Boyceville claims conference baseball title outright with wins over Mounders, Durand
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BOYCEVILLE senior Walker Retz throws on of the 100 ptiches he fired during the Bulldogs June 7 home game againt Elk Mound. Retz got credit for the win, 9-4 in the Bulldogs favor, as he struck out 13 and scattered six hits in five and a third innings of work from the mound. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
by Marlys Kruger
Sports Correspondent
The Boyceville baseball team finished their regular season on a very high note with a 9-4 win over Dunn-St. Croix Conference rival Elk Mound June 7, then about 15 hours later shutout Durand 8-0 to win the outright Dunn-St. Croix Conference title with a record of 13-1.
After earning a bye in the first round of regional play as the number one seed, the Bulldogs (15-1) hosted Chippewa Falls McDonell Central in the Division 4 regional semifinal yesterday, June 15. A win and Boyceville will also host the regional title game against either Clear Lake (#3) or Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran today, Wednesday, June 16. With a victory in that contest, Boyceville would earn a sectional berth and play in a semifinal game slated for approximately 1:15 p.m. next Tuesday, June 22 at Shell Lake.
Elk Mound
The Mounders gave the Bulldogs a little scare right off the bat with three hits to go with a few Bulldog errors, resulting in a 4-0 lead after a half an inning of play last Monday, June 7 at Evenson Field.
Boyceville, however, cut the deficit in half when Trett Joles slammed the first pitch he saw over the fence and Walker Retz doubled and came around on a walk to Trevor Hollister and a passed ball.
With Retz on the mound, Elk Mound’s bats were kept pretty quiet after that, while the Bulldogs were just getting hot.
Trevor Hollister slammed a solo home run in the third to cut the deficit to 4-3, and the Bulldogs then added on four more runs in the fifth, starting with another Hollister tator. Braden Roemhild drew a walk, Chase Hollister singled as did Ira Bialzik, Joles took a free pass, and Connor Sempf came up with a hit and the inning ended with Boyceville up 7-4. They tacked on two more runs in the sixth when Roemhild and Chase Hollister both crossed the plate.
ANOTHER RUN — Bulldog freshman Braden Roemhild slide safely into home plate with another Boyceville run in a home game against Elk Mound June 7 while teammate Dawson McRoberts raised his arms. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
Retz settled down after the first inning and allowed just three base runners in the next four innings. He struck out 13 Mounders and gave up six hits with one walk. Trevor Hollister relieved him and in 1 and 2/3 innings walked one batter and whiffed one.
Trevor and Chase Hollister along with Bialzik all banged a pair of hits, Trevor Hollister scored twice and brought in two runs. Bialzik knocked in two runs and came home once while Joles, Sempf, and Dawson McRoberts all collected an RBI.
“Trett got our confidence going with his home run in the first,” Boyceville coach Michael Roemhild said. “It was like everyone took a breath and we just kept chipping away at their lead. We really busted it open with those four runs in the fifth. I was just proud our guys didn’t hang their heads after falling behind. We got our heads on straight and backed Walker up well after that,” he added.
Durand
The Panthers were coming off a loss to Colfax the previous day and didn’t have a lot of fire power off the three Bulldog pitchers they faced.
Jacob Granley started and although he walked the first batter he faced and allowed him to move around to third, he whiffed three straight batters to end the inning. Granley got out of another jam in the third when two Panthers reached base but, a strikeout and a fly out ended that threat. He came back with a vengeance in the fourth and struck out all three Panthers he faced.
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs were finding their groove offensively as well, scoring a run in the second when Bialzak was hit by a pitch and eventually came home on Chase Hollister’s single. They added four more runs in the fourth when Roemhild, Chase Hollister, McRoberts, and Sempf all came home. Roemhild scored in the fifth and Retz slammed a homer in the seventh for the final Bulldog run.
Granley and Roemhild both had two hits in the game while Sempf and Retz each knocked in two runs. Granley earned the win allowing just five hits with ten strikeouts in five innings. Chase Hollister threw the sixth and gave up one hit, and Joles had a different view of the game, moving from his catcher position to the mound for the final inning, whiffing two of the three Panthers he faced.
“This was a good win for us to end the regular season on,” coach Roemhild said. “Now our guys get to rest before we play at home on Tuesday. We finished with a 13-1 conference record and 15-1 overall. These guys have put in a lot of work to win the conference championship and they should be proud of what they accomplished, but there is no time to celebrate. We need to work on a few things so we can be ready for our second season,” he concluded.