Story originally printed in the Tomah Journal or online at www.tomahjournal.com
Published - Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Legion Juniors reach title game
Tomah was the second-best team in the regional tournament, but it couldn’t match the experience and pitching depth of the tournament’s best team.
Reedsburg capped an impressive run through the American Legion Region 4 Tournament with a 9-5 victory over Tomah in the championship game Saturday at Dennis Senz Field.
The regional title earned Reedsburg a berth in the state 16-and-under tournament beginning Friday at Prairie du Chien.
For Tomah, the loss in the championship of the six-team, double-elimination tournament ended its season with a 4-7 record.
Tomah won four of its final seven games, and Tomah coach Matt Dutton was encouraged by how his team played late in the season. The team will form most of Tomah High School’s varsity and varsity reserve squads next year
“The future for Tomah baseball is very, very bright,” Dutton said. “I think the kids and the community have some good, exciting baseball to look forward to.”
The championship game didn’t have much excitement when Reedsburg led, 8-0, heading into the bottom of the fifth inning, but Tomah added some legitimate suspense late in the game.
Erik Egstad launched a Tomah rally in the bottom of the fifth by lacing a one-out single. Tyler Von Haden followed with another single, and Joey Organ loaded the bases by reaching on an error.
Wyatt Blado snapped the shutout with an RBI single that scored Egstad, and Jared Dietzman and Tommie Liddane were both hit by pitches with the bases loaded to cut the margin to 8-3. Kyle Kikta gave Tomah its fourth run of the inning on an RBI groundout before Reedsburg reliever Chad Mazur got a strikeout to end the inning.
Kikta, who took the mound in relief in the top of the fifth, held Reedsburg scoreless in the sixth. Tomah appeared ready for another big inning after Ryan Felber led off with a double, and Egstad reached on a ground ball after Reedsburg unsuccessfully tried to gun down Felber at third.
Felber scored on a Von Haden single, but Reedsburg got lucky with Organ at the plate. Organ smashed a smoking line drive that was speared by Mazur, who easily doubled Egstad off second.
Mazur then got a strikeout to end the inning and pitched a scoreless seventh, which meant a second championship game didn’t need to be played Sunday.
Reedsburg finished the tournament undefeated and outscored its four opponents by a combined scored of 43-10.
Although it was a loss, Saturday’s result was much better than Tomah’s 19-0 loss to Reedsburg in the first round of the winner’s bracket Friday (Tomah defeated Richland Center, 6-5, Wednesday, and most of Thursday’s action was postponed to Friday). Reedsburg led just 1-0 after three innings, and things didn’t get ugly until the seventh inning, when Reedsburg scored 11 runs.
Tomah never got a runner past third base. Von Haden got two of Tomah’s three hits.
Win over Portage
Tomah, however, erased the bad memory of the Reedsburg loss hours later by staying alive with a 10-9 victory over Portage.
Portage led, 6-3, heading into the bottom of the sixth before Tomah unloaded with seven runs. Kikta launched the rally with a one-out single, advanced to second and third on wild pitches and scored when Felber’s chopper over second base scooted through the infield.
Trenton McCaskey followed with a walk, but Tomah still trailed 6-4 with two outs after a strikeout. Von Haden kept the rally alive with an RBI single, and Organ was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Tomah then took its first lead of the contest when Blado smacked a hard line drive to left field that scored McCaskey and Von Haden.
Organ scored when Dietzman reached on an error, and Kikta delivered a big two-run single that gave Tomah a 10-6 lead.
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Tomah would need every one of those insurance runs. The first four Portage hitters of the seventh inning reached base, and Kikta was summoned as the reliever with the bases loaded, nobody out, and Tomah leading 10-7.
Kikta promptly uncorked a wild pitch that cut the gap to 10-8. However, he rang up a strikeout, coaxed a fielder’s choice that gave Portage its ninth run and ended the game with a routine flyball to centerfield.
Ryan Felber was the winning pitcher. He pitched six complete innings before leaving after facing the first two batters of the seventh inning.
Dutton said his team showed character by coming back to beat Portage.
“They’re starting to buy in to what we’re teaching them and wanting to be a good, fundamental team,” Dutton said. “They’re starting to believe in themselves and that they can compete.
“I tell them to look at a team like Reedsburg and how they play the game and composure they have,” Dutton said. “I think our kids are moving in that direction.”
All stories copyright 2006 Tomah Journal and other attributed sources.