Cuddie, Wirtz drive in two runs each for Chaps

By Steve Pilz

MARSHFIELD — The Marshfield Chaparrals amateur baseball team fell behind early, and although it kept chipping away, it eventually dropped a nonleague contest 8-6 to the Everest Merchants on Wednesday night at Jack Hackman Field.

The Chaps fall to 5-6 on the season, and their Dairyland League record stays at 3-4.

Everest got on the board in the second inning. Chaparrals starter Jack Donahue struck out the first hitter but walked the second. Lucas Mathson then singled, and Tom Froom walked to load the bases. Heinrich Walder then stroked an RBI single. The uncharacteristically wild Donahue issued another base on balls with the bases loaded before Ryan Hubacek drove in two more with a single to put the Merchants up 4-0.

The Chaps got one of those back in the third when Cale Cuddie drilled a lead-off double and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Justin Rayburn.

The Merchants answered right back when Hubacek launched a solo home run off reliever Ryan Metz to make it 5-1.

Everest made it 6-1 in the fifth with an unearned run and held that lead until the bottom of the sixth.

Rayburn and Curtis Engelbrecht each walked and moved up on a wild pitch. Luke Wirtz drove them both in with a double. After a strikeout and ground out, Alex Steines drove in Wirtz with a double of his own as the Chaps scrapped back to 6-4 after six innings.

Again, the Merchants answered. Koleman Schilling led off the seventh with a double off the Chaps’ third pitcher of the night, Noah Panzer. Panzer walked the next batter, and two batters later Schilling scored on a single by Landen Williamson. Everest made it 8-4 by inning’s end on another Chap miscue.

After not scoring in the seventh or eighth, the Chaps still trailed by four entering the ninth.

Lucius Messerschmidt led off and reached on an error, Steines walked, and Bobby Pilz reached first on a fielder’s choice. Steines scored easily, and Pilz raced all the way from first on Cuddie’s second double of the game. Rayburn added an infield single two batters later, but that is as close as the Chaps would get, dropping their second contest to the Merchants this season 8-6.

“We were outhit tonight,” said Rayburn, the Chaparrals’ player-manager. “Give Everest credit. They hit the ball well. We have two big (Dairyland) League games coming up: Friday at Rib Lake and home against Abby on Monday. We should have some rested arms by then, but we’ll have to keep hitting.”

Hubacek went 4-for-5 for the Merchants with three RBIs. Wirtz went 3-for-4, and Cuddie was 2-for-3, both with 2 RBIs for Marshfield.

The Chaps will play at Rib Lake on Friday and return home on Monday against Abbotsford. Both games start at 7:30 p.m.

(This article was originally published at MarshfieldAreaSports.com.)

Merchants 8, Chaparrals 6

Everest 040 110 200 – 8 11 2

Marshfield 001 003 002 – 6 9 2

WP: Tom Fish. LP: Jack Donahue.

SO: Fish (8 inn.) 6, Heinrich Walder (1 inn.) 2; Donahue (3 inn.) 4, Ryan Metz (3 inn.) 1, Noah Panzer (3 inn.) 1. BB: Fish 3, Walder 1; Donahue 4, Panzer 3.

Top hitters: E, Ryan Hubacek 4×5, HR, 3 RBIs; Koleman Schilling 2B. M, Luke Wirtz 3×4, 2B, 2 RBIs; Cale Cuddie 2×3, 2 2Bs, 2 RBIs; Alex Steines 2B.

Records: Everest not provided; Marshfield 5-6.