Prep baseball: Opportunistic Eau Claire North holds off rival Eau Claire Memorial
May 4—The Eau Claire North baseball team did a lot with a little on Tuesday night.
The Huskies only managed one hit in their meeting with crosstown rival Eau Claire Memorial, but they found offense in other ways. With the way the Huskies pitched, they didn't need much of it.
North scored twice early and held off Memorial 2-1 at Carson Park, taking the first matchup of a two-game series and avenging last season's regional final loss to the Old Abes. The Huskies took the lead on a sacrifice fly by Gabe Richardson in the bottom of the first and tacked on another run on Jonah Hanson's RBI ground out in the third. That was enough help for the pitching staff.
Andrew Milner and Henry Wilkinson teamed up to stifle the Old Abes' bats. Milner worked the first 3.2 innings, and Wilkinson went the rest of the way.
"Both teams were composed with runners in scoring position all night," North coach Bob Johnson said. "I'm real proud of our team for playing defense and pitching with runners in scoring position."
Hanson walked to set up Richardson's sacrifice fly in the first inning. Courtesy runner Tyler Mooney advanced to second on an error and third on a wild pitch, and Richardson promptly brought him home to score.
Jalen Pascal walked and Roscoe Rennock singled to lead off the third inning for the Huskies. Jack Kein bunted them to second and third base, setting the stage for Hanson's RBI ground out to first base.
Memorial had its chances — the Old Abes knocked eight hits — but only cashed in once. The Old Abes' lone run came on an RBI single from Peyton Platter in the top of the fourth. North worked its way out of a bases-loaded jam to end the inning though, and Memorial didn't score again.
Memorial's next-best chance to score came in the fifth inning when Roman Trapani doubled to lead off the frame. But the Huskies picked him off at second base and worked around another hit in the inning by Leo Lauscher.
Wilkinson set the Old Abes down in order in the sixth and seventh innings to lock up North's victory.
"We are real close to breaking through, and they stuck together," Memorial coach Dan Roehl said. "They've got good positive attitude." He also said the team's approach at the plate has been getting more aggressive, and will eventually pay off.
Memorial's Dylan O'Connell pitched well despite the defeat. He threw all six innings and struck out five.
Trapani finished with two hits to lead Memorial. Tyler Iverson added a double for the Old Abes. Rennock had the lone hit for the Huskies.
North improved to 9-1 with the victory. Memorial dropped to 5-5 this season.
The two teams close out their series at 6 p.m. on Thursday at Carson Park.
North 2, Memorial 1
Memorial 000 100 0 — 1 8 2
North 101 000 X — 2 1 0
WP: Andrew Milner (3.2 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 K, 4 BB). LP: Dylan O'Connell (6 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 5 K, 2 BB). Leading hitters: North: Roscoe Rennock 1-2. Memorial: Roman Trapani 2-3 (2B), Peyton Platter 1-3 (RBI).
