Shawano blasts Bonduel, 9-3

Chase Henning didn’t want to wait until dusk for Fourth of July fireworks.

Henning and the Shawano American Legion (2-5, 0-2 Fox River Valley) baseball team provided plenty of fireworks in a 9-3 win over Bonduel (2-3) Friday afternoon in front of a big crowd at Jack Reinke Field in Bonduel.

Henning hit two two-run home runs and had a double as Shawano piled up 14 hits.

“Chase, the numbers speak for themselves,” Shawano coach Will Gillis said. “Two home runs and a double, and the nice thing about his double is it was down the right-field line there. He’s hitting the ball to all fields, which is really a big thing.”

Henning’s first home run, a deep shot over the left-field fence, came on just the third at-bat of the game, and followed a double by Ky Schmidt.

“Like I told the team, Shawano is a good hitting team,” Bonduel coach Jason Luepke said. “They hit Connor (Rosin), who is probably our best right now. (Rosin) might not have had everything, but it didn’t matter. … That first inning set the tone.”

On defense, Shawano pitcher Clint Dallas had a no-hitter going into the fifth inning.

“He likes to play around sometimes, but when it’s his day to pitch — he’s a lot like Matt Garza in that way — when it’s his day to pitch, he’s pretty much all business,” Gillis said. “He really competes and threw strikes. He’s not afraid to throw the ball and make the guys hit it.”

Leading off the third, Henning hit a double and scored on a Taylor Prey single. An Alex Frechette single and a fielding error on a stolen base got Prey home. Frechette then scored on another Bonduel error on a ground ball by Mason Boogren to give Shawano a 5-0 lead.

Zack Sousek hit a double to lead off the fourth, and advanced to third on an error by Bonduel. Two batters later, Henning made it 7-0 with his second home run of the day, a rocket over the left center-field fence.

Prey and Frechette followed with doubles, but Bonduel escaped the inning without suffering any more damage.

In the bottom of the fifth, Bonduel finally got a hit when Jacob Springborn slipped a ground ball past the Shawano infield.

Bonduel went on to score three runs in the inning, getting a pair of RBI doubles from Rosin and Bailey Dingeldein, who went on to score on a Colton Dobratz single.

“I’m glad that they didn’t fold up and quit,” Luepke said. “I’m glad some of the guys came off the bench and got some hits. That’s what I was happy to see. That’ll push the other guys.”

Shawano got two runs back in the sixth with an RBI double from Grant Wainio and a sacrifice by Dallas.

“Our offense this year has been pretty good,” Gillis said. “I’ve been really happy with that. We’ve played some spotty defense, to put it nicely, but when we get on the board early and put the other team on the ropes is when we really thrive.”

Dallas allowed five hits and three runs. He struck out four and walked one.

Rosin allowed seven runs on 13 hits, struck out five and walked one before giving way to Trevor Pederson in the fifth inning. Pederson allowed two runs on one hit, struck out four and walked three.