Article from the Watertown Daily News
CLYMAN — This was fun.
The Rock River League concluded a pandemic-shortened season with an unofficial playoff tournament which ran Friday through Sunday. Earning the asterisk as 2020 league tournament champions were the Kewaskum A’s, who defeated the Clyman Canners 9-2 in the championship game on Sunday at Stueber Field.
Clyman, playing in the tournament title game for the fourth consecutive season, took its only lead of the game in the bottom of the second inning. Bryce Schuett reached on error, Clint Rose doubled to left center and Dave McFarland hit a line drive single to right to make it 1-0.
It was all Kewaskum after that. Michael Prochnow began a string of nine unanswered runs with a game-tying solo homer to left in the top of the third off Clyman starter Tony Schmitt.
The top of the order tacked on two more runs in the inning with a hit, a walk and a two-run single by Harry Steldt. Mike Aiello hit a solo homer to right to make it 5-1. Andy Neu hit a three-run homer to right off reliever Brock Vredeveld in the sixth.
Clyman reached the title game with two wins on Saturday. The Canners beat Oakfield 8-4 in the quarterfinals and shut out Hustisford 3-0 in the semifinals.
Due to COVID-19 outbreaks, neither the Northern or Southern Division waere able to fully complete the 12-game regular season. Neosho definitively won the Southern Division with an 11-1 record, while Clyman placed second at 9-3.
Hartford only played nine of 12 games, finishing 7-2, but had the top winning percentage in the Northern Division. Kewaskum played 11 of 12 games and had the second best winning percentage after posting an 8-3 mark.
The league officially cancelled the playoffs in mid-July, but left the door open for interested teams in both divisions to take part in the unofficial three day, double elimination tournament featuring seven inning games with time limits of 1 hour, 50 minutes.
Neosho, Hustisford and Clyman all served as tournaments hosts. First, third and fifth place games took place in Clyman on Sunday, which made for a festive finish to the tournament with fan bases from six teams in attendance.
Clyman alumni Kyle Krueger thanked Kewaskum manager Jim Ziegler for his efforts to bring the tournament together. Clyman manager Kelvin Roe saluted his team on another strong season despite how different it was from any previous year.
“I’ve been pretty impressed with my guys as far as their ability to hang with everything,” Roe said. “It’s been a weird season, but everyone’s been able to adapt. There’s been a lot of changes. Our first game Friday was a rainout, (so we had) shifting games and delayed game times and things like that. I know my guys have been thrilled to play. They enjoyed the experience. The opportunity to have this tournament was pretty great as well.”
Brad Young earned the decision for Kewaskum, allowing two runs on six hits with eight strikeouts and four walks over seven innings.
KEWASKUM 9, CLYMAN 2
Kewaskum 003 114 0 — 9 10 2
Clyman 010 001 0 — 2 6 1
WP: Young
LP: T. Schmitt
Kewaskum (ab-r-h-rbi) — Harkenson 4-1-2-1, Young 1-1-0-0, Steldt 4-1-2-2, Chesak 2-0-0-0, Neu 2-1-1-3, Aiello 3-1-1-, D. Hall 4-0-0-0, B. Hall 4-2-2-0, Prochnow 2-2-1-1 Totals 29-9-10-9
Clyman (ab-r-h-rbi) — Vredeveld 3-0-0-1, Hans 3-0-0-0, N. Schmitt 4-0-1-0, Oswald 4-0-1-0, Kaul 3-0-0-0, Schuett 3-2-1-0, Wegner 2-0-0-0, McFarland 2-0-1-1, Rose 3-0-2-0 Totals 27-2-6-2
2B — C (Rose)
HR — K (Prochnow, Neu, Aiello)
Pitching — HO: Young (K) 6 in 7, T. Schmitt (C) 6 in 3, Vredeveld (C) 4 in 4. R: Young (K) 2, T. Schmitt (C) 4, Vredeveld (C) 5. SO: Young (K) 8, T. Schmitt (C) 2, Vredeveld (C) 4. BB: Young (K) 4, T. Schmitt (C) 3, Vredeveld (C) 2
KEWASKUM 6,
NEOSHO 5
NEOSHO — In what proved to be the game of the tournament, Kewaskum used a pair of three-run homers to defeat Neosho 6-5 in the semifinals on Saturday.
Mike Aiello gave Kewaskum a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning with a three-run shot. Nick Rosenthal hit the other bomb in the sixth.
Derek Rothwell struck out 10 in the loss and allowed just three hits, but two were homers. He also gave up five walks, three of which hurt. The first two were issued ahead of Aiello’s blast. In the sixth, an error and another walk preceded Rosenthal’s homer, which proved to be the game-winning hit
“They were like a college team, and this was like a college game,” Neosho catcher Brandon Egnarski said.
“It was fun. (This season), it was just so up in the air. (Being able to play), it was a little bit or normal in such a weird 2020. With this team, we’re all friends and we see each other on the baseball field. Without having that, you don’t see your friends for an entire year. It meant a lot, just to get out there and hang out with the guys and kind of forget about the craziness of what’s been going on.
“It was blast, being able to add some guys. We had some leagues (such as Home Talent) that didn’t play (so they were available). It was cool to get Derek and Shane (Murphy) on board. It was an honor catching them. It was a lot of fun.”
KEWASKUM 6, NEOSHO 5
Kewaskum 300 003 0 — 6 3 4
Neosho XXX XXX X — 5 5 3
WP: Neu
LP: Rothwell
Kewaskum (ab-r-h-rbi) — Haakenson 4-0-0-0, D. Hall 3-1-0-0, Steldt 3-1-0-0, Chesak 1-1-0-0, Aiello 2-2-1-3, Rosenthal 3-1-1-3, B. Hall 2-0-0-0, Prochnow 2-0-0-0, Erd 2-0-1-0 Totals 22-6-3-6
Neosho (ab-r-h-rbi) — Egnarski X-X-X-X, Geller 3-1-1-0, Proehl 2-2-0-0, Young 4-1-3-X, Jacobson 4-0-1-X, Wessels 4-0-1-X, Beyer 3-0-1-X, DeBoer 3-0-1-X, Lauerdorf 3-0-0-0 Totals XXXX
HR — K (Aiello, Rosenthal), N (Proehl)
Pitching — HO: Neu (K) X in 7, Rothwell (N) 3 in 7. R: Neu (K) 5, Rothwell (N) 6. SO: Neu (K) X, Rothwell (N) 10.BB: Neu (K) X, Rothwell (N) 5
NEOSHO 5, HUSTISFORD 4
CLYMAN — Robby Proehl’s two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth inning proved to be the winning hit as the Neosho Rockets defeated the Hustisford Astros 5-4 in the third place game on Sunday.
Neosho scored a run in the first when Austin Geller singled and scored on Brent Young’s RBI groundout.
In the second inning, Travis Wessels singled and scored. Jordan DeBoer later scored on a passed ball.
Geller singled and scored again in the fourth on Proehl’s two-run homer.
Husty scored two runs in the first when Aaron Roeseler hit a leadoff single and Tanner Galeazzi followed with a two-run homer to right. The Astros scored twice more in the third. Roeseler hit a leadoff double, stolen second and scored on Derek Merkes’ RBI double to left center. Merkes scored when
Brad Wittnebel went the distance and earned the decision, allowing four runs on six hits with four strikeouts and two walks.
NEOSHO 5, HUSTISFORD 4
Hustisford 202 000 0 — 4 6 1
Neosho 120 200 X — 5 5 1
WP: Wittnebel
LP:
Hustisford (ab-r-h-rbi) — A. Roeseler 2-2-1-0, Hennen 2-0-0-0, Galeazzi 3-1-2-2 Merkes 4-1-1-1, Kaul 3-0-0-0, S. Roeseler 3-0-0-0, Pieper 3-0-0-0, Moon 3-0-0-0, Lietzau 3-0-1-0, Ellenberger 3-0-1-0, Simon 1-0-0-0 Totals 30-4-6-3
Neosho (ab-r-h-rbi) — Egnarski 3-0-1-1, Geller 3-2-2-0, Proehl 3-1-2-2, Young 3-0-1-1, Jacobson 2-0-0-0, Johnson 0-0-0-0, Beyer 2-0-1-0, Wessels 2-1-1-0, DeBoer 2-1-0-0, Lauersdorf 3-0-0-0 Totals 23-5-5-4
2B — H (A. Roeseler)
HR — H (Galeazzi), N (Proehl)
NEOSHO 11, CEDABURG 0
NEOSHO — Shane Murphy struck out six as part of a one-hit shutout and got plenty of run support as Neosho blanked Cedarburg 11-0 in the quarterfinals.
Proehl had five RBIs including a two-run homer in the third. Proehl and Zach Lauersdorf each finished with three hits.
NEOSHO 11, CEDARBURG 0
Cedarburg 000 00 — 0 1 1
Neosho 155 0X — 11 12 1
WP: Murphy
LP: Steinike
Cedarburg (ab-r-h-rbi) — Destefanis 2-0-0-0, Bert 2-0-1-0, Steinike 2-0-0-0, Zahour 2-0-0-0, Boehlein 2-0-0-0, White 1-0-0-0, Kurdish 2-0-0-0, Bustar 1-0-0-0, Spykstra 2-0-0-0 Totals 16-0-1-0
Neosho (ab-r-h-rbi) — Egnarski 4-2-2-1, Geller 3-2-2-1, Proehl 3-2-3-5, Young 3-0-1-2, Jacobson 3-0-1-0, Wessles 2-1-1-0, Beyer 3-1-1-1, DeBoer 3-1-1-1, Lauersdorf 3-2-3-1 Totals 27-11-12-11
2B — N (Galler, Wessels, Beyer)
HR — N (Proehl)
Pitching — HO: Steinike (C) 12 in 4, Murphy (N) 1 in 5. R: Steinike (C) 11, Murphy (N) 0. SO: Steinike (C) 2, Murphy (N) 6. BB: Steinike (C) 1, Murphy (N) 1
CLYMAN 3, HUSTISFORD 0
CLYMAN — Drew Slade struck out 12 in a complete-game shutout for the Clyman Canners in a 3-0 win over the Hustisford Astros in the Rock River League semifinals on Saturday at Stueber Field.
Nick Schmitt hit a solo homer to left center in the first inning as the Canners never trailed. In the fifth, Brock Vredeveld led off with a base hit through the left side and scored on an RBI double to left center by Ryan Kaul. Clint Rose sacrificed Kaul over, Nick Schmitt was intentionally walked and Josh Oswald hit a sacrifice fly to to center to make it 3-0.
Slade held Husty to three hits and three walks. Austin Massey took the loss for the Astros, allowing three runs on six hits with two strikeouts and one walk over six innings.
CLYMAN 3, HUSTISFORD 0
Hustisford 000 000 0 — 0 3 0
Clyman 100 020 X — 3 6 3
WP: Slade
LP: Massey
Hustisford (ab-r-h-rbi) — S. Roeseler 1-0-0-0, Galeazzi 3-0-0-0, Merkes 3-0-1-0, Kaul 3-0-1-0, Simon 2-0-0-0, Moon 1-0-0-0, Pieper 3-0-0-0, Lopez 2-0-0-0, Ellenberger 2-0-0-0 Totals 23-0-3-0
Clyman (ab-r-h-rbi) — Kaul 3-0-1-1, Rose 2-0-0-0, N. Schmitt 2-1-1-1, Oswald 2-0-0-1, Hans 3-0-0-0, T. Schmitt 3-0-0-0, S. Wegner 3-0-2-0, McFarland 3-0-1-0, Vredeveld 3-1-1-0, Jakel 0-1-0-0 Totals 24-3-6-3
2B — C (Kaul, Wegner)
HR — C (N. Schmitt)
Pitching — HO: Massey (H) 6 in 6, Slade (C) 3 in 7. R: Massey (H) 3, Slade (C) 0. SO: Massey (H) 2, Slade (C) 12. BB: Massey (H) 1, Slade (C) 3
CLYMAN 8, OAKFIELD 4
Clyman rallied from a three-run deficit with three runs in the fourth and five more in the sixth to beat Oakfield 8-4 in the tournament quarterfinals on Saturday at Firemen’s Park.
Tony Schmitt, Shaun Wegner, Dave McFarland and Spencer Hans each had two hits for the Canners. Brett Jakel, Bryce Schuett and James Muenchow each scored a run in the sixth. Jakel courtesy ran for catcher Ryan Kaul, while Schuett and Muenchow were pinch runners under tournament rules.
Nick Klavekoske pitched two scoreless innings before leaving with an injury. John Elgersma pitched the next three innings in relief and earned the decision. Brock Vredeveld pitched a scoreless sixth.
CLYMAN 8, OAKFIELD 4
Oakfield 000 310 — 4 4 0
Clyman 000 305 — 8 9 1
WP: Elgersma
LP: Madigan
Leading hitters — Berry (O) 2x3, T. Schmitt (C) 2x4, Wegner (C) 2x3, McFarland (C) 2x3, Hans (C) 2x3
2B — C (McFarland)
HUSTISFORD 12, WATERTOWN 11
HUSTISFORD — It’s no secret that the Hustisford Astros are a great hitting team.
The Astros never needed to showcase that strength more than they did in the opening round of the Rock River League’s unofficial postseason tournament.
Powered by a seven-run rally in the fifth inning, the Astros climbed all the way back from a 10-0 deficit to defeat the Watertown Cardinals 12-11 at Firemen’s Park.
Watertown chased Husty starter Cal Krafcheck with seven runs over the first two innings, and tacked on three more against reliever Derek Pieper in the third inning to take a commanding 10-run lead. Aaron Kumbier started for the Cardinals and pitched three scoreless innings. He made it through four innings with a 10-1 lead when heavy rainfall suspended play Friday night.
When play resumed Saturday morning, the Astros rallied hard off Watertown reliever Joe Fischer. Not Jake Fischer, one of Watertown’s regular pitchers throughout the season. He had already went back to college. No, this was his father, who served as Watertown’s player-manager nearly two decades ago and returned as an assistant coach this season after many years away from the game.
Though Fischer allowed four hits and two walks in the fifth, two costly errors opened the floodgates. Tim Dallman hit a two-run single and Tanner Galeazzi capped the rally with a three-run homer to right to cut Watertown’s lead to 10-8.
Lucas Roeseler relieved Fischer at that point and got the Cardinals out of the inning, but the Astros extended the seven-inning game to extras with single runs in the sixth and seventh. Aaron Roeseler hit an RBI single in the sixth. Pieper hit the game-tying RBI single on a ground ball to left in the seventh.
Both teams scored a run in the eighth, when the tournament rules allowed each team to place a runner at second to start the inning. Lucas Schramm scored on Kyle Kopplin’s ground ball single to right to put Watertown up 11-10. Husty answered when Griff Lietzau advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on Aaron Roeseler’s sacrifice fly to fight.
In the ninth, Malachi Roeseler was placed on second base, but with one out, he was doubled off after Payton Foltz flew out to Galeazzi in center.
Galeazzi would score the winning run in the bottom of the frame after being placed at second. Derek Merkes walked, Casey Simon drew a one-out walk to load the bases and Pieper ended it with a fly ball single to center.
Lucas Roeseler finished with four of Watertown’s 16 hits. Aaron Roeseler, Galeazzi, Merkes, Pieper and Sam Roeseler each had two hits for the Astros, who finished with 11.
HUSTISFORD 12, WATERTOWN 11
Watertown 433 000 010 — 11 16 5
Hustisford 000 171 111 — 12 11 4
WP: Pieper
LP: Schramm
Watertown (ab-r-h-rbi) — M. Roeseler 6-2-1-0, Foltz 5-3-2-0, L. Roeseler 6-1-4-2, Kumbier 4-1-2-0, Rowedder 2-1-1-2, Schramm 2-1-0-0, de Galley 3-1-2-2, Gallmann 1-0-0-0, Goodman 1-0-0-0, Clifford 3-0-1-2, Fischer 2-0-0-0, Kopplin 4-0-3-2, Dominguez 4-1-0-0 Totals 43-11-16-10
Hustisford (ab-r-h-rbi) — A. Roeseler 5-1-2-3, Galeazzi 6-2-2-3, Merkes4-1-2-0, Kaul 1-0-0-0, Lopez 2-2-0-0, Simon 2-0-0-0, Moon 1-0-0-0, Hennen 0-0-0-0, Pieper 6-0-2-2, S. Roeseler 5-3-2-1, Lietzau 3-2-0-0, Ellenberger 1-0-0-0, Dallman 2-1-1-2 Totals 38-112-11-11
2B — W (L. Roeseler)
HR — H (Galeazzi)
Pitching — HO: Kumbier (W) 4 in 4, Joe Fischer (W) 4 in 0.2, L. Roeseler (W) 2 in 2.1, Schramm (W) 1 in 1.1, Krafcheck (H) 8 in 1.2, Pieper (H) 8 in 7.1. R: Kumbier (W) 1, Joe Fischer (W) 7, L. Roeseler (W) 2, Schramm (W) 2, Krafcheck (H) 7, Pieper (H) 3. SO: Kumbier (W) 4, Joe Fischer (W) 1, L. Roeseler (W) 0, Schramm (W) 2, Krafcheck (H) 2, Pieper (H) 4. BB: Kumbier (W) 2, Joe Fischer (W) 2, L. Roeseler (W) 5, Schramm (W) 2, Krafcheck (H) 0, Pieper (H) 3
OAKFIELD 17, WATERTOWN 5
HUSTISFORD — In a consolation game Saturday afternoon, Oakfield erased a 4-0 deficit after one inning with seven in the second and ten in the fifth to eliminate Watertown 17-5 in five innings.
Derek Rowedder started for Watertown and took the loss, allowing 11 runs (but only one earned) on six hits with two strikeouts and four walks over 4.1 innings. He led the Cardinals at the plate, finishing 3-for-3 with two RBIs. Payton Foltz added two hits including a double.
OAKFIELD 17, WATERTOWN 5
Oakfield 070 0(10) — 17 9 1
Watertown 410 00 — 5 8 5
WP: K. Madigan
LP: Rowedder
Oakfield (ab-r-h-rbi) — Berry 3-2-0-0, C. Madigan 4-2-1-2, Ryan 3-2-2-2, Margelofsky 2-1-1-0, Shafer 1-1-0-1, Schneider 2-3-2-2, B. Madigan 1-1-0-0, Buhler 1-1-0-1, J. Cedar 4-0-2-1, Gosse 2-2-1-2, Alderden 2-1-0-1 Totals 26-17-9-13
Watertown (ab-r-h-rbi) — M. Roeseler (W) 3-1-1-0, Foltz 3-2-2-0, L. Roeseler 3-0-0-0, Clifford 3-1-1-1, Rowedder 3-0-3-2, Kopplin 3-1-0-0, Dominguez 2-0-0-0, Goodman 2-0-0-1, Gallmann 2-0-1-1 Totals 24-5-8-5
2B — O (Schneider, Gosse), W (Foltz)
Pitching — HO: K. Madigan (O) 8 in 4, Zahn (O) 0 in 1, Rowedder (W) 6 in 4.1, L. Roeseler (W) 1 in 0.0, Dominguez (W) 2 in 0.2/ R: K. Madigan (O) 5, Zahn (O) 0, Rowedder (W) 11, L. Roeseler (W) 3, Dominguez (W) 3. SO: K. Madigan (O) 4, Zahn (O) 2, Rowedder (W) 2, L. Roeseler (W) 0, Dominguez (W) 0. BB: K. Madigan (O) 3, Zahn (O) 0, Rowedder (W) 4, L. Roeseler (W) 2, Dominguez (W) 2
Friday’s results
Hustisford 12, Watertown 11
Clyman 8, Oakfield 4
Cedarburg 8, Rubicon 6
Saturday’s results
Kewaskum 20, Johnson Creek 4
Neosho 12, Cedarburg 0
Johnson Creek 7, Cedarburg 6
Kewaskum 6, Neosho 5
Clyman 3, Hustisford 0
Sunday’s results
Fifth place game: Oakfield 6, Johnson Creek 2
Third place game: Neosho 5, Hustisford 4
Championship game: Kewaskum 9, Clyman 2
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