Morgan Rode sports@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader photo by Morgan Rode Menominee’s Isaac Graham, right, prepares to swing in front of Clintonville catcher Kyle Finger during Tuesday’s game.
Leader photo by Morgan Rode Clintonville’s Nick Schoen, left, slides across home plate as Menominee catcher Sam Tourtillott jumps to catch the baseball during Tuesday’s contest.
The days are starting to heat up, and so is the Clintonville Legion baseball team.
Coming off a second-place finish in the Rhinelander Tournament after posting a 2-1 record, Clintonville posted two big innings to claim an 11-1 win in five over Menominee in Clintonville on Tuesday.
Both teams had scoring opportunities in the first couple innings, but Menominee’s Mequan Corn and Clintonville’s Trenton Vollmer each worked out of trouble.
The visitors got runners to second and third base after walks and stolen bases from Richard Wayka and Shane Dixon in the top of the first. After Vollmer induced a flyout and recorded a strikeout, Kyle Finger, the Diamond Cats catcher, picked off Dixon at second with a perfect throw.
Finger clubbed a double with two outs in the bottom of the first, but Corn struck out the next batter to end the threat. Vollmer then retired Menominee in order in the second.
Clintonville’s Nick Schoen walked to open the bottom of the inning before advancing to second on an error. Logan Liesenfelder moved Schoen to third on a single and then swiped second base. Corn tightroped out of trouble by striking out two batters and inducing a popup.
Vollmer worked a perfect third inning before Clintonville broke the tie with a five-run frame.
Colton Kluth walked before stealing second and scoring on a Finger single. Chance Bork, a courtesy runner, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error before Jared Cartwright and Schoen walked to load the bases.
Liesenfelder blooped a single to right to score Bork and Cartwright. Schoen, who advanced to third on the single, then scored on a throwing error. After a strikeout, Nathan Krueger brought home Liesenfelder from third on a single that capped the big inning.
“We were a little antsy at the plate to begin the game, swinging at pitches that weren’t strikes,” Liesenfelder said. “As we got further into the game, we really locked down and started executing what we wanted to do.”
Menominee responded by tallying three hits to score a run in the top of the fourth.
Shane Dixon singled to open the inning and scored on a Tiger Dixon double that nearly left the ballpark. Corn moved Tiger Dixon to third on a single and stole second before Cartwright struck out back-to-back hitters to stop the rally.
Wayka replaced Corn on the mound in the bottom of the fourth and worked around a one-out Kluth single to post a zero on the scoreboard.
Cartwright retired Menominee in order in the fifth before the Diamond Cats brought nine batters to the plate in the bottom of the frame to reach the 10-run rule and end the contest.
Schoen singled and scored on a Liesenfelder double before Keenan Doornink clubbed a double to plate Liesenfelder. Krueger reached base on an error and then was pinch run for by Dylan Danforth.
Matthew Morse laced a double to score Doornink and Danforth and then Jacob Viergutz delivered a single to move Morse to third. Morse crossed home plate after a throwing error. Kluth reached base on a force out and moved to second on an error.
Bork moved Kluth to third on a single before Presley Rosenow reached on an error that allowed Kluth to score and end the game.
“It (the two big innings) all comes down to team chemistry,” Morse said. “If anyone gets down on themselves, we support them and let them know they got the next one. Our defense always plays a big part, too. If we got our defense working, our bats will be, too.”
“It’s really reassuring (to keep hitting well) because sometimes people will say our bats were only on for a night or a couple games but we are doing it consistently now,” Liesenfelder said.
Over three innings of work, Vollmer struck out three batters and induced four groundouts. Cartwright struck out two batters across two innings.
Clintonville (5-4) improved to over .500 for the first time this summer. The Diamond Cats were 2-4 after opening the Rhinelander Tournament with a loss to the hosts but are now on a three-game winning streak and building momentum.
“The guys are really meshing right now, they are playing well together and having fun,” Clintonville coach Randy Finger said. “We are trying out some new things right now, like Trenton pitching, but we look good offensively and defensively. Things are coming together for us right now.”
Corn recorded four strikeouts over three innings while Wayka had one during his 1 1/3 innings.
Menominee (1-2) finished with eight errors while the Diamond Cats had none.
“A few key errors (were the difference), we let some baserunners on that should have never been on,” Menominee coach Karl Peters said. “We saw glimpses of what we are striving for. Instead of three innings of it, we want five innings of it the next game and then soon we can put together seven solid innings of baseball like I know they can play.”