WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1, 2011
11A
VILAS COUNTY NEWS-REVIEW/THE THREE LAKES NEWS
SPORTS Eagles beat Hatchets 4-3 in Regional The Northland Pines Eagles scored two runs in the top of the seventh inning to beat Tomahawk 4-3 in a WIAA Division 2 Regional baseball game at Tomahawk last Friday. “The team picked a great day to put it all together, especially at the plate.” said Pines coach Brad Dodge. “We put the ball in play 20 times and most of them were hit pretty hard. We played great defense and Mitch Steinke pitched a gem. Put that all together and a team will usually come out on top.” The Eagles rally in the seventh inning started with a four-pitch walk to senior Andrew Ambrosius. Junior Dominic Caroselli then walked, after getting two early strikes, to put runners on first and second. Senior Taylor Ridderbusch then put down a sacrifice bunt, advancing Ambrosius and Caroselli to second and third. Ambrosius scored the tieing run on a single to left by senior Billy Pfieffer and Caroselli was held at third. But Caroselli scored on a fly ball to center by Steinke. The Eagles, seeded fifth in the Regional, held off fourthseeded Tomahawk in the seventh inning to get the win. Steinke got three straight outs to finish the game. Pines took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning and added a run in third to take a 2-0 lead. Tomahawk took a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning after getting several hard hits off of Steinke. “Mitch came in after the fourth inning when they scored three to go ahead and he said to me, ‘My fault, and they won’t score again,’ ” said Dodge. “He buckled down after that and shut them down. I am very proud of the way he pitched today.” Steinke scattered four hits, walked one and struck out five on the day. Defensively, Jake Schlitt had eight put-outs in right
Sports Sidelines By Gary Ridderbusch
Oldenburg Sports Park headed in right direction
Northland Pines junior Dominic Caroselli scores the winning run in the WIAA Regional win over
field. “Jake was everywhere today,” said Dodge. “I’m very proud of a sophomore stepping up like that in a big game. The team only had one error and that ball was hit very hard and could have been called a hit.” Pfeifer led the Eagles’ offensive attack with three singles and the game-tieing RBI — all on a badly sprained ankle suffered in practice two days before. “It was very questionable whether Billy would play at all,” said Dodge. Ridderbusch singled, stole a base and scored in the first inning and doubled later in the game. Steinke singled and hit the game-winning sacrifice fly. T.J. Harsla doubled, Wallace walked and scored and hit the ball hard a few
Tomahawk last Friday. On-deck batter Brandon Wallace watches the action. --STAFF PHOTOS
times right back to the pitcher Matt Goska singled and walked, and Ambrosius walked and scored the gametieing run in the seventh. “We did a great job of coming back and taking this game from them in a very exciting environment,” said Dodge. “The stadium was packed with Tomahawk’s and our fans and we found a way to come out on top. I’m very proud of these guys.” The Eagles were scheduled to play at top-seeded Mosinee on Tuesday of this week. The winner will advance to the the Regional final Wednesday, June 1, against the winner of the Medford and WittenburgBirnamwood game. The Eagles also faced Medford in the final Great Northern Conference game last Tuesday, losing 2-0 on Senior
Night at Pines. “The bottom line in this game was we ran into one of the best pitchers in the conference who thrives upon keeping the ball low and getting batters to chase the low and outside curve,” said Dodge. The Eagles only had two hits (Ambrosius and Harsla), but put the ball in play considering the good pitching. “We had trouble moving runners the whole game, but we had two very good chances to tie or go ahead toward the end of the game,” said Dodge. “We had the tieing run on second base twice, but he pitched his way out of the jam both times,” said Dodge. Steinke pitched for the Eagles, only allowing four hits and scattering a few walks and struck out five. He gave up two runs; only one earned.
Recreational facilities in the greater Eagle River area took a huge step forward with the dedication of Oldenburg Sports Park on Saturday. While there have been youth soccer fields for many years at the Highway G site, the expansion of the park to include baseball and softball fields, additional soccer fields, expansive parking areas and a pavilion now make it a top-notch recreational facility. Hats off to Wayne Oldenburg and the Vilas County Board for making it all happen with the assistance of the Headwaters Youth Soccer Association, United Northwoods Soccer and Eagle River Baseball. There were also many volunteers involved, including David Chamberlain who helped lead the expansion project with the assistance of county officials. Oldenburg, owner of the Oldenburg Group, struck a deal that involved a land trade and $335,000 donation to the county to develop the park. Oldenburg resides in Milwaukee, but owns a large property in Conover. He reiterated Saturday that “it’s all about the kids and community.” Part of the park development included moving the two ball fields from the Vilas County Fairgrounds to the new recreational facility, though the fields still need dugouts and the softball field needs light for recreational softball leagues played at night. Once the overall condition of the soccer fields improves and the numbers permit, Chamberlain expects the facility will attract large youth soccer tournaments to the area. “These weekend-long events will be a great way to give positive exposure to our community and will be a good source of revenue for local businesses,” he said. Chamberlain also expects soccer and baseball camps and clinics will be the summer norm at the park. “With the parking, new building and open spaces, the property lends itself well for a lot of possibilities,” said Chamberlain. Some examples of future development include a BMX bike track, Frisbee golf course, hiking trails, nature trails, fitness trails, cross-country ski trails, picnic areas and maybe even a small tent camping area for use during tournaments. The large pavilion includes rest rooms, a concessions area and storage areas for all the organizations using the park. There’s also a large kicking wall planned for the west wall of the pavilions, complete with full-size goal frame and a custom-painted mural designed to engage and inspire young soccer players to kick the ball. The way it looks now, the new Oldenburg Sports Park is definitely headed in the right direction.
Pines boys track team Sectional Champions ___________
BY ANTHONY DREW NEWS-REVIEW ASST. EDITOR
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Northland Pines players celebrated their come-from-behind Regional win over Tomahawk.
Northland Pines senior first baseman Andrew Ambrosius celebrates after making the final out against Tomahawk.
Jays end baseball season with loss to Rebels at home ___________
BY ANTHONY DREW NEWS-REVIEW ASST. EDITOR
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After finishing fourth place in the Northern Lakes Confernce, the Three Lakes baseball season came to a close with a 15-8 loss to Laona-Wabeno in last Thursday’s WIAA Regional game. “During the season we showed glimpses of some exceptional ability to play ball,” said Three Lakes coach Jeff Liebscher. “However, we could
never stay on a roll with it. The problems that we encountered all season reared their ugly heads in grand fashion on Thursday evening.” The Bluejays’ troubles began in the first inning, following an easy flyball out from the first Rebel batter. “It should have been a one, two, three inning, but instead they ended up with two unearned runs,” said Liebscher. The Three Lakes offense managed to take a 5-3 lead
that held into the fourth inning, but errors on the defensive side of the ball took their toll. “From that point on, we just fell apart,” said Liebscher. “We had a lot of trouble pitching strikes, and when we did make them swing the bat, our defense let us down. It was one of those perfect storms and we were on the receiving end of it.” In all, the Jays committed eight errors and walked 12
Rebel batters. Offensively, Three Lakes struck out 11 times and left 13 runners on base, while mustering nine hits against the same pitcher they hit hard a week earlier. “This game is a great lesson for all of the kids who will be returning next season about being mentally prepared for every game and never taking any opponent lightly,” said Liebscher. “For the outgoing seniors, it’s an unfortunate way to end their high school career.”
The Northland Pines boys track team took first place in the WIAA Sectional meet in Colby last Thursday, qualifying four athletes for the State competition. The six Eagles advancing to State are Rich Mork, Cody McNeil, Mike Dobbs, Johnny Schwenn, Dylan Weber and Steven Voegel. Pines took first place with 53 points, placing ahead of Tomahawk with 52, Rice Lake with 47.25 and 28 other teams that competed in the Sectional meet. The 4x400-meter relay team of Mork, Weber, Schwenn and McNeil took second place with a time of 3:29.39 to advance to State. “The 4x400 is the last event of the meet, so it seems the most exciting,” said Pines coach John Hayes. “In this case, if we would have not taken second place or better, we would not have won the meet. It was a buzzer beater and those boys ran an amazing race.” Mork was first in the 110meter hurdles in 14.82 seconds. He was also first in the 300-meter hurdles in 38.99 seconds and the long jump with a leap of 22 feet. “Richie had a great meet,” said Hayes. “With prelims, finals and the 4x400, he had to run four different races and juggle the long jump with their finals at the same time. He really is an amazing athlete to have on the team.” McNeil not only ran anchor in the 4x400, he also took sixth in the open 400-meter dash with a time of 52.64 seconds. Schwenn ran a total of five races. He ran preliminaries and finals in the 100- and
Johnny Schwenn heads for the finish line. --STAFF PHOTO
200-meter dashes, and ran the third leg of the 4x400. “Johnny just missed qualifying in the 100-meter dash, running an 11.48 and coming in fifth place,” said Hayes. Schwenn qualified for State in the 200-meter dash, taking second place and running a 22.77. “I was so proud of our six State qualifiers,” said Hayes. “I was also very pleased that our team was able to win a Sectional championship.” The WIAA State track competition will be Friday and Saturday, June 3 and 4, at Memorial Stadium at UW-La Crosse.