Kimberly outlasts Appleton North in nine innings, takes over FVA baseball lead
By Dustin Riese
For AppletonSportsPage.com
KIMBERLY – When you think of baseball in the Fox Valley Association, the Kimberly Papermakers come to mind as they have been the cream of the crop for the past two decades.
Entering Thursday with a 13-1 record, including 10-1 in conference play, the Papermakers are once again in the thick of things in the FVA.
However, it was the Appleton North Lightning that had surged into the conference lead as they entered Thursday riding an 11-game winning streak and held a one-half game lead over Kimberly for the top spot in the league.
The Lightning and the Papermakers were locked into a tightly-contested game where seven innings wasn’t enough. In the end it was Kimberly getting the last laugh as it walked off the Lightning in nine innings 3-2 to take over sole possession of first place.
“The one thing I never have to question from this year’s team is effort,” Appleton North coach Gustave Maves said. “They are an awesome group of kids that play the game the right way and compete to the best of their ability night in and night out. Tonight was no exception as they battled until the end with one of the best programs in the state.”
In a match-up that saw Kimberly left-hander Brady Koester face off against North right-hander Ethan Wick, it was the Lightning who opened up the scoring first as they capitalized on some rare Papermakers’ mistakes. That came after Koester struck out Bennett Popp to begin the game only to have his third strike become a wild pitch resulting in Popp reaching first base. Popp would advance to second on another wild pitch before taking third on a deep flyout as the Lightning offense was in business. Two pitches later saw the Lightning grab their first lead as Popp came home on another error to take the 1-0 lead.
It didn’t take long for the Papermakers to respond as a leadoff single from Bryson Vieth was followed by a hit by pitch and just like that Kimberly had two on and no outs. Wick bounced back to strike out the next two only to have Braedon Ellefson connect for an RBI double off the fence to tie things up 1-1. Connor Olson tried scoring from first on the play but was gunned down by Alex Ramus as North catcher William Hoerner took the contact to complete the inning ending play.
One inning later saw the Papermakers strike yet again as a Tanner Hart single opened what would become a mini two-out rally. Hart would advance to second on that play off a throwing error before coming home on a separate error to put the Papermakers in front 2-1. Errors were an issue for the Lightning in the early going.
“Early on we did have some defensive mistakes that led to runs for Kimberly,” Maves said. “One thing we focus on as a group is playing for each other and picking each other up when adversity hits. We did a great job of that tonight to keep our composure.”
Despite being put in tough situations throughout his outing, Wick did his job to limit the damage as he got through five innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits to go with two walks and four strikeouts. The same can be said for Koester on the mound as his defense didn’t do him any favors either. Despite striking out nine in his five innings of work, a pair of costly errors led to two runs as he too would settle for a no-decision. Maves was pleased with how his starter battled as he has been their stopper all season.
“Ethan Wick was phenomenal tonight,” he said. “His compete-level was high and more importantly his body language was positive when situations defensively in the early innings didn’t go our way. He’s been a rock for us all season in our winning streak and we look for him to continue with that play.”
The final run of the game for North came in the fifth inning, which all started with a two-out walk by Matthew Hietpas. Hietpas stole second and came around to score as a throwing error allowed Brandon Schopf to reach base, tying things up 2-2. From that point on, it became a battle of the bullpens with Ryan Tesch taking over for North and Ayden Tomlinson on the mound for Kimberly as the two of them dominated the next two innings to send this game into extras.
Looking to take the lead late, Schopf set the Lightning up with a leadoff double to begin the eighth as they had the winning run in scoring position. Levi Watts moved him to third on a sacrifice bunt only to have Schopf stranded at third.
Still tied at 2-2 in the ninth, Ben Johnston had a leadoff single as the Papermakers. He later stole second, but after back-to-back strikeouts from Tesch, the Lightning were one out away from getting this game to the 10th. Unfortunately, their luck ran out as Vieth connected for the walk-off single. Despite the loss, they will be looking to start a new streak next time out.
“The run we have been on has been the result of being a complete team,” Maves said. “Every night different guys have stepped up whether it was on the mound, at the plate or defensively. Winning 11 straight before tonight was an enjoyable experience. We are not out of it and need to keep our momentum going forward. I’m confident that this group will do that.”
Appleton North (13-3, 11-2 FVA) hosts Oshkosh North on Friday at 4:30 p.m., while Kimberly heads to Fond du Lac.
Papermakers 3, Lightning 2 (9 inn.)
Appleton North 100 010 000 – 2 5 4
Kimberly 110 000 001 – 3 6 1
WP: Ayden Tomlinson. LP: Ryan Tesch.
SO: Ethan Wick (5 inn.) 4, Tesch (3 2/3 inn.) 4; Brady Koester (5 inn.) 9, Tomlinson (4 inn.) 3. BB: Wick 2, Tesch 0; Koester 3, Tomlinson 1.
Top hitters: AN, Brandon Schopf 3×4, 2B, RBI; William Hoerner RBI. K, Braedon Ellefson 2×4, RBI; Tanner Hart 2×4, run.
Records: Appleton North 13-3, 11-2 Fox Valley Association; Kimberly 14-1, 11-1 Fox Valley Association.