Anything can happen on Wild Card Wednesday in the Chippewa River Baseball League (CRBL) and both the Eau Claire Bears and Cavaliers are hoping to work their magic to advance to the League’s championship on Saturday.
The Bears will take on the Tilden Tigers at Casper Park in Chippewa Falls, while the Cavaliers will travel to Osseo to take on the Merchants at Jon Soiney Baseball Field at Merchant Park. First pitch for both games is set for 7 p.m. The CRBL championship game is set for Saturday. Teams and times to be determined.
Osseo won the South Division of the CRBL with an 18-2 overall record and has posted an impressive 14-game win streak en route to the division crown. The Tilden Tigers finished the season as champions of the North Division of the League with an overall 17-3 record. The Bears finished second in the South at 16-4, while the Cavaliers completed the regular season in third place at 12-8 in the division.
The Bears, winners of 10 of their last 11 games entering Wild Card Wednesday, swept the Cavaliers on the final Sunday of regular season play at Cinder City Park in Altoona, winning the first game of the doubleheader by a final score of 12-0 and the second game by a closer 5-2 count.
In Game 1, the Bears came out on fire in the first two innings going up 12-0 after two. The score would stay there the rest of the way. The Bears tallied 12 hits on the game, lead by Hunter Guenther who would finish 3-3 2R 3RBI 1HR. Joe Halling had a big day going 2-3 while driving in four. Ryan Flock picked up the win for the Bears, allowing just two hits over four innings pitched. The Game ended after the fifth inning due to the 10-run rule.
Game 2 was a much different story, as the second match of the doubleheader proved to be a good battle by both squads. The Bears bats were asleep until the fourth inning and Bears picked up five runs over the final three innings.
The Bears had eight hits in the second game. Hunter Guenther finished off a perfect day at the plate going 2-2 1R 1RBI 1BB. Tyler Plitzner ended his day with a clutch two-run homerun in the sixth inning to give the Bears a four-run lead going into the final inning. Plitz would finish 2-3 1R 2RBI 1HR. Chevy Tollefson picked up a win, throwing the complete game 7 innings pitched, 7H 2R 1ER 3K 0BB.
Bears field manager Blake Johnson was understandably pleased with the sweep as his team now prepares for Wednesday’s clash with the Tigers.
“As far as yesterday’s games go I thought the team came ready to play right from the first pitch to the last. We got great pitching from Ryan Flock in Game 1 and Chevy did his thing in Game 2. And we continue to be red hot offensively. Any time we take two from the Cavs it’s a good day,” Johnson told the Leader-Telegram in an exclusive interview late Monday morning.
Longtime Bear player Dave Strauch, who is currently the captain of the local squad, was honored for his lifetime dedication and service to the team during Sunday’s doubleheader.
Of note, due to the Cavs game against Osseo Wednesday, their non-league road matchup against Menomonie has been cancelled and will not be rescheduled.
Eau Claire’s other CRBL team, the Rivermen, also finished the season Sunday in impressive fashion, by downing the Beef River Bullfrogs, 12-7.
The Rivermen built a 10-0 lead after three innings before holding off a late Bullfrogs rally to win by that final count. Although outhit, the Rivermen were the beneficiaries of 13 walks by Beef River pitchers. Eight of those 13 walks ended up scoring for Eau Claire.
Leading hitters and stats for the EC Rivermen were as follows: Lance Lettner 1-4 (2 R, SB, BB) / Brett Jensen 1-2 (R, BB, RBI) / Andy Niese 1-1 (2 R, 2 BB, 2 RBI) / James Davis 1-2 (2B, 2 R, BB, RBI) / Joe Myrold 3-4 (2B, 4 RBI) / Tyler Gray 2-4 (R, BB, 2 RBI) / Luke Rooney 1-3 (R, BB)
The Rivermen finished the regular season at 9-11 in the South Division of the CRBL, while the Bullfrogs were 4-16 in the division.
In other finals from Sunday, it was the Merchants over the Augusta Athletics, 16-5; the Tigers over the Bloomer Woodticks, 16-6 and the Cadott Red Sox over the Chippewa Falls LumberJacks, 9-4.
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