Box Score
Valparaiso’s Jon
Gulbransen (Appleton, Wis./Fox Valley Lutheran H.S.) and Milwaukee’s Chad
Pierce battled one another with both tossing complete games on Thursday
afternoon, but it was Pierce that came out on top as the Panthers defeated the
Crusaders 3-1 at U. S. Steel Yard in Gary, Ind. in a winner’s bracket game of
the 2010 Horizon League Baseball Championship presented by U.S. Army.
Gulbransen allowed just three
runs and nine hits while striking out six in his eight innings of work, but it
was not enough as he suffered the loss (4-6).
The junior did not walk a hitter while throwing just 98 pitches, 74 of
which were strikes. Pierce, who was
named the U.S. Army Player of the Game, threw 150 pitches, scattering six hits
and the one run, striking out four and walking one.
“Both guys pitched extremely
well today,” head coach Tracy Woodson
said. “Jon had some really good stuff
for us.”
Like in the first game of the
tournament, Valpo fell behind early. A
pair of singles by Jonathan Capasso and Shaun Wegner, along with a sacrifice
bunt, put two runners in scoring position in the bottom of the first. Dan Buchholz came through with a two-run
single to give the Panthers the early advantage.
The Panthers added a third
run in the fourth inning when Ben Long led off with a double and went to third
on a single by Sam Sivilotti. Doug
Dekoning followed with a ground ball to short that scored Long on the fielder’s
choice.
Valpo got on the scoreboard
in the sixth. Kyle Muhlsteff (Yorba
Linda, Calif./Esperanza
H.S.) led off the inning with a homerun to right that the wind carried
just inside the foul pole. For the senior, it was his sixth
round-tripper of the season and 28th run batted in of the year.
The Crusaders threatened
again in the eighth with two outs.
Back-to-back singles by Steven
Scoby (Delton, Mich./Delton
Kellogg H.S.) and Kyle Gaedele (Arlington Heights, Ill./Rolling
Meadows H.S.) put runners at the corner.
Ryan O’Gara (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Buffalo Grove H.S.) the ball sharply on the ground,
but right to second baseman Paul Hoenecke who retired Gaedele on the force at
second to end the inning.
“We didn’t have many
opportunities today,” Woodson said. “When
we did have them, we just couldn’t get the big hit.”
The tying run came to the
plate again in the ninth inning, but Pierce struck out pinch hitter David Klein (Aurora, Ill./Oswego
East H.S.) on pitch number 150 to end the game.
Muhlsteff and Gaedele each
accounted for two of Valpo’s six hits on the afternoon while Buchholz, Capasso,
and Ben Long had two hits a piece for the Panthers.
With the win, second-seeded Milwaukee (30-23) advances to Friday night’s winner’s
bracket final against either Wright State or Youngstown
State at 7 p.m. Valparaiso
(23-31) returns to the diamond at 3 p.m. on Friday in an elimination game
against Wright State,
Youngstown State or UIC. Friday is Military Appreciation Day at U. S.
Steel Yard, with all members of the military showing valid ID or appearing in
uniform being admitted for just $4.