Greg Bates, Leader Correspondent
Ty Latender pitched a great outing.
However, the Menominee Indian High School junior wasn’t able to get any run support.
Latender threw a complete game and allowed just one earned run, but the Menominee Indian defense committed five errors in a 6-0 loss at Shiocton in a WIAA Division 3 regional quarterfinal game Tuesday.
Offensively, the Eagles had just two hits, one an infield single, and didn’t get a runner past first base.
“They’re a very good team in a tough conference,” Menominee Indian coach Chris Rice said. “To stay within six, we played a decent game. We could have done more offensively.”
Latender kept Menominee Indian in the game. He finished with three walks, five hits and no strikeouts.
“Ty’s a great pitcher,” Rice said. “He’s our No. 1 pitcher for a reason. He throws good stuff and has a lot of movement. It makes it hard for teams to hit, and you saw it tonight against a very good hitting Shiocton team.”
No. 3-seeded Shiocton (18-6, 11-3 Central Wisconsin Conference-8) scored three of its runs when the hitters were behind in the count against Latender.
“We got two-out hits and a lot of guys did a nice job with two strikes,” Shiocton coach Jude Backman said. “We needed to hit it to a couple places, and we did. We were able to finally get the lead and relax and take the pressure off.”
Menominee Indian (7-14, 6-12 Central Wisconsin Conference-10), which was the No. 6 in its regional, managed just a single from Bryan Madosh and Warren KaKwich.
“We had to be a little better on the basepaths,” Rice said. “We got thrown out stealing early in the game, and I think we could have that got that going with runners in scoring position, it would have been a big help because it puts a lot of pressure on the defense.”
Shiocton starting pitcher Nate Schmidt struck out three and forced seven groundball outs.
“His location was very good — he was painting the corners,” Rice said about Schmidt. “We just weren’t able to get the sweet spot of the bat on the ball.”
The Chiefs took a 2-0 lead in the third inning as Brady Bellin had an 0-2 count at the plate and connected with a two-run double. Shiocton added another run in the fifth and then scored three times in the sixth as the Eagles committed two errors.
“The whole game, until it got to that last inning when they got up 6-0 on us, I thought, ‘We’re still in striking distance with what we’ve done in years past and games past,’” Rice said. “We’re a team that can score runs in bunches, but it just didn’t happen here today.”
Menominee Indian closes out its season 7-14 and was 6-12 in the Central Wisconsin Conference-10.
“We expected a lot more,” Rice said. “At the same point it was 7-14, and we’ve had worse years in the past. The main thing is where the kids came from since Day 1. They really improved every game, and that’s why the season was a success with the improvement every game.”
The Eagles lose two seniors off this year’s squad: utility guy Michael Pecore and centerfielder Forrest Webster. Pecore was a first-team all-conference selection this year; Webster earned all-conference honorable mention as a junior.