A postseason preview took place at North Crawford High School last Monday, July 6 when the Gays Mills Grizzlies legion baseball team hosted a doubleheader against the Prairie du Chien Grasshoppers in a preview of their regional contest scheduled for July 23 at Stoddard’s Village Park.
Game one saw zeroes in the runs column on the scoreboard until the bottom of the third inning when the Grizzlies offense pushed four runs across for an early 4-0 lead. Those four runs would be all the offense Gays Mills would need as the Grizzlies would earn the win, allowing just two runs in the sixth inning enroute to a 4 to 2 win.
Grizzlies starting pitcher Kaden Roberts was strong on the mound, allowing two runs (both unearned) on six hits and two walks with three strikeouts in a complete game victory.
Jaxx Wall (2-for-3 with one RBI), Jack Gallagher (2-for-3 with one run scored) and Miles Kandler (2-for-3 with a double) combined for six of the Grizzlies’ eight hits as a team with Landry Stluka adding a double in the win.
Game two belonged to Prairie du Chien as the Hoppers got three runs in the top of the second inning, three more in the third and six in the top of the fourth inning to claim a 12-0 victory in five innings.
Sam Gallagher started on the mound for the Grizzlies and took the loss, allowing four runs (two earned) on three hits and three walks with one strikeout in 2.0 innings pitched. He was relieved by Kandler (four runs allowed (two earned) on one hit with two strikeouts in 1.1 innings pitched, J. Wall (three runs allowed (zero earned) on two hits in 0.2 innings pitched and Jackson Konichek (zero runs allowed on one hit with two strikeouts in 1.0 inning pitched).
Gays Mills was held to three hits in the loss, singles by Gage Wall, Konichek and J. Wall.
The Grizzlies ended last week with a home doubleheader last Thursday the 9th against Fennimore Post 184 and came away with a pair of 10-0 shutout victories.
Game one saw Gays Mills score twice in the first inning, four times in the third and twice each in both the fifth and sixth innings as they cruised to the six-inning win. Jack Gallagher got the start and win, allowing zero runs on just three hits and one walk with 11 strikeouts in 6.0 innings pitched.
The Grizzlies offense scored 10 runs on 12 hits in the win, with Zach Bender (3-for-4 with a double and five RBIs), Brody Ray (2-for-3 with one walk and two runs scored), Sawyer Stluka (2-for-4) and John Turner (2-for-3 with a double, a walk and three runs scored) combining for nine of the team’s 12 hits. Roberts and J. Gallagher also each had a double in the win.
Game two was more of the same by the Grizzlies offense as they scored once in the bottom of the second to take an early lead they would not surrender. The Grizzlies broke the game open with nine runs in the bottom of the third inning to take a 10-0 lead that would go on to be the final score in five innings.
L. Stluka started game two for the Grizzlies, earning the win after allowing zero runs on just one hit and two walks with three strikeouts in 3.0 innings pitched. He was relieved by Ray (zero runs on one hit and one walk in 1.0 inning pitched) and Turner (zero runs on zero hits and zero walks with two strikeouts in 1.0 inning pitched).
Ray (2-for-3 with one run scored and two RBIs) and M. Kandler (2-for-2 with two runs scored) led the Grizzlies with multiple hits in the win, while Turner added a double.
Gays Mills (7-5) began this week with a doubleheader at West Salem this past Monday, July 13. The Grizzlies will host a doubleheader against Westby/Coon Valley on Thursday, July 16 at 5 p.m. before ending the week and the regular regular season on Sunday, July 19 against Westby/Coon Valley at 4 p.m. at Coon Valley.
