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No. 12 Bay Port Walks Off No. 10 Preble

May 25, 2016

By Spencer Flaten
Staff Writer

GREEN BAY, Wis.—The No. 12 Bay Port Pirates clinched a share of the Fox River Classic Conference title with No. 10 Green Bay Preble after beating the Hornets in walk-off fashion on Tuesday afternoon, 3-2.

The contest was essentially a conference championship game. With a win, Preble would have won the FRCC outright, while a Pirate win meant a shared title.

Much like the conference championship, the game wasn’t decided until the very end.

Bay Port took an early 1-0 lead when Quinn Pierner hit an RBI double to left field for the Pirates in the bottom of the first inning.

The Hornets rebounded in the top of the third with some offense of their own. Back-to-back singles by Nick Baldschun and Griffin Summers, along with a stolen base, put runners on the corners with nobody out. Zach Champine hit an RBI groundout to tie the game at one run apiece.

From there, pitching settled in and stifled both offenses. Bay Port’s Bryce Braspennickx and Preble’s Jarrett Scheelk both held their opponents scoreless until the seventh inning, although Bay Port threatened to score in the fourth, fifth and sixth. Ultimately, the Pirates stranded runners in scoring position in each inning.

In the top of the seventh, Preble finally broke through on Braspennickx. A leadoff double by Kris Kastberg got the Hornets going, and Jayden Adrians brought him in to score with an RBI single in the very next at bat.

Summers came in to pitch the last inning and a third for Preble, but Bay Port found a way to rally against the hard-throwing junior. In the bottom of the seventh, the Pirates loaded the bases but found themselves down to their final out.

In arguably the biggest at bat of his season, Aaron Ferkovich drew a bases-loaded walk to tie the game at two runs apiece. The Pirates sealed the deal in the next at bat.

Brandon Huettl gave Bay Port the win and a share of the conference title with a walk-off infield single. The ball ricocheted off of Summers on the mound and Huettl beat out the throw to first by the smallest of margins to win the game.

The final inning capped off a good day at the plate for both Ferkovich and Huettl, who both had two hits for Bay Port. Scheelk finished the game 2-for-3 for Preble.

Braspennickx picked up the win on the mound. He pitched seven strong innings, with just two runs allowed on seven hits and four strikeouts. Scheelk pitched 5.1 innings for Preble and surrendered one run with four strikeouts. Summers took the loss with two unearned runs allowed in the bottom of the seventh.

With the win, Bay Port earned a split of the season series against Preble, and the title of co-conference champions. The only way the two teams could play again this year would be if they met in the sectional finals.

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