Appleton North baseball rallies late to beat Neenah, win sixth straight

AppletonSportsPage.com

APPLETON – Appleton North scored four times in the bottom of the sixth inning to pull out an 8-5 win over Neenah in a Fox Valley Association baseball game Thursday at North High School.

The Lightning took a 4-0 lead in the first inning before Neenah chipped away and eventually went up 5-4 after scoring three times in the top of the sixth.

In the bottom of the frame, Logan Hudson tied it with an RBI single and Bennett Popp drove home a run to give North (8-2, 7-1 FVA) the lead. A two-run single from Alex Ramus provided some insurance, and Ramus went on the mound in the seventh and finished off the win to earn the save.

Hudson, Levi Watts, Brandon Schopf and Matthew Hietpas each had two hits for the Lightning, who have now won six games in a row.

Trevor Stichman drove in three runs for Neenah (6-4, 4-2 FVA).

Appleton North will host Escanaba (Mich.) for a nonconference game Saturday at 11 a.m.

Lightning 8, Rockets 5
Neenah   001   103   0   –   5   7   1
Appleton North   400   004   x   –   8   11   1
WP: Ryan Tesch. LP: Mack Krause. SV: Alex Ramus.
SO: Krause (5 2/3 inn.) 7, Blake Griesbach (1/3 inn.) 0; Ethan Wick (5 inn.) 7, Tesch (1 inn.) 1, Ramus 0. BB: Krause 1, Griesbach 0; Wick 4, Resch 1, Ramus 2.
Top hitters: N, Trevor Stichman 2×3, 2B, 3 RBI; A.J. Price 2×3, 2B, 3B, RBI; Krause 2B, 2 runs; Payton Miller 2×3. AN, Levi Watts 2×3, 2B; Logan Hudson 2×3, 2 RBI; Ramus 2 RBI; Matthew Hietpas 2×3, RBI; Brandon Schopf 2×3, 2 runs, RBI.
Records: Neenah 6-4, 4-2 Fox Valley Association; Appleton North 8-2, 7-1 Fox Valley Association.