BELOIT — The 2024 Beloit Turner Trojans got their baseball season underway Friday afternoon at a chilly Stateline Youth Sports Complex.
If you didn’t know the difference, you’d swear they picked up right where they left off.
The Trojans demolished the visiting Monroe Cheesemakers, scoring 10 runs in the second inning of a 19-7 romp in five innings.
This is basically an all-new lineup, with a lot of players up from a 17-1 jayvee team last spring. They aspire to match last season's varsity team that went 17-1 in the Rock Valley Conference, 23-4 overall and won a regional championship.
Really the only Trojan with starting experience is Andy Buckley, and he’s moving from third to shortstop. Despite a biting cold wind, he was red-hot in his opening effort, collecting three hits in four at-bats, scoring twice and knocking in four runs. He had a two-run triple in the third inning that hiked Turner’s already insurmountable lead to 18-3.
Head coach Jeff Clowes was delighted to get the season started and not all that surprised the Trojans parlayed seven hits, nine walks, four hit batsmen and seven Monroe errors into an easy win.
“These guys have worked really hard and they take a lot of pride in the program,” he said. “It’s fun to see them get their opportunity after watching our seniors excel last year.”
The wind made it challenging for pitchers from both sides. In his first varsity start, Cesar Alfaro allowed two hits and three runs in his three innings of work.. He walked only one and struck out four, but he did hit three batters.
Ethan Halon came on to pitch a scoreless inning with a pair of strikeouts and Jayden Mosley finished up with an inning and allowed four runs (three earned) on three hits and two walks.
“It was a tough night to pitch and we really wanted to get as many guys out there as we could,” Clowes said. “Cesar is electric. He has really good stuff. Halon and Mosley also fill the zone up a lot. Confidence comes from experience, so we wanted to get them out there. It isn’t calculus. If they can throw strokes and mix their pitches to keep batters off balance they’ll give our defense a chance. We like to keep it democratic and let guys make plays.”
The Trojans also don’t mind spreading the wealth on offense. They scored 10 times in the second inning and seven more in the third as Monroe’s defense had all sorts of early-season issues fielding and throwing.
Turner just never seemed to be that bothered by the awful weather.
“I liked our approaches at the plate the second and third time through the order,” Clowes said. “They were patient and stayed inside the baseball. I thought we also ran the bases well. We want to be the best cold-weather team in the state. It’s part of spring baseball in Wisconsin.”
• LINESCORE:
TURNER 19, MONROE 7
Monroe;030;04;--;7;6;7
Beloit Turner;1(10)7;1;--;19;7;2
Leading hitters: M, Schaefer 2x2, 2 rbi; Dahmen 1x4, 1 run; Rosen 1x3, 1 run; Newcomer 2x3, 2 runs, 1 rbi. BT, Piccione 1x2, 3 runs; Berg 1x3, 2 runs, 2 rbi; Buckley 3x4, 2 runs, 4 rbi; Ries 1x3, 2 runs, 1 rbi; Halon 0x3, 3 runs, 4 rbi; Ward 1x3, 1 run, 1 rbi. 2B: Schaefer, Ward. 3B: Buckley.
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so): M, Ott (L) 1.1-4-11-3-4-1; Salyer 0.2-0-0-0-1-0; Rosenstiel 2.0-3-8-1-4-2. BT, Alfaro (W) 3.0-2-3-3-1-4; Halon 1.0-1-0-0-1-2; Mosley 1.0-3-4-3-2-1.
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