Avon plays 17 innings of shutout baseball

The Avon Lakers did not allow a single run and only five hits over 17 innings in two Victory League playoff games this past weekend.

Freeport also competed in Victory League action, going 1-1. 

Avon 8, Upsala 0

Dominic Austing went seven innings and Elian Mezquita two in Avon’s 8-0 win over the Upsala Blue Jays July 23 at Blattner Field in Avon. 

Austing gave up two hits and Mezquita one as the Lakers pounded out 13 hits and scored eight runs for their second win of the weekend. 

Cole Wellmann went 3-for-3, hitting two home runs and driving in two runs. 

Ryan Janzen, Caleb Curry and Peyton Randall had two hits each, with Reese Gregory, Mezquita, Carter Philippi and Carter Holthaus getting a hit each. 

Janzen scored Avon’s first run in the first inning on an error. He reached base on a leadoff single. 

The score stood at 1-0 until the fourth, when Wellmann hit the first of his two solo home runs to right field. 

Avon added another run in the fifth. Randall led off with a double, went to third on a single by Holthaus and scored on a single by Janzen. 

In the sixth, Wellmann     got his second home run with one out to make it a 4-0 ballgame. 

Avon added three more runs in the seventh. Curry started it out with a two-out single. Gregory doubled to score Curry. A single by Mezquita scored Gregory, and Mezquita came around to score on a pop-fly single to center by Philippi. 

Janzen added the final run for the Lakers in the eighth. After getting hit by a pitch, he advanced to second on a walk to Joe Dolan and scored on a single to left by Curry. 

The Lakers will play St. Stephen Sunday, July 30, at Blattner Field in Avon for the Victory League South/West championship. 

Avon 10, Flensburg 0

Avon hosted the Flensburg Falcons July 22 for a 10-0 victory in seven innings.

Matt     Pichelmann pitched the win, going six innings. He gave up two hits, both back-to-back singles in the first inning with one out. He struck out the next two and did not allow a hit after that. 

Jackson Henderson pitched the final inning. Pichelmann struck out four and Henderson two. 

Avon jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning. After two hit batters, the Lakers followed with a double and four singles. Dolan, Curry, Gregory, Wellmann and Nathan Sand all crossed the plate for Avon in the inning, with Gregory driving in two runs with a double. 

Sand scored Avon’s run in the third, scoring on a wild pitch. He reached base on a walk. 

Avon added two more in the fourth for an 8-0 lead. Curry doubled to lead off the inning and scored on Gregory’s hit. Gregory then scored on a sac fly by Philippi. 

Avon’s final two runs came in the fifth. Janzen walked and scored on a single by Mezquita, who then came home on a double by Philippi. 

The Lakers will host St. Stephen July 30 for the Victory League South/West championship. 

Freeport 5, Randall 2

The Freeport Black Sox kept their season alive with a 5-2 win over Randall July 23 in Freeport.

Freeport broke a 2-2 tie in the seventh to win. Walks and an error put Isaac Sawyer, Trevor Sawyer and Matt Johnson on base with one out. Brandon Sawyer singled in two runs, and Jake Braegelmann’s sac fly scored another.

Starting pitcher Iver Papke scattered seven hits and struck out 12 in eight innings. Carter Neuenschwander picked up the save.

Brandon Sawyer and Ben Millard led Freeport with two hits each.

The Black Sox faces Upsala in a Victory League South/West elimination game Saturday, July 29, in Upsala.

Opole 8, Freeport 4

The Black Sox could not find clutch hits off Opole’s Tate Lange in an 8-4 loss to the Bears July 22 in Opole.

Freeport had a 1-0 third-inning lead on Trevor Sawyer’s two-out double and Bryan Benson’s single. From the mound, Andrew Kerzman faced only nine batters in the first three innings. 

Opole broke the spell in the fourth, when Dominic Hoikka doubled in Drew Lange. The Bears took the lead for good in the fifth, with Tate Lange hitting a two-run double and Alex Lange smacking a two-run single.

Freeport had the tying run at the plate in the ninth, but Opole’s Hunter Ahrens got the final batter to fly out. 

Benson led Freeport with three hits, Trevor Sawyer had two hits and Johnson doubled. 

Opole was sent to playbacks July 23, losing 10-0 to St. Stephen. Opole hosts St. Wendel in an elimination game July 29, with the winner qualifying for regions.