Photo Credit - Manitowoc Lutheran High School
A promising post-season run came to an end last night for the Manitowoc Lutheran baseball team.
Cedar Grove-Belgium would score 5 runs in the bottom of the first inning en route to a 7-0 victory over Manitowoc Lutheran in a WIAA Division Three Regional Semifinal Baseball Game played at Cedar Grove-Belgium High School on Tuesday afternoon.
The Rockets jumped on Lancers starting pitcher Isiah Hochmuth, attacking multiple first pitch offerings, resulting in a lot of traffic on the basepaths as they scored those five runs on just 17 pitches.
They’d add 2 more in the bottom of the second inning to take a 7-0 lead.
Manitowoc Lutheran’s biggest threat of the game came in the top of the third inning as Beau Luebke led off with a walk, Joel Voight then singled, putting runners at first and second with nobody out.
Then Josiah Martin hit a creamer back to the mound, which starting and winning pitcher Carter Schmitz picked clean to start a double play.
With two out and Beau Luebke at third base, Wesley Hecker was robbed of a run-scoring single on a beautiful diving catch by center fielder Griffin Knight, and the threat was squashed.
Neither team mounted scoring chances the rest of the way, and the top-seeded Rockets put an end to the Lancers’ season.
Carter Schmitz pitched a complete-game shutout to earn the win, while Isiah Hochmuth went the distance for the Lancers and took his first loss of the season to finish with a record of 7-1.
Manitowoc Lutheran finishes one of the most successful seasons in program history with a record of 13-9, while Cedar Grove-Belgium improves to 18-5 and will host Horicon in a WIAA Division Three regional final this afternoon at 5:00 p.m.
