Kramer, Schlueter combine on four-hit shutout as Fox Valley Lutheran baseball blanks Marinette in WIAA Division 2 regional quarterfinal

By Dustin Riese
For AppletonSportsPage.com

APPLETON – With the regular season in the rearview, the Fox Valley Lutheran Foxes turned their attention to the postseason as they played host to the Marinette Marines on Thursday in a WIAA Division 2 baseball regional quarterfinal at Fox Valley Lutheran High School.

After splitting a pair of North Eastern Conference games during the regular season, the third matchup had a lot more at stake as this was win-or-go-home.

It didn’t come easy, but backed by a strong pitching performance from Mac Kramer on the mound, the Foxes had just enough offense as they survived the Marines 2-0.

Kramer give the Foxes five shutout innings on the mound, walking four and striking out four while also allowing only four hits. He gave way to Jack Schlueter, who dominated in his two innings of flawless relief to earn the save.

The No. 5 seed Fox Valley Lutheran (14-12) will play a D-2 regional semifinal at No. 4 Seymour (14-10) on Tuesday. Seymour outlasted Clintonville 10-7 in its regional quarterfinal Thursday.

“Malachi Kramer has pitched in big games and high stress situations all year,” Fox Valley Lutheran head coach Joel Kramer said. “It took him longer to settle in, but when he did, he was awesome.”

Opposing Kramer was Marinette’s Justin Kruse as the right-hander went toe to toe in what was one of his better starts of the season. Not only did he go the distance for the Marines (9-14), but he allowed just two earned runs on six hits. Typically, that type of performance would be good enough to win, but not on this day as the Foxes pitching was just slightly better.

With neither team being able to do anything the first two innings, Kramer was forced to pitch around a two-on, two-out jam in the third and did so with flying colors. That shifted all the momentum over to the Foxes’ offense as they were looking to break through against Kruse.

What started with a one-out single off the bat of Dawsen Burington, turned into a 1-0 lead as Cael Cook doubled home the go-ahead run, putting the Foxes in front.

Little did they know, that would be the only run they would need in this one, but you wouldn’t have guessed that based on how the fourth inning got underway. After allowing a leadoff single to Levi Hanson, Kramer walked Kruse to put two on with no outs. Kramer recovered in a big way, striking out the next two hitters he faced before getting out of the inning without any damage. By the time the sixth inning rolled around and things were still sitting at 1-0.

Up to bat for potentially the final time in the game, Lucas Papendorf delivered a one-out single before advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt. A few pitches later and it was Schlueter coming through with a massive RBI double as he doubled the lead 2-0.

“Our two lefties, Cael Cook and Jack Schlueter, came through with big hits tonight,” Coach Kramer said. “Those were the two runs needed for the victory.”

Schlueter took care of the rest on the mound as he worked around a one-out walk to finish the job for the Foxes.

“Marinette played a great game,” Coach Kramer said. “To play a team three times in two weeks is not easy. They played really good baseball down the stretch, splitting the regular season series with us. Today we just happened to be the better team and we get to advance.”

Foxes 2, Marines 0
Marinette   000   000   0   –   0   4   0
Fox Valley Lutheran   001   001   x   –   2   6   1
WP: Mac Kramer. LP: Justin Kruse. SV: Jack Schlueter.
SO: Kruse 2; Kramer (5 inn.) 4, Schlueter (2 inn.) 3. BB: Kruse 3; Kramer 4, Schlueter 1.
Top hitters: M, Weston Hanson 2×2. FVL, Cael Cook 2B, RBI; Schlueter 2B, RBI.
Records: Marinette 9-14; Fox Valley Lutheran 14-12.