Appleton Double Days Legion baseball uses six-run second inning to down Oshkosh

By Dustin Riese
For AppletonSportsPage.com

FOX CROSSING – Sometimes in baseball it’s not a matter of how many innings you score runs, but more so can you get a big inning to do damage. That is what happened with the Appleton Double Days Legion baseball team on Wednesday as they rallied from an early deficit to pick up an 8-6 win over Oshkosh Legion at Koslo Park.

The Doubledays used a six-run second inning to their advantage before holding on for the win.

“With two teams from different schools (Appleton East and Fox Valley Lutheran), these kids are still trying to find their way,” Double Days head coach JP Prestigiacomo said. “The real challenge with teams like this is trying to get them to gel as quickly as you can. So far, they are doing a great job of coming together.”

Josiah Robbert took the ball for Appleton and after a rough start to the game, he settled in. He allowed five runs and nine hits in five innings, with only three of those runs being earned. He walked three and struck out one before turning things over to Cade Prestigiacomo, who earned the save by striking out six and allowing just one unearned run over two innings.

Opposing Robbert was Oshkosh’s Hunter Stelzer. Command was an issue as he walked three and struck out none, while allowing seven runs in two innings off just six hits before handing the ball to Alex Duel, who was dominant in his four innings of relief.

Oshkosh didn’t waste any time grabbing an early lead as a leadoff error helped set the inning up with Shaun Gavin bringing home the first run on a sacrifice fly and a Connor Palmquist single knocked in another to make it 2-0.

The Double Days managed to get one of those runs back in their half of the first inning off a Lincoln Thede single, but it was the Oshkosh offense that kept the pressure on in the second. A grounder by Ryan Williamson and a Colin Nigl sacrifice extended their early lead to 4-1.

It was in the bottom of the second when the Double Days did most of their damage, and all of that damage came with two outs. Dan Dieck led the inning off with a single, but with two outs and Dieck still on first, the Double Days were on the verge of coming away empty. That was until a two-out hit batter and back-to-back walks brought home a run with Dawsen Burington taking the free pass with the bases loaded to cut Oshkosh’s lead to 4-2.

Prestigiacomo singled home the tying run on the next at-bat and Thede answered with his second RBI hit of the game, and put the Double Days in front for good 5-4. The big blow in the inning came from Jackson Bines-Sabrowsky, who split the right-center field gap for a two-run triple as the Double Days closed out their six-run inning in front 7-4. Prestigiacomo loved his team’s approach during that inning.

“The big bats came alive tonight,” he said. “That triple from Sabrowsky was a massive spark for our team and it seemed to be the knockout blow our guys needed. Our guys took a more disciplined approach in the second and did a great job of hitting the mistakes they were given.”

The back-and-forth affair continued into the third with Oshkosh loading the bases once again and bringing home another run on a Carson Steinbeck grounder to pull within 7-5. That was their final run of the game until the seventh inning as Robbert settled into a nice groove to keep the Oshkosh offense off balance the rest of the way.

“The game changed once Robbert started to get command of his off-speed stuff,” JP Prestigiacomo said. “He was leaving some pitches up early in the game and after that did a great job of commanding the strike zone. He turned things over to Cade, who struck out six over the final two frames.

The Double Days added to their lead in the sixth off a wild pitch.

A lead-off error and a Landon Ubrig single kept Oshkosh (3-3) alive, cutting Appleton’s lead to 8-6. That would it as Prestigiacomo struck out the next two hitters he faced to seal the deal.

Appleton (2-2) is back in action Tuesday at home against Fond du Lac.

Double Days 8, Oshkosh 6
Oshkosh   221   000   1   –   6   10   0
Appleton   160   001   x   –   8   9   3
WP: Josiah Robbert. LP: Hunter Stelzer. SV: Cade Prestigiacomo.
SO: Stelzer (2 inn.) 0, Alex Duel (4 inn.) 4; Robbert (5 inn.) 1, Prestigiacomo (2 inn.) 6. BB: Stelzer 3, Duel 2; Robbert 3, Prestigiacomo 0.
Top hitters: O, Shaun Gavin 2×3, RBI; Connor Palmquist 2×3, RBI; Grayson Spanbauer 2×3, 2B. A, Jackson Bines-Sabrowsky 3B, 2 RBI; Dan Dieck 2×3; Prestigiacomo 2×4, 2 RBI; Lincoln Thede 2×3, 2 RBI; Mac Kramer 2 runs.
Records: Oshkosh 3-3; Appleton 2-2.