Wapsie Valley ends MFL MarMac's baseball season
By Audrey Posten, Times-Register
The MFL MarMac baseball team hoped the third time would be the charm Saturday night, in a Class 1A Substate 2 first round game against Wapsie Valley, who’d already beaten them twice this season. It wasn’t meant to be, though, as the Warriors broke a 7-7 tie in the bottom of the sixth to win 10-7.
“We battled and just came up short,” said head coach Brandon Burke.
The Bulldogs were up early, plating a run in the first inning, before Wapsie took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the second. MFL MarMac responded with a four-run third inning, then the Warriors added two in the bottom of the frame, leaving the Bulldogs with a narrow 5-4 advantage. Wapsie Valley took the lead back in the bottom of the fourth, at 7-5, after cranking out three runs. The Bulldogs tied the score 7-7 with two tallies in the top of the sixth, but couldn’t hold the Warriors.
MFL MarMac’s night was highlighted by a three-run homerun from junior Kaden Stocker—his first career dinger. Karter Decker also had a good night, driving in the game-tying two runs in the sixth inning, in addition to scoring twice himself.
Saturday’s game was the fifth of the week for the Bulldogs, who closed out the regular season with doubleheaders against Clayton Ridge/Central and Lisbon on July 5 and 7, respectively.
MFL MarMac swept CR/C to open the week, keeping the War Eagles off the board and allowing only five hits over the two games. That included a 10-0 shutout and combined five-inning no-hitter for Bulldog pitchers Max Havlicek and Jacob Schellhorn in game one.
The Bulldog offense had just four hits, but took advantage of five walks, nine stolen bases and four War Eagle errors. Cullen McShane led the effort with a two-run homerun, and Chauncy Drahn singled, stole two bases and scored three times. Carver Blietz-Bentien was 1-2 with two stolen bases and an RBI, while Havlicek was 1-3 with a run scored. Decker drew three walks, stole a game-high three bases and scored three times.
In game two, MFL MarMac got another strong pitching performance, this time from Stocker and Ben Krambeer, who combined to hold CR/C to just five hits and two walks over seven innings. The Bulldogs won 4-0.
MFL MarMac had seven hits in this one, and walked four more times. Krambeer was 2-3, and Havlicek doubled, walked, stole a base, drove in a run and scored once. Blietz-Bentien singled and walked twice, picked up an RBI and scored a run.
Unfortunately, the Bulldogs couldn’t carry that winning momentum into the July 7 doubleheader at Lisbon, losing both games. The Lions took game one 16-1, pounding out 13 hits and walking nine times against five MFL MarMac pitchers.
The Bulldogs, meanwhile, managed just three hits, including one from Krambeer, who drove in the team’s lone run. Decker singled and stole a base, while Stocker singled and Drahn scored a run.
Lisbon won the second game 12-2, doing much of the damage with a seven-run second inning. MFL MarMac threw three pitchers at the Lions, giving up a combined 11 hits and six walks, while only striking out one batter.
The Bulldogs tallied six hits, half of them coming from Drahn, who singled three times and stole a base. McShane was 2-3, including a double, stole a base and drove in both runs. Decker was 1-3 and scored once.
Following Saturday’s postseason loss, MFL MarMac’s overall record was 12-20. The team finished third in the Upper Iowa Conference, at 10-8, behind South Winneshiek and Kee.
Burke credited seniors Havlicek and Logan Engelhardt for their five years with the Bulldog baseball program, as well as senior manager Ben Miene for his work over three years.
“These guys are great young men and they all have bright futures ahead of them,” he said. “As for the guys coming back, the future is bright.”
“To all the fans and parents, I greatly appreciate all your support,” he added. “I truly love leading this program.”