Skis battle Hopkins at state

The Sobieski Skis took on Hopkin in the first round of the Class B State Tournament in Jordan Saturday, Aug. 17. Despite their good efforts, the Skis came up short, losing 5-1.

The Skis kept Hopkins at bay in the first inning, with Fillipi putting out tree straight batters. The Skis were close to scoring in the bottom of the inning, thanks to Joey Hanowski, who made a sacrifice hit, having two runners on the second and third bases. However, Hopkins made back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning.

By the start of the fifth inning, Hopkins was up 3-0. Filippi made another 1-2-3 inning, to retire Hopkins early. When the Skis were up to bat, Joey Welinski started off hitting a ground ball to the Hopkins shortstop, which was mishandled and resulted in an error. Matt Baier walked in the next play, followed by Fillipi earning a hit and loading the bases. Beau Thoma hit an RBI-single, sending Welinski home and making the score 3-1.

Collin Eckman relieved Filippi in the sixth inning, Hopkins capped their scoring in the top of the sixth inning, with a two-RBI double. The Skis put out straight batters in the top of the ninth inning to get themselves one more attempt to catch up in runs. Besides the walk earned by Jake Kapphahn, The Skis grounded out three times to end the game.

Out of the five innings pitched, Fillipi threw three strikeouts and allowed one walk. Eckman also allowed one walk and allowed three hits. At the plate, Thoma led the team, going 3-4. Besides his RBI, he also had a double. Fillipi went 2-3. Hopkins ended the game with eight hits and one error. The Skis had five hits and no errors.

The Skis ended their season with a 15-9 record. Hopkins advanced to the second round of the state tournament in Green Isle Saturday, Aug. 24, taking on Victoria.