field last Friday, May 3, Boyceville defeated Prairie Farm 7 to 1.

Devin Halama gave the Bulldogs the early lead when he double in the first and scored.

Prairie Farm’s Josh Quarders homered to center field in the top of the second to tie the game at one all.

Boyceville took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the third and then added a run in the fourth and three in the sixth for the six-run victory.

The sophomore pitching duo of Carson Roemhild and Landyn Leslie combined to shut down a solid Panther squad. Roemhild threw three and two thirds innings to earn the win, surrendering just the lone Prairie Farm run (a home run) and two hits. He whiffed eight and walked four. Leslie went three and a third and did not allow a hit or run and tallied four strikeouts.

Carson Roemhild also led the Bulldog offense as he collected two hits and scored twice. Braden Roemhild, Zach Hellendrung and Devin Halama each doubled. Brothers Braden and Carson Roemhild along with Leslie also tallied a pair of stolen bases in the victory.

The Panthers finished with three errors while the Bulldogs committed one.