Boyceville baseball nips Colfax, exits playoffs and season with loss to Durand-Arkansaw
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The Boyceville baseball team closed out the regular season on a high note as it held off Colfax for a 3-2 win Monday, May 22.
That win gave Boyceville a 7-7 finish in the final Dunn-St. Croix standings, good for third place.
Unfortunately, the Bulldogs were unable to sustain that momentum when they traveled to Durand for the opening round of WIAA Division 3 regional playoffs three days later. Host Durand-Arkansaw overcame a 5-0 deficit as it rallied to end the Bulldogs’ season with a 7-5 victory.
The season-ending loss left the Bulldogs with a 10-8 overall record for the 2023 campaign.
Colfax
Colfax scored a single run in the top of the first but the Bulldogs, who hosted the Monday, May 22 contest, knotted the score in their half of the first.
The Vikings again scratched across another run in the third to retake a 2-1 advantage.
But, Boyceville scored what turned out to be the winning runs in the fourth on a free pass, a couple of passed balls, a hit by pitch and a Paul Kurschner single.
After that, the pitchers took over for both teams and put zeros on the board the last three innings.
Both teams finished with three errors.
“This was another quick game with both starting pitchers pitching well. Devin Halama once again pitched lights out for us,” stated Boyceville head coach Michael Roemhild.
“When our pitchers don’t put people on for free I truly think we can stay in any game,” added Roemhild. Perfect example tonight; we walk a guy and he ends up scoring. We have an error and they end up scoring. It almost bit us in the butt but we were able to fight through emotions and adversity (for the win).”
Halama threw six solid innings for Boyceville to earn the win. He gave up just two runs on four hits with two strikeouts and a pair of walks. Landyn Leslie came on in the seventh and did not allow a hit or run and struck out one to preserve the Bulldogs’ one-run win.
Carson Roemhild went 2-for-3 to lead the Boyceville offense but Paul Kurschner had the biggest hit of the night for the Bulldogs – a single in the fourth that brought home two runs that proved to be the game winners.
Solid defensive plays helped to preserve the lead and eventually the win.
Durand-Arkansaw
A first-inning run and four in the top of the third gave Boyceville a 5-0 advantage when it played Durand-Arkansaw in the opening round of the WIAA Division 3 baseball playoffs last Thursday, May 25 on the Panthers’ home turf.
But, Durand-Arkansaw began to rally in the bottom half of the third frame with a pair of runs. The Panthers took the lead for good with four scores in the fourth and added another run in the fifth to stun the Bulldogs 7-5.
“This game kind of summed up our season,” stated Coach Michael Roemhild. “We started out really aggressive and made plays, then we just fizzled out. We went up 5-0 on Durand with good hitting, running, and defense. Then slowly, we let Durand get back into the game. We had a few mental mistakes defensively and on the base paths; both of which cost us runs, and outs.”
After their four-run third inning, the Bulldogs’ offense pretty much went three up and three down the rest of the game according to Roemhild.
Boyceville finished with seven hits in the game, led by Nick Olson’s 2-for-2 performance at the plate with a pair of runs scored. Carson had one of Boyceville’s other five hits and a pair of RBIs.
The Bulldogs also committed two errors.
Devin Halama started and threw four innings with a strikeout and two walks. He allowed nine hits and six of the Panthers’ runs to suffer the loss. Carson Roemhild threw two frames with three Ks, two walks, a hit and a run.
“We have some really good players returning who I know will not accept losing. We just have to find a way to NEED to win not just want to win. We have to be able to put teams away when we are up. All of these are characteristics of a team that isn’t confident in itself and looking for a leader in the team. I am hoping we find that next year,” concluded Roemhild.