Prep baseball: Old Abes outlast Huskies to complete series sweep
May 4—The Eau Claire Memorial Old Abes completed a sweep for their season series over their crosstown rival North Huskies with a win on Thursday night at Carson Park.
Both teams opened the game by scoring four runs in the first inning, but the Old Abes kept plugging away and ended up with a 9-5 victory over the Huskies.
The Huskies' seven errors in the field were responsible for several of the Old Abes' runs.
In the top of the first, the Old Abes got on the board with an RBI double by junior Sawyer Stein, and a second run was allowed to score on the same play after a Huskies throwing error.
Junior Leo Lauscher drove in the third run with an RBI hit. During the next at-bat, Lauscher drew a wild throw from North's catcher while attempting to steal third, which allowed him to score and make it 4-0 Old Abes.
In the bottom half of the inning, North senior Brayton Thillman got the Huskies on the board with an RBI double. He later scored on a wild pitch by Old Abes sophomore starting pitcher Cooper Jesperson.
A two-RBI single by senior Ryne Hull tied up the game at 4-4. Jesperson struck out junior Maddux Geurts looking to get out of the inning still tied and strand two North runners in scoring position.
After the first inning, both starting pitchers—Jesperson and North junior Chase Watkins—settled in and pitched several solid innings. With Memorial leading 6-5, junior Tyler Iverson replaced Jesperson on the mound in the bottom of the fifth and Geurts replaced Watkins for North in the top of the sixth.
The Huskies briefly took the lead in the fourth inning after a fly ball by Thillman with the bases loaded was dropped by Memorial sophomore left fielder Gabe Secker, which allowed North senior Trenton Palmer to score. However, Jesperson was able to get out of the inning with only one run surrendered, so the Huskies led 5-4.
Memorial got the lead back in the next inning after an RBI single by senior Mason Stoik and a ground ball hit by Bugher that dribbled past North junior shortstop Logan Hesselman. Iverson came in and pitched a scoreless fifth, so the Old Abes led 6-5 after five innings.
The Old Abes picked up two more runs in the sixth inning. With the bases loaded, a ground ball allowed one runner to score, but then a wild throw to third base after getting the out at second flew over North third baseman James Jarzynski's head, allowing another run to score to make it 8-5 Memorial.
In the seventh inning, Memorial picked up one more insurance run with an RBI single by senior Austin Jagger.
The Huskies got a few runners on in the bottom of the seventh—Hesselman drew a walk and Jarzynski got a base hit—but a hard line drive hit straight to Memorial shortstop Bugher was handled perfectly, and the Old Abes finished out their 9-5 win.
The Old Abes won 6-5 in the teams' first matchup on Tuesday, so they swept the season series over the Huskies.
The Old Abes had eight hits in the game and the Huskies had just three. The Old Abes had two errors in the field versus the Huskies' seven.
Next on the schedule for Memorial, they go on the road to face Menomonie next Tuesday. First pitch will be at 5 p.m.
As for North, they have a doubleheader against Wausau West at Carson Park on Saturday. First pitch for game one is scheduled for 10 a.m.
