By NATE BEIER | For the County Line
The Brookwood baseball team might have quieted doubters after putting up 31 runs over the course of just nine innings’ worth of at-bats, starting the season 2–0.
But Brookwood head coach Paul Olbert understands that stronger pitching lies ahead, as do a number of rescheduled games that will challenge the Falcons’ pitching rotation.
Brookwood 11, Necedah 3
The Falcons opened their season with a conference game at Necedah on April 10. The Falcons’ bats were juiced from the get-go, as they pounded out four runs in the top of the first, and then cruised to a win in a game that was called early due to darkness.
Mitchell Klinker drove in two runs in the first inning with a double, and Kolin Muehlenkamp put the ball in play and reached on an error while Aaron Dwyer scored the third run of the game. Trey Kaiser drove in Klinkner on another error by Necedah.
Necedah’s errors allowed Brookwood to put two more across in the second inning and contributed to the four runs the Falcons pushed across in the third inning.
In the fourth, Ben DeWitt singled to drive in Lukas Summerfield, and the final run was walked in during the fifth inning.
Necedah scored two runs in the second, the first on a wild pitch and the other on an RBI single by Gabe Slye. The Cardinals’ last run came on a fielder’s choice hit by Jaron Murphy in the fourth.
The Falcons finish with 11 total hits to Necedah’s 5.
DeWitt earned the complete game win after giving up five hits, striking out three and walking two. Also, Miles Saylor, Trenton Whipple, and Ryan Nixon combined for four strikeouts and six walks for Necedah.
Muehlenkamp, Schueller, and Summerfield each ended with a stolen base, plus DeWitt and Klinkner had a pair of RBI.
Olbert said, “To have a pitcher come in and throw strikes in adverse conditions in his first start ever on the mound was tremendous. Everyone in the starting line-up contributed, and seven different players had hits. Considering that Necedah is the conference team in our regional bracket makes it a quality win.
“Our young team should improve over the season, and every early win we get, we will be happy with. We have faced Miles Saylor for four straight seasons, and this was surprisingly the hardest we have ever hit him.”
Brookwood 20, Wonewoc-Center 6
The Falcons used three pitchers to get through their second conference contest, and a trio of hitters finished with three hits.
Aaron Dwyer started the game on the mound and made it a third of the way into the third inning. Brandon Kinserdahl struck out two and walked three, but picked up the win as he helped end the Wolves’ six-run rally in the third inning. Mitch Klinkner finished the game with a shutout inning in the top of the fifth.
“Finding consistency in our pitching staff is still a work in progress,” Olbert said. “Hopefully someone can step up and fill the No. 2, 3, 4 and 5 spots in our rotation, since we will be needing depth with plenty of make-up games on the docket.”
Ben DeWitt, Trey Kaiser, and Conner Schueller each ended the game with three hits.
SBC Roundup
The Brookwood softball team scored six runs in the bottom of the fifth inning as it defeated Wonewoc-Center 10–0 in five innings on April 12 in their first game of the season. The Falcons ended with 10 hits.
Angel Brueggen and Ellen Marriott had three hits in the win. Brueggen scored three times, while Faith Wathke scored twice.
Amy Berg struck out nine and walked just two in the win.
Also, Necedah softball surged to a 14–2 win over Hillsboro in its second game of the season. The Cardinals lost to Richland Center 9–5 on March 27.
Cashton, the defending conference co-champion, defeated New Lisbon 16–6 after piling up 12 hits over seven innings.
Hillsboro defeated Necedah 4–1 in baseball, and Cashton defeated New Lisbon 1–0 in its season opener.
Royall lost its baseball season opener, which was April 12 in Bangor, by 7–0.