Story originally printed in the Tomah Journal or online at www.tomahjournal.com
Published - Friday, April 18, 2008
Tomah survives Sparta home run attack
Sparta marched into Tomah’s Senz Field and sent three home runs over the fence.
The Spartans still went home with a loss.
Tomah survived Sparta’s longball assault to emerge with a 15-9 Mississippi Valley Conference baseball victory at Dennis Senz Field. It was an important win for the Timberwolves, who lost a 12-1, 8-0 twinbill at home to Eau Claire Memorial Monday. Tomah emerged from the three games with a 2-5 overall record.
“I’m proud of these kids for the way they played and competed,” Tomah coach Matt Dutton said. “I’m very proud of the way they came back.”
The Timberwolves were cruising along with a 7-2 lead after two innings, but Sparta blasted three home runs over the next four innings to seize a 9-8 lead, which would have been bigger if not for a diving catch by centerfielder Willy Nicksic to end the fourth.
Tomah regained the lead by scoring seven runs in the sixth. Derek Nofsinger started the rally with a double, followed by walks to Trevor Ludeking and Aaron Gasser.
Tyler Felber tied the game with an RBI single, and J.J. Johnson hit another single to give Tomah the lead.
Sparta’s defense collapsed after that. Nicksic reached on an error that allowed two runs to score, and Nofsinger reached on another error with two out that pushed home three more runs. Ludeking then pitched a perfect ninth inning to seal the win.
Dutton was proud of his pitcher who didn’t get discouraged on a day when the wind made pitching and fielding very difficult tasks.
“Trevor Ludeking did a great job of keeping us in the game,” Dutton said.
Ludeking retired six of the last seven hitters he faced. He struck out six and walked two.
Dutton said Tuesday was a good day for Tomah baseball.
“For the first time in a long time, the varsity, varsity reserve and junior varsity all beat Sparta,” Dutton said. “It shows the teams are coming around and that the coaches are doing a fabulous job.”
All stories copyright 2006 Tomah Journal and other attributed sources.