Morgan Rode sports@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader photo by Morgan Rode Bonduel pitcher Isaac Boldt fires a pitch during the Bears’ 7-4 win over Iola-Scandinavia on Monday in Bonduel.
Beating a team twice in one season is a difficult task for any team at any level of play. Beating the same team twice in a matter of days is an even tougher challenge to achieve.
The Bonduel baseball team accomplished the feat on Monday, downing Iola-Scandinavia 7-4 at Jack Reinke Field.
The victory came just two days after the Bears escaped with a 3-2 win over the Thunderbirds. The start of Monday’s game had a different feel than Saturday’s tightly-contested matchup, as Bonduel looked as if it were going to cruise to a blowout win after taking a 5-0 lead after three innings.
The Bears got on the scoreboard in the first inning on back-to-back singles from Bryce Maule and Noah Beilfuss. Wyatt Erb added a RBI single in the second before Bryce Weier walked with the bases-loaded to make the score 4-0. Jordan Boldt ripped an RBI single in the third frame.
While the Bears had a comfortable lead, the team also let several other scoring opportunities slip away. Bonduel left the bases-loaded in the first and second innings while stranding two runners in the third.
After only tallying one hit through three innings against Bonduel starting pitcher Isaac Boldt, Iola-Scandinavia found life in the fourth. The Thunderbirds, who made their first state appearance last season, singled twice and drew two walks to push across a run before adding two more runs on sacrifice flyouts. A single by the visitor’s eight hitter trimmed the Bears’ lead to one before Isaac Boldt got out of trouble.
The sophomore got back in a groove the following inning. Isaac Boldt allowed just two baserunners during the remainder of his time on the mound. The righty worked 6 1/3 innings, allowing just four hits, two walks and the fourth inning runs while striking out four batters.
“I was hitting my spots early on but then I had that rough fourth inning,” Isaac Boldt said. “My catcher (Cole Letter) was setting up on the outside and inside corners and I was able to adjust and hit those spots again, which got me through the five, sixth and part of the seventh inning.”
“That was really big (Isaac Boldt pitching 6 1/3 innings) because we needed him to pitch a lot of innings today,” Bonduel coach Donnie Gruenewald said. “I thought he did an excellent job. After the fourth, he showed a lot of composure and came back the next inning and then just started to throw strikes again and started to get back in a groove.”
Parker Bohm retired the final two batters in the seventh inning to earn the save.
Still clinging to their slim one-run lead in the fifth, the Bears got a key RBI double from Jordan Boldt. Bonduel tacked on a run in the sixth on a single from Isaac Boldt.
Letter reached base three times and scored three runs while Bohm stole two bases and scored two runs for Bonduel. Jordan Boldt was the lone Bears’ batter to post multiple RBIs, a fact that the team is perfectly satisfied with.
“You have to have those guys at the bottom of the order on base, otherwise I don’t have those kind of opportunities,” Jordan Boldt said. “Everyone was really hitting the ball well today, which is a good sign for upcoming games and the playoffs.”
The win kept Bonduel in the hunt for a Central Wisconsin Conference-East Division title. The Bears improved to 7-2 in conference games and 9-4 overall.