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Parker baseball team rallies for victory

JANESVILLE — It has been a tough-luck season for Janesville Parker High School’s baseball team.

The Vikings won their season opener but had lost five of their last six heading into Wednesday’s Big Eight Conference game against Madison La Follette.

When the pitching was solid, the bats were silent. When the bats awoke, the defense fell asleep.

Everything finally came together for the Vikings against the Lancers.

The Vikings rallied with five runs in the their final two at-bats to earn a 6-5 victory at Riverside Park, boosting them to 2-4 in the Big Eight and 3-5 overall.

La Follette managed only one hit after the second inning, while the Parker defense did its job—committing only one error that didn’t figure in the scoring.

“I think we deserved to win a game like this,” Parker coach Brian Martin said. “The ball hasn’t bounced our way a whole lot this season, so it’s nice to be on the other end for a change.”

Jake Kobs and Ross Mauermann were the heroes for Parker. Kobs delivered a clutch two-out single in the seventh to score Kyle Johnson with the winning run. Mauermann came through in the sixth with a two-run single to give Parker a brief 5-4 lead.

With the Lancers (2-5, 1-5) leading 4-1, thanks to a three-run first inning, Parker pushed across four runs in the sixth. Johnson, who was 3-for-4 with two doubles, started the rally with a double to the gap in right-center. After two groundouts plated Johnson, Matt Fiedler walked. Kobs and Tanner Moe then reached on errors before Trent Kobs singled to score Fiedler.

That set up Mauermann’s heroics as he laced the first pitch into left for a single. Jake Kobs scored easily and Moe, despite ignoring Martin’s stop sign at third base, slid home ahead of the relay throw to give Parker its 5-4 lead.

“Ross has been in so many pressure-packed situations before that I knew he wouldn’t be bothered coming up in a clutch situation like that as a pinch-hitter,” Martin said. “He came through, and really, our pitchers kept us in the game and gave us a chance.”

La Follette tied the game in the seventh on Ryan Waeffler’s RBI double, but Parker responded with its two-out rally. Johnson doubled to lead off the inning and Kelly Silha was intentionally walked. After two strikeouts, Jake Kobs ripped a one-hop single to the fence in left for the game-winner.

Trent Kobs got the win, and was one of three sophomores to pitch for the Vikings. Johnson pitched two scoreless innings before Trent Kobs held the Lancers to one hit and one run in two innings.

“That bodes well for our future,” Martin said of his young pitching staff. “We may hit some bumps along the way, but that’s part of the growing pains.

“This team needed a win, and we found a way to get one today.”

PARKER 6, LA FOLLETTE 5

La Follette (ab-r-h-rbi)—Dybevik, ss, 2-1-0-0; Ales, p-lf, 3-2-2-0; Zadra, cf, 3-1-2-2; Flood, 1b, 4-0-1-0; Zeier, dh, 3-0-1-1; Tortorici, 2b, 0-0-0-0; C. Mohr, p, 0-0-0-0; Lefeber, c, 3-1-1-0; Ford, cr, 0-0-0-0; Waeffler, 3b, 3-0-1-1; Ricci, rf-p, 3-0-0-0; Brockel, lf, 2-0-0-0; Kastorff, lf, 2-0-0-0. Totals: 28-5-8-4.

Parker (ab-r-h-rbi)—Koel, cf, 4-1-1-0; Johnson, 1b-p-1b, 4-2-3-0; Silha, c, 3-0-2-0; T. Kobs, cr-p, 1-0-1-1; Teubert, ss, 4-0-0-1; Fiedler, rf, 3-1-0-0; J. Kobs, 2b, 4-1-1-1; Moe, 3b, 3-1-0-0; Kersten, p-1b, 1-0-0-0; Allen, cr, 0-0-0-0; Kilmer, lf, 2-0-0-0; Mauermann, ph, 1-0-1-2. Totals: 30-6-9-5.

Madison La Follette 310 000 1—5

Janesville Parker 100 004 1—6

E—La Follette 2, Parker 1. LOB—La Follette 10, Parker 8. DP—La Follette 1. SB—Dybevik, Waeffler. 2B—Ales, Flood, Waeffler, Johnson 2, Silha.

IP H R ER BB SO

La Follette

Ales 5 4 1 1 1 6

Mohr 1 3 4 1 1 0

Ricci (L) 2/3 2 1 1 1 2

Parker

Kersten 3 7 4 4 2 2

Johnson 2 0 0 0 1 2

T. Kobs (W) 2 1 1 1 2 3