Photo Credit - Manitowoc Lutheran High School
There’s a tie atop the Big East North Division baseball standings.
Joel Voight scored from third on a wild pitch in the bottom of the seventh inning as Manitowoc Lutheran rallied to post a 2-1 victory over St. Mary Catholic in a battle of the top two teams in the Big East North Division.
Lancers head coach Jeff Dolan told SeehaferNews.com that his team has learned to buckle down in pressure moments.
“It was fun to watch our guys do what they needed to do to score a run in the bottom of the sixth and after giving one up in the top of the seventh,” he said. “Bouncing back to win it is a testament to the resiliency these guys have shown all year long.”
The game was scoreless until the bottom of the sixth when Logan Haupt led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a triple and scored on a single by Will Franzen to give the Lancers the lead.
St. Mary Catholic tied the game in the top of the seventh when Tarver Trinker led off with a double, advanced to third, and then scored the tying run on a throwing error by catcher Ethan Wagner to tie the game at 1-1.
In the bottom of the seventh, Joel Voight led off with an infield single. Josiah Martin reached on a sacrifice bunt with a throwing error, advancing Voight to third.
Wesley Hecker was intentionally walked to load the bases, bringing Logan Haupt to the plate.
The first pitch he saw scooted towards the backstop, and Voight got a great jump from third and scored the winning run with a headfirst slide to give the Lancers the win and forged a tie with the Zephyrs (both 7-2) atop the Big East North Division.
Isaiah Hockmuth went the distance to earn the win, while Ethan Plutz also pitched a complete game for St. Mary Catholic and took the loss.
The rematch is tomorrow afternoon (May 21st) in Fox Crossing, where a victory would give Manitowoc Lutheran its first baseball team title of any kind since 1975.
Coach Dolan says his team will be ready.
“It’s going to be a battle like it was today,” he admitted. “We’re just excited to go play a game that means something, and the test that’s coming up.”
The first pitch is scheduled to be thrown at 5:00 p.m.
