Appleton North baseball picks up big win at Kimberly

By Dustin Riese
For AppletonSportsPage.com

KIMBERLY – Over the past 20 seasons, Kimberly has ruled the Fox Valley Association as it has been the cream of the group.

Sure, there have been plenty of strong teams over those seasons, especially some of the old Appleton North teams, but things have continued to run through Kimberly.

Appleton North didn’t let that affect them on Thursday. They went into Sunset Park in Kimberly to show the entire Fox Valley Association what they are capable of doing. Led by a strong six-inning start from Matthew Hietpas, it was the three-run first inning that proved to be all the offense North would need as it picked up a massive 5-2 win.

By handing Kimberly its first FVA loss, Appleton North (6-2 overall) now joins a group of fives, including the Papermakers, that stand atop of the conference standings at 3-1.

“I thought the kids really stepped up tonight and put together a great team win,” Appleton North coach Gus Maves said. “We competed in all facets of the game against a really solid Kimberly program. Obviously going up against Sawyer Deering, we have so much respect for his talent, and I thought our guys rose to the occasion. Matthew Hietpas put together a complete performance on the mound tonight with a strong defense behind him.”

Hietpas was dialed in right from the start as he held the high-powered Papermakers (4-2 overall) to just five hits in six innings, allowing two runs. He struggled with his command at times, walking four and striking out three, but all that mattered was the final line, which was a terrific line by the end.

Facing off against one of the best players in the state in Deering, the Lightning offense didn’t waste any time as they jumped all over him in the first and never looked back.

It all started with a pair of one-out errors that allowed Thomas Carew and Jackson Skorr to reach base as the Papermakers weren’t doing themselves any favors early. North made sure to capitalize as Teegan Karpinske kept the line moving with an RBI single that put Lightning in front 1-0. They would never trail in this one as Logan Hudson added to the North lead with an RBI groundout, while a Nathan Ramus single pushed the Lightning lead to 3-0 and had the Papermakers shaking their heads.

“Getting off to a good start is really key against a team like Kimberly,” Maves said. “They are a tough program to come from behind on because they do the little things well consistently year in and year out. Offensively as a team we have talked about sacrificing individual play and approach to think about doing what’s best for the team. In tonight’s game we put the ball in play in the first inning and utilized our athleticism and speed. It turned out to pay off to put pressure on their defense to get guys on base and then get a big hit to drive those runs in which resulted in the three runs in the first.”

Had the Lightning not scored the rest of the way, it would’ve been enough to win, but it didn’t look like that as the game went on as Deering and the Papermakers began to settle in. Deering didn’t allow another run the rest of the way before being pulled in the sixth. It was up to the offense to do their part, and with Braedon Ellefson leading off the bottom of the second with a single, Kimberly had its first baserunner of the game.

In danger of stranding him on the bases, Benny Kieffer came through with a two-out single to center and pulled the Papermakers within 3-1. They continued their comeback attempt in the third as Deering took it upon himself to help his cause by taking Hietpas deep toward right to make this a 3-2 game. With the Lightning offense suddenly struggling to get things done, the pressure was solely on Hietpas, who started to rattle a bit in the fourth.

It was the walks that did him in during this inning, as he wound up walking a pair of runners to put the potential go-ahead runs on base. The same can be said about the fifth inning, as Hietpas had to continue pitching around trouble and came through with the lead still intact.

“Matthew Hietpas was huge tonight,” Maves said. “We have been leaning on Matthew to take the mound in big games and tonight he came through with a solid six-inning performance. Our staff was really proud of his compete. That’s something that we stress in our communication with our guys. Matthew challenged them on every at-bat and that roster Kimberly has is deep. Matthew showed some positive emotion tonight, which was awesome to see, and it got our guys going. The game is fun when you play that way and do it with your teammates. That’s leadership and Matthew was a great leader for us tonight.

“Hudson has had a great start to his season both on the mound and at the plate. Tonight, he wanted the ball in the seventh and again, similar to Matthew, had great compete. Logan is another kid that has grown with that part of his game and it’s awesome to see him having great success stepping up in his senior season. We trusted him with the ball and he came through.”

Still holding a one-run lead in the seventh, it was the Lightning’s turn to show patience at the plate with Hietpas picking up a leadoff walk before advancing to second on a Levi Watts walk. One batter later, it was another error that led to North’s fourth run as they opened up a 4-2 lead. North would add a second run later in the seventh off a Karpinske single as they took a three-run lead into the bottom of the seventh.

Down to their final three outs, Kimberly was down to its last shot as Hudson took over for Hietpas on the mound. Despite allowing a leadoff single to begin his outing, Hudson did what he had to do and retired the final three hitters he faced to secure the 5-2 victory.

“It is early but we do have seven games in,” Maves said. “We have a young team with the majority of the players contributing being juniors. This group is fun to coach. We will have peaks and valleys with such a young group. but as they get more experience and more confidence, we hope to be a player come playoff time. The conference is loaded with talent, especially on the mound, so we’ll enjoy this one tonight and get right back to work tomorrow.”

Lightning 5, Papermakers 2
Appleton North   300   00   2   –   5   3   0
Kimberly   011   000   0   –   2   7   3
WP: Matthew Hietpas. LP: Sawyer Deering. SV: Logan Hudson.
SO: Hietpas (6 inn.) 3, Hudson (1 inn.) 0; Deering (5 1/3 inn.) 4, Maddux Hermus (1 2/3 inn.) 2. BB: Hietpas 4, Hudson 0; Deering 1, Hermus 2.
Top hitters: AN, Teegan Karpinske 2×4, 2 RBI; Nathan Ramus 1×3, RBI. K, Deering 2×3, HR, RBI; Connor Olson 1×4, Ben Johnston 1×2.
Records: Appleton North 6-2, 3-1 Fox Valley Association; Kimberly 4-2, 3-1 Fox Valley Association.