Boyceville sluggers lose in heartbreaker to Elk Mound
I GOT IT! Boyceville’s Cooper Boesl (#9, left) and Walker Retz hustled into shallow left field to try and catch this short fly ball hit by an Elk Mound batter. Boesl was able to make the catch and avoid a collision with his teammate. The Bulldogs, however, lost the Division 2 regional baseball regional semifinal to the Mounder by a score of 14-12. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
By Missy Klatt
BOYCEVILLE – What started as an evening with a lot of promise for a stellar outcome turned into a major heart break for the Bulldogs as they lost to Elk Mound in the second round of The WIAA Division 3 regional baseball competition on Tuesday, May 29th in Boyceville.
Or as Boyceville head coach, Michael Roemhild put it: “Talk about the highest of highs and the lowest of lows in about a two hour time span.” Going into this game, the Bulldogs had an overall record of 11-3 and a nine game winning streak. Their last loss, 7-2, came at the hands of Elk Mound during conference play back on May 3rd.
Elk Mound was the first to get on the board when they put up one run in the first inning. However the Bulldogs looked like they couldn’t be caught in the bottom of the second when they put up nine runs off of four hits with all nine players crossing the plate.
The Mounders weren’t out of it yet as they began chipping away at the Bulldog lead. In the top of the third they added four runs to shrink the Bulldog lead to 9-5. Then in the fifth it was two more Mounder runs, making it 9-7. The Mounders continued to capitalize on the Bulldog mistakes and soon had four runs in the top of the sixth to take an 11-9 lead.
After going scoreless for the last three innings the Bulldogs needed to get something going again. The Joles brothers did just that at the start of the inning when they hit back to back singles. Later they both scored to tie the game at 11.
Top of the seventh and the Mounders leadoff batter, Dylan Curry gets hit by a pitch. He eventually made his way around the bases to give the Mounders the lead once again. Bottom of the seventh and Elk Mound brings in their ace pitcher, Ethan Kjelberg to try and finish off the Bulldogs. But the Dawgs weren’t going down without a fight, Brenden Sempf made it to first base on a fielder’s choice and continued on to second on a passed ball. He then scored off a single by Trett Joles to tie the game at 12.
BOYCEVILLE SHORTSTOP Walker Retz tried to turn a double play after touching second base to force out Elk Mound baserunner Chase Rhude. Retz’ throw to first was just a bit late. The Bulldogs built an early 9-1 lead over the Mounders in last Tuesday’s WIAA Division 3 regional baseball semifinal but lost 14-12 in eight innings. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
So with the score tied at 12 it was time for extra innings.
The Mounders didn’t seem to waste any time as they got their first two batters around the bases to take a 14-12 lead. It was now the Bulldogs turn to try and tie it once more. However this where the story ends as the Bulldogs only sent four batters to the plate as the Mounders shut them down, ending their dreams of a longer season.
During the game the Bulldogs sent four pitchers to the mound while Elk Mound sent three. With the pitch count rule in play and the winning team looking at playing the next day there was a lot of strategy in play as to how and when to use their pitchers. The pitch count rule states that if a pitcher throws 30 or less pitches in a game he can throw the next day. Over 30 requires one day’s rest, 50 or more two days rest, at 75 he needs to rest for three days and if they throw 100 times they have to rest for four days. If a pitcher reaches 100 in a single game they must exit the game after the 100th pitch unless they are in the middle of throwing to a batter, once that batter is done then the pitcher is required to leave the mound.
Of the four pitchers that Boyceville used only Trevor Hollister pitched under 30 pitches.
After the game Coach Roemhild had this to say about the game; “I thought we played our style of baseball for about 2 innings. Trett Joles, Kyle Holden, Jayson Gonzales, and Cooper Boesl all had good nights at the dish collecting multiple hits for us. We were aggressive at the plate and on the bases in the 2nd inning and the result is what we have been doing for a while, putting up a lot of runs and making teams uncomfortable. The only problem is we didn’t continue with it this game. I will take the blame there.”
He continues “Tonight just for some reason it wasn’t our night. I will give Elk Mound credit. They could have folded after the second inning, but they kept chipping away at our lead. They did what we do to teams. They made us uncomfortable and took advantage of our mistakes. I will say that I am very proud of my team for not giving up. We had a big lead, watched it disappear, were down 2 in the 7th and came back to tie it up and almost win the game. That is what I love about these guys. They don’t give up and losing was not in their vocabulary this year.”
As for the season in general, Roemhild summarizes by saying “We did a lot of special things this year, but it’s going to take some time to appreciate all of our accomplishments after a heart breaker like this. I am very proud of all of my players and am going to miss this nucleus we had this year. I thought they all played well together and had good chemistry. My seniors were who I started out coaching when they were freshman. It will be tough to see them go, but I know they will all do something special. They left their mark on Boyceville baseball and can keep their head held high.”
BOYCEVILLE 12, ELK MOUND 14
Elk Mound……………..1 0 4 0 2 4 1 2 – 14
Boyceville…………..….0 9 0 0 0 2 1 0 – 12
BOY (AB-R-H): Boda 4-1-1, B. Sempf 2-2-0, Gonzales 4-1-2, Retz 4-1-1, Boesl 4-1-2, C. Sempf 1-0-0, G. Joles 5-2-1, Knudtson 3-1-0, Holde 0-1-2, T. Joles 5-2-3.