Neenah rallies to defeat Appleton North baseball

AppletonSportsPage.com

NEENAH – Neenah erased a four-run deficit with a six-run fifth inning and went on to defeat Appleton North 8-4 in a Fox Valley Association baseball game Tuesday at Neenah High School.

The Lightning pulled out to a 4-0 lead after an RBI double by Matthew Hietpas in the third inning and a run-scoring double by Alex Ramus in the fourth.

Neenah rallied in the fifth, knocking out Hietpas, North’s starting pitcher, as four singles and two walks led to a six-run frame.

North was unable to recover and drops to 14-6 overall and 12-5 in the FVA, tied with Neenah (16-8 overall) for second place.

Nick Bergin had three hits, and Levi Watts and William Hoerner each had two for the Lightning.

Appleton North will host Appleton East and Neenah will play at Fond du Lac in their respective FVA finales on Thursday.

Rockets 8, Lightning 4
Appleton North   102   100   0   –   4    10   2
Neenah   000   062   x   –   8   10   0
WP: A.J. Price. LP: Matthew Hietpas.
SO: Hietpas (4 2/3 inn.) 2, Ryan Tesch (1/3 inn.) 0, Braylon Popp (1 inn.) 0; Price (5 inn.) 8, Blake Griesbach (1 inn.) 1, Mack Krause (1 inn.) 1. BB: Hietpas 4, Tesch 0, Popp 0; Price 2, Griesbach 0, Krause 0.
Top hitters: AN, Levi Watts 2×4, run; Alex Ramus 2B, RBI; William Hoerner 2×3; Hietpas 2B, RBI; Nick Bergin 3×4; Brandon Schopf 2B, RBI. N, Price 2×2, 2 RBI; Will St. Clair 2×3, 3B, RBI; Payton Miller 2×3, 2 runs; Ethan Van Dyke 2×4, RBI.
Records: Appleton North 14-6, 12-5 Fox Valley Association; Neenah 16-8, 12-5 Fox Valley Association.