Tigers Down Reds
6/28/13
It was an absolutely marvelous night for baseball at Riverside Park on Friday. A comfortable temperature and breeze to keep the bugs away greeted the large Riverside Days weekend crowd, as Springfield hosted Gibbon. The Tigers put up four runs in their first three at-bats on their way to a solid 8-2 victory.
Brandon Wilhelmi took the ball for the home team. He was dialed in, retiring twelve of the first thirteen batters he faced.
Wilhelmi helped himself in the bottom of the first when he was hit by a pitch. He came around to score when Ryan Sturm flipped a two-out single into centerfield. The second inning saw the Tigers extend their lead when Marc Salazar smoked a double over the centerfielder's head. Salazar came around to score with the help of a Gibbon error to put Springfield up 2-0.
Gibbon hurler, Wade Werner, didn't get much help from his defense as they helped the Tigers out again in the bottom of the third. Springfield also bunched together hits from Jacob Menage, Sturm, and Salazar. The Gibbon miscue aided in building their lead to 4-1.
The Reds started the fifth inning with back-to-back hits from Ryan Panning and Aaron Bruns. They followed with a sac bunt and then a sac fly to get on the scoreboard. After getting the run back, Werner retired the Tigers in order in the bottom of the fifth. It was the only time they would be retired as such in the ballgame.
The sixth saw Gibbon get a pair of hits, but Wilhelmi coaxed a custom made double-play ball to sneak out of the inning, retaining the three run lead.
Salazar ripped his second two-bagger of the night to start the home half of the sixth. Matt Vogel followed with an RBI single down the rightfield line. A sacrifice bunt and another Red error, allowed the Tigers to push their lead to 6-1. A walk to Wilhelmi ended the night for Werner as Gibbon went to their bullpen to bring on Sam Van Hon.
Just like in the fifth, Panning and Bruns got the Reds' bats going in the top of the seventh. This time it was with back-to-back doubles. Wilhelmi retired the next three to get out of the inning.
Sturm began another Tiger rally, after the seventh inning stretch, when he singled. Springfield attempted a number of sac bunts in the inning, but three Gibbon errors helped the Tigers make the score 8-2.
Van Hon retired the side in order in the bottom of the eighth. Christian Loomis took over on the bump for Springfield, working scoreless innings in the eighth and ninth, leading to the 8-2 final tally.
Ryan Sturm and Marc Salazar had huge nights for Springfield, accounting for 3/4ths of the team's eight hits with three each. Jacob Menage and Matt Vogel added one hit each. Gibbon had a trio of batters with a pair of hits each in Sam Van Hon, Ryan Panning, and Aaron Bruns. Brandon Wilhelmi improved his record to 4-1 on the season with an excellent seven innings, giving up two earned runs on seven hits, while notching nine strikeouts. Wade Werner took the loss for Gibbon, going five and one-third innings, surrendering six runs, three earned, on seven hits, with one K while issuing two walks.
The win moves the Tigers to 11-7 overall and 9-5 in the Tomahawk East on the year. Next up, they'll provide a nice wrap-up activity for this weekend's Riverside Days celebration when they host Sleepy Eye on Sunday night with a special start time of 7pm. Hope to see you at the ballpark!
NOTES: Brandon Wilhelmi was living in the strike zone all night long. Of the 87 pitches he threw in his seven innings of work, just 15 were balls...The Tigers had ten guys on the bench for the ballgame. It's great to have a dugout full of guys ready to play ball...Steve Helget's eighth inning at-bat was his first since last June in the final game of the Omann Insurance Invitational...Springfield is now 11-0 against Gibbon at home since they entered the Tomahawk East in 2005.
Scorecard
Linescore
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | LOB | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gibbon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 5 |
| Springfield | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | x | 8 | 8 | 0 | 7 |
Springfield Box
| AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wilhelmi, P/2B | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | SAC, HP |
| Menage, RF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Kirschstein, RF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Fink, SS | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Helget, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Sturm, 1B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Loomis, 2B/P | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | SAC |
| Brandl, PH | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | SAC |
| Ma. Salazar, LF | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2B(2) |
| Mx. Salazar, LF | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Vogel, 3B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | SAC |
| Anderson, 3B | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Bisel, C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | SAC |
| Scheffler, PR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Frank, CF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| C. Milbrath, CF | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 30 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 5 | ||
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ||
| Wilhelmi (W, 4-1) | 7 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9 | |
| Loomis | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Pictures
