Chris Caporale, sports@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Clintonville catcher Kyle Finger tags out Oconto Falls third baseman Wes Brabant to end the first inning of an American Legion regional title game Sunday. Oconto Falls won, 4-2.
When Oconto Falls starting pitcher Evan Sigmund got into trouble in the American Legion regional title game Sunday, head coach Gerry Yogerst brought in the team’s ace to hold the lead.
Clintonville was trailing, 4-1, but threatening in the fourth inning with the bases loaded when Yogerst turned to Riley Gruetzmacher.
“When I went out to talk to (Sigmund), he says, ‘I just can’t find my spots anymore,’” Yogerst said. “So I said, ‘Let’s make the change. Let’s see what happens.’”
Gruetzmacher struck out the Diamond Cats’ Jaden Doornink and got Jordan Koeppen to pop out to end the threat. He allowed just one hit the rest of the way while propelling Oconto Falls to the state tournament with a 4-2 victory.
Clintonville struggled to put the ball in play off Gruetzmacher over the final three innings. The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater pitcher struck out seven batters in 3 2/3 innings.
The lone hit he allowed was a pinch-hit home run to Colton Kluth, who took a pitch deep to right field in the sixth inning.
“He’s a large person and he’s intimidating,” Clintonville head coach Mark Doornink said of Gruetzmacher. “I was glad Colton had the opportunity to go ahead and get a pinch hit and made him pay for it.”
The Diamond Cats threatened again in the seventh inning when Nate Krueger reached on an error and Zac Riemer walked to put the tying run on first base.
But Gruetzmacher fanned Paul Kenfield and Kyle Finger to end the game.
“We were there until the end,” Doornink said. “We wanted to get in there, but we needed both runners to cross the plate, so I’ve got to manufacture hits at that point.”
In Sunday’s contest, Oconto Falls put up two runs in the first inning, on singles by Mike Manns and Brett Ash, and missed on a third when Wes Brabant was thrown out at home trying to tag up on a sacrifice fly to center field.
“Early in the game, try to score runs because it’s got to be a perfect throw home, and they made a good play,” Yogerst said.
In the next inning, Sigmund’s RBI single scored Dalton Curl. In the third inning, Ash got his second RBI of the day when he scored Manns on a single, but that would be the last run for Oconto Falls.
Clintonville brought in Jaden Doornink to relieve starter Hunter Vollmar, who gave up seven hits and four earned runs while striking out two batters and hitting another.
Doornink pitched three scoreless innings. He allowed one hit and struck out one batter.
Clintonville got on the board in the top of the third inning. After Aaron Morse reached on an error, Doornink was hit by a pitch and Zac Riemer singled to center field. With the bases loaded, Vollmar grounded into a fielder’s choice, scoring Morse.
“We thought we could get (Sigmund) a little rattled if we were a little patient,” Mark Doornink said. “We know he throws hard strikes, so we were just looking for that hard strike and swinging for it.”
Sigmund threw 3 1/3 innings, striking out five batters and giving up three hits. He walked three and hit one batter.
Making it to the regional championship is still a large accomplishment for the Diamond Cats, who showed some significant growth over the season.
“They started believing in themselves,” Doornink said. “You saw a lot of boys growing into young men here this season.”
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Clintonville 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 2 4 0
Oconto Falls 2 1 1 0 0 0 x 4 8 3