8/30/2015 - Ashton 5, Monona 2
Posted August 31, 2015
Home Talent League playoffs:
Fort Atkinson, Ashton win openers in championship series round robin
For the second week in a row, Fort Atkinson trailed by two runs late in the game.
And for the second straight time, it found a way to pull out the victory.
Dan Dean drilled an RBI single with one out in the eighth inning and Fort Atkinson held on for a 4-3 road win Sunday over previously unbeaten Verona in the first round of the Home Talent League championship series.
“These guys are troopers, they really don’t back down at any time,” Fort Atkinson manager Tim Garant said. “They just keep moving forward. We’re young and kind of foolish but that’s what is so nice about it. We find ways to win.”
Verona opened the scoring in the first inning when Mike Jordahl hit an RBI single.
Fort Atkinson’s Travis Hartmann tied the game with an RBI single in the top of the third, driving in Josh Crandall.
Verona regained the lead in the bottom of the third as Jordahl struck again, driving in a pair of runs on a single against Fort starter Frank Raff.
“After the third inning, I was a little down — the team wasn’t, but I was,” said Raff, who tossed a complete game to pick up the win. “But I settled down and kept them off balance. I threw strikes and that was what it took. I knew our guys wouldn’t stop battling and they didn’t.”
After allowing a run in the third, Kyle Nelson tossed four scoreless innings before Fort Atkinson was finally able to string together a few hits in the eighth.
The rally started when Bryan Wallace was hit by a pitch. Tyler Sexton followed with a single before the runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt.
After a wild pitch scored Wallace, Crandall singled in the tying run to set up Dean’s go-ahead base hit.
“First off, it was Josh Crandall’s big hit that got us going and got our fans into the game,” Dean said. “Then as I am running down to first (after a single), my thought is that the runner on second had better be scoring.”
Fort Atkinson 001 000 030 — 4 7 0
Verona 102 000 000 — 3 8 0
Pitchers — (ip-h-er-bb-so) — Raff (W; 9-8-3-5-5); Nelson (L; 9-7-4-4-7).
Leading hitters — Fort Atkinson — Dean (2x3); Verona — Scanlon (2x3), Flora (2x4), Jordahl (2x2).
2B — Wallace; Scanlon.
Ashton 5, Monona 2
Shane Adler went 4-for-5 with four singles and four RBIs as defending champion Ashton picked up the win over host Monona.
Kevin Peternell allowed four hits and two runs in five innings of work to get the win for Ashton, which extended its winning streak to seven games.
Ashton 110 010 002 — 5 12 0
Monona 000 020 000 — 2 5 1
Pitchers — (ip-h-er-bb-so) — Ashton - Peternell (W; 5-4-2-2-0), Adler (4-1-0-2-4); Monona - Najacht (L; 9-12-4-3-2).
Leading hitters — Ashton — Adler (4x5), Miller (2x4), Maier (2x3).
2B — Meinholz; Carlson.
MONONA HERALD ARTICLE:
Braves in a hole in Championship Series
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