SECTION 3A BASEBALL: RTR 2, TMB 1
Panthers fall to RTR in 12 innings in Section 3 quarterfinals
Baseball can be a beautiful game, but also one that can rip your heart out.
The Panther baseball team experienced both Saturday, the latter of which resulted in the end of a spring that was full of high hopes.
On a day where their Section quarterfinal game was delayed by about two hours when Saturday’s opener went 17 innings, TMB (9-10 and seeded sixth in the tournament) and RTR (14-6 and seeded third) provided the perfect encore, with the Knights scratching and crawling their way to a well-played 2-1 victory.
“I told them not to hang their heads,” said TMB manager James Fultz. “Last year, we ended with a bad taste in our mouth with the expectations we had. They played good enough to win today; sometimes baseball will do this to you. It’s tough, especially when it’s the last one. They came in knowing they were going to win the first one, and that’s what you want as a coach.” TMB, which hadn’t played since since a tight battle against RRC/ WWG on May 16 because of last week’s weather, got on the board first when Aiden Sanow singled with one out and eventually scored on two passed balls to break a scoreless tie.
The Knights tied it when TMB starter Trevor Smith made his only big mistake of the game, hanging a slider on his first pitch to lefty Tyler Wichmann. RTR’s No. 2 hitter drilled it over the short right field fence to tie the game at 1-1.
“One pitch,” Fultz said. “He knew it. We came in saying we’re going to ride him, and he did everything he could to give us a chance to win it. The offense came up a little short today.”
Wichmann’s blast was the last of the scoring either team could muster from then until the 12th, as both teams squandered sporadic chances to push across that second precious run. The Panthers stranded runners at second and third in the sixth after a walk to Griffin Zick and a double off the bat of David Schuh, and left Connor Lanoue at third in the eighth after Lanoue led off with a free pass.
The Knights threatened to win it in bottom of the inning. They, too, got a runner to third with just one out, but Smith retired Gavin Schureurs on a comebacker, then got Wichmann looking.
Both teams went down in order in the ninth, and the Knights once again threatened in the 10th.
Chase Christensen started things off with a single before Smith struck out Sean Griesse. After the strike out, Fultz lifted Smith, whose pitch count had reached 116; Smith left to a well-deserved ovation from fans on both sides on his way off the mound.
In came Lanoue to try to send the game to the 11th. Lanoue proved to be up to the task as he got lead-off hitter Brayden Chandler to pop up to first, setting the stage for Wichmann. Gabe Elton hit a grounder, getting the runners going, and Smith, playing third base now, reached to tag lead runner Christensen for the final out, but Christensen slid under the tag to load the bases.
With the game on the line, Lanoue got Wichmann to chase a high two-strike fastball, ending the threat.
Lanoue gave up a lead-off single in the 11th, but got the next three hitters in order. TMB again went quickly in the 12th against Wichmann, who was adeptly picking up where starter Christensen left off after seven innings of work.
In the bottom on the 12th, Lanoue retired the first two hitters on seven pitches, but the trouble started when Gabe Elton singled and stole second. That bought up lead-off hitter Brayden Chandler, who looped a single just over a leaping Griffin Zick at shortstop, sending Elton home with the back-breaking winning run.
“You feel bad, especially for the seniors who are done,” Fultz said. “But they competed there rear ends off today; they shouldn’t hang their heads.”
One of those seniors was centerfielder Noah Knakmuhs, who like Fultz, knew this year’s team on paper had what it takes to make a long playoff run.
“We gave it our best shot,” he said. “I knew this team was good from the very get-go. I knew this team could hit the ball. We played some incredible defense today … the guys coming back have so much they can do. This is just a build year for them. This team fought hard and have got a lot of experience going into next year.”
Smith ended up with nine strikeouts in his battle of the aces with Christensen, who struck out six.
“We’ve played together since we were young, so it hurts a little bit more,” Knakmuhs said. “He fought hard. He gave us a shot; he gave up the home run, but that’s gonna happen against a good hitter — they’re gonna have to catch a barrel at some point. I couldn’t be more proud of him for his last ever high school activity.”
RTR 000 001 000 001 — 2 4 1 TMB 000 010 000 000 — 1 9 2 TMB: Smith, Lanoue (L, 9) and Squires. RTR: Christiensen, Wichmann (W, 8). 2B: Schuh.
HR: Wichmann
SENIORS
• With the season now over, Fultz offered his thoughts on this year’s senior group:
Manager/Stats: Allison Edwards Allison has been doing the book for us for the last four years. She came in knowing nothing about baseball and has gotten to the point where she challenges Kemp and myself about a hit/error call. If anyone knows anything about a baseball book, Allison’s is very clean, and as a coach it is great for me when I do stats. She has helped out a ton with banquets, clothing orders, and the wiffle ball tournament. She has been a part of the many things behind the scenes that help me as a coach run the program. We are glad that she stayed with us for these four years and thank her for everything she helped with.
Kevin Brown-Vasquez OF
This is the first year Kevin has gotten playing time in varsity games, and he got his first varsity hit this year. He was always a player that worked hard at practice, he just never got many opportunities in the field. He had a great game against Canby this year, coming up with two big hits and scoring a run. KevSauce never complained about the playing time, he kept showing up, putting in work and took his opportunities as the came to him.
Alex Munson P/IF/OF Alex has been getting varsity mound innings since 10th grade and when he was on as a pitcher, he was very tough to hit. Him being a dual sport athlete we didn’t get to see Alex all the time, but when he was here for baseball he plugged right into the game and played great. He has beaten a handful of very good teams over the last few years when he was pitching, he gave us a different style that was; different than both Trevor and Noah and that helped the team a ton. I was always nervous about him getting hurt during our games and golf would be impacted, but he didn’t. He played hard and gave everything he had every game.
Noah Knakmuhs P/OF
Noah has been a varsity player for four years; he started getting time as a freshman in the outfield and never looked back. He has started in centerfield for the last three years and has pitched numerous innings. His batting was something he took pride in, and he put in hours and hours of work to perform as well as he has over his career. He was a key part of the success we had as a program over the last four years. Noah was always healthy in the spring and played hard. Besides all of the baseball stuff, Noah is one of the nicest kids I’ve been around; if I ever needed something from him, he was there for me.
Trevor Smith P/IF
Trevor was a great athlete playing a hard sport, and at times he made baseball look very easy. Not everyone will believe me, but I would defend my opinion that Trevor’s best sport was baseball. After everything Trevor has had to deal with the last year or two, this year he was healthy and he had a great year. He, along with Noah were cornerstones for us the last four year. Trev was relied upon on in huge spots and he always would give me his classic smirk and say “Don’t worry, I got it” and every time I believed him.
• Because the first two games Saturday went long and there are no lights at the field in Edgerton, RTR’s secondround game against Edgerton-SWC was postponed in the fourth inning with Edgerton up 3-2. The two teams resumed the game Monday, with RTR coming out on top 7-4. In other section games, MCC beat Minneota 8-5 on the north side of TMB’s bracket.
