A’s win five of seven games in a span of just four days

Eau Claire A’s Blue 17U took second place out of 26 teams at the PBR Open tournament this weekend at The Rock in Milwaukee.

The A’s first tournament game was played on the Wisconsin Lutheran College field Friday morning. Constant light rain and muddy conditions did not hinder pitchers Ben Mettler (EC North) and Aaron Gust (EC North). They delivered a combined no-hitter and led the A’s to a 6-0 victory over CMB Select 17U.

“I trust my teammates behind me. I know they’ll make the play and that boosts my confidence on the mound,” said Gust who was not only celebrating the win, but also his birthday.

The competition and the weather really heated up on Saturday.

In Saturday’s 8 a.m. game, Tyler Barrows (EC North) hit a walk-off single to give the A’s a 7-6 victory over Impact Sports Academy Black 17U.

The game was back-and-forth right from the start. ISA put up one run in the first.

A’s infielder Owen Welch(Menomonie) answered with a single, scoring one run. Then the A’s took advantage of a couple ISA errors to take the lead 4-1 after one inning. ISA put together 3 hits in the fourth inning to tie the game 4-4.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Eau Claire’s Zach Shipman (EC North) singled, scoring one run. Paxton Bush (EC North) hit a triple to extend the A’s lead to 6-4.

An A’s error allowed ISA to even the score, 6-6 in the top of the 7th. But the A’s answered back in the bottom of the inning with a single and a walk to put runners on base. Barrows singled, scoring Gavin Thompson (Chippewa Falls) from second and giving the A’s a 7-6 walk-off win.

The A’s tallied 10 hits against ISA.

Welch, Cole Perlberg (Chippewa Falls), Caleb Moss(EC North), and Bush each put up 2 hits. Barrows, Welch, Bush, and Zach Shipman drove in one run a piece.

Saturday afternoon the A’s faced Illinois Premier-Suchor 17U. Middle of the third inning, Premier led the A’s 8-0. But the A’s rallied back and nearly took the game.

“This team never gives up,” said Gust. “We are determined to come out on top even when the game isn’t going our way.”

Eau Claire showed their determination in the bottom of the third. The A’s scored six runs on four hits. It was Barrows again at the plate who hit a sac-fly, scoring one run. Then Hunter Sandberg (Mondovi) singled, scoring one and Shipman singled scoring two. An error allowed another two runs to score. The A’s were mounting a comeback; the score was 6-8 after 3 innings.

That is where the score remained until Premier added one more run in the top of the seventh. The A’s rallied with two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning but ultimately fell to Premier, 8-9.

Barrows, who came up with hits in key moments of both games, said “I’m feeling pretty good about my at-bats lately. Playing on this team is fun because of our skill and the relationships we’ve built; it really motivates me to give my best on the field everyday.”

Sandberg gave it his best on Sunday morning when he crushed a home run to help the A’s defeat the Chicago Warriors 8-2. Later Sunday, Eau Claire won handily as the 10-run-rule forceout gave them the game in four innings, 10-0. The victory advanced the A’s to Monday’s Championship bracket of the top six 17U teams.

Eau Claire edged out GRB STiKS 17U White 4-3 in the semi-final, but fell to ISA Royal 2-11 in the Championship game.

The A’s won five of seven games in a span of just four days. Their overall record now sits at 13-3-1.

Shipman’s bat was hot. He was 6-8 with four runs scored and nine RBI heading into Monday’s championship bracket play.

Perlberg continues to deliver at the plate for the A’s. He went 8-for-13 on the weekend scoring six runs and driving in 9 RBI.

The A’s travel to Marion, Iowa, next for the 17U WWBA North Championship tournament hosted by Perfect Game.