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Parker again denied, Verona rallies late

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WIAA Sectionals - Parker Baseball

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JANESVILLE — Rallies have been the lifeblood of the Janesville Parker baseball team the past week.

But just when the Vikings could see a trip to the WIAA Division 1 state tournament materializing, Verona stuck its own rally right through Parker’s heart.

The No. 1-seeded Wildcats overcame Parker’s 5-4 lead with a seven-run bottom of the sixth to beat the No. 2-seeded Vikings, 11-5, and advance to next week’s state tournament quarterfinal game against Hartford.

Parker’s Brian Martin took a team to the sectional finals for the fifth time in his 14 years as coach and suffered his fifth loss.

The Vikings (13-14) beat Janesville Craig on a walk-off grand slam in the regional final Friday and rallied from a 5-1 deficit in Tuesday’s sectional semifinal against Monona Grove.

The Vikings used a five-run fifth and added two more runs in the sixth to pull out the win and advance to the final against Verona.

“I told they kids that they battled, battled and battled, and that is what they should remember,” said Martin.

Parker had split with the Wildcats during the Big Eight Conference season.

The regular-season victory came against Verona ace Ben Neumann, a Division I college recruit and Big Eight Player of the Year, who started the sectional final.

Parker, meanwhile, had to use ace Andy Kersten and No. 2 pitcher Kyle Johnson in the win over Monona Grove. Kersten, who pitched all seven innings in Friday’s win over Craig, pitched into the fifth against the Silver Eagles.

“That made it tough,” Martin said of having to use Johnson early in the semifinal. “But (Andy) threw a tough game on Friday, and coming back on three days’ rest is a tough go for him.

“He had to throw a lot of pitches early, and that made it tough.”

Trent Kobs got the sectional final start for Parker and did an admirable job. He allowed three runs on four hits and four walks while striking out two in four innings.

“We needed three innings, and he gave us four,” said Martin. “On the scoreboard, he went pitch-for-pitch with their kid. Trent gave us a big chance.”

And when the Vikings scored three times in the top of the fifth, Parker had a 5-3 lead.

Johnson, who had earned the sectional semifinal victory with three strong innings in relief of Kersten, came in just a couple of hours after finishing off Monona Grove in the 90-degree- plus heat.

“That’s tough to do,” Martin said.

After a leadoff single and walk, Johnson escaped the fifth allowing just one run.

The sixth wasn’t as kind.

The leadoff batter reached when a hard grounder got past a Parker infielder. Zach Drury, who went 3-for-3, singled. After a sacrifice, left-handed hitter David Lund hit the lefty Johnson’s first pitch down the line in left, which scored both Jenkins and Drury to tie the game.

Neumann flied out to right for the second out, but things unraveled quickly from there. Ben Jennings put Verona in front with a solid double to left center, and Brian Woods added an RBI single.

Louie Ellis walked, and Michael Heyerdahl came in to relieve Johnson.

Ryan McDonald then delivered a two-run triple, and Verona was on its way to Grand Chute.

The Vikings did many things well Tuesday. Connor Long had a suicide squeeze bunt against Monona Grove, and Taron Kobs executed one against Verona. Parker had six successful sacrifice bunts in as many attempts in the two games and was eight-of-nine in steal attempts.

But in the end, the Vikings had to watch Verona celebrate its trip to state.

“We had a chance,” Martin said.

( Championship)

VERONA 11, PARKER 5

Parker (ab-r-h-rbi)—Franklin, cf-rf, 4-0-1-0; Johnson, dh-p, 4-1-2-0; Welch, c, 4-1-2-0; Brooks, cr, 0-0-0-0; Tr. Kobs, p-cf, 4-1-2-2; Henke, 1b, 4-1-1-0; Brandt, ss, 1-0-0-0; Ta. Kobs, 3-1-1-1; Bobzien, 2-0-0-0; Thompson, ph, 1-0-0-0; Long, 2b, 2-0-0-0; Lee, ph, 1-0-0-0; Heyerdahl, rf-p, 0-0-0-0. Totals: 30-5-9-3.

Verona (ab-r-h-rbi)—Jenkins, ss, 5-1-1-1; Drury, dh, 3-2-3-1; Yapp, 3b, 4-0-1-0; Lund, lf, 4-1-2-3; Neumann, p, 3-1-1-0; Miller, cr, 0-0-0-0; Jennings, c, 3-1-1-1; Hainzinger, pr, 0-0-0-0; Woods, rf, 2-1-1-1; Ellis, 2b, 2-1-0-1; McDonald, cf, 4-2-1-2. Totals: 30-11-11-10.

Parker 020 030 0—5

Verona 110 117 x—11

E—Parker 3, Verona 2. DP—Verona 1. LOB—Parker 6, Verona 8. 2B—Henke, Tr. Kobs, Lund, Jennings. 3B—McDonald. SB—Ta. Kobs 2, Tr. Kobs, Brandt, Lund. Sac—Brandt, Ta. Kobs. Ellis, Woods, Yapp.

IP H R ER BB SO

Janesville Parker

Tr. Kobs 4 3 3 3 4 2

Johnson (L) 1 2/3 5 7 5 2 0

Heyerdahl 1/3 3 1 1 0 0

Verona

Neumann (W) 7 9 5 5 1 9

(Semifinals)

PARKER 8, MONONA GROVE 5

Monona Grove (ab-r-h-rbi)—Zweifel, ss, 4-2-2-0; Blakley, p, 4-1-3-1; Schroeder-Gasser, lf, 3-0-1-1; Nelson, 3b, 4-0-1-1; Earleywine, 1b, 4-1-1-0; Choate, 2b, 3-0-1-1; Emmerich, cf, 4-0-0-0; Elbe, dh-1b, 3-0-0-0; Farrell, rf, 0-0-0-0; Kalscheur, c, 3-0-1-0. Totals: 32-5-10-4.

Parker (ab-r-h-rbi)—Franklin, rf, 3-2-0-0; Johnson, 1b-p, 2-1-2-0; Tyson, cr, 0-1-0-0; Welch, c, 2-0-1-2; Brooks, cr, 0-1-0-0; Thompson, cr, 0-0-0-0; Tr. Kobs, cf, 4-0-1-1; Henke, dh-1b, 4-1-1-2; Brandt, 3b, 3-0-1-1; Ta. Kobs, lf, 2-0-0-0; Bobzien, ss, 2-1-0-0; Long, 2b, 1-1-1-1; Kersten, p, 0-0-0-0. Totals: 23-8-7-7.

Monona Grove 001 130 0—5

Parker 001 052 x—8

E—Monona Grove 4, Parker 2. LOB—Monona Grove 8, Parker 6. 2B—Nelson, Zweifel, Choate, Henke, Brandt. Sac—Bobzien, Long 2, Tr. Kobs. SB—Ta. Kobs, Earleywine, Johnson, Franklin, Tr. Kobs. SF—Welch.

IP H R ER BB SO

Monona Grove

Blakley (L) 6 2/3 8 7 6 5 2

Earleywine 1/3 0 0 0 0 0

Parker

Kersten 4 8 5 5 1 5

Johnson (W) 3 2 0 0 1 2

VERONA 8, MADISON MEMORIAL 3

Memorial 001 000 2—3 4

Verona 201 023 x—8 10

Leading hitters—Neumann (V) 2x4, Jennings (V) 2x2. 2B—Yapp (V).

SO—Gust (V) 6. BB—Gust 2.