Pirates keep on winning

The Waterloo baseball program is one of the area’s hottest teams. The Pirates experienced the woes of tight losses and bad injury luck in 2023. With largely the same roster back for this spring, the tides have turned in an impressive way.

When we last checked in on Waterloo, the Pirates were off to an inspiring 3-0 record. That number has now more than doubled to 7-0 with a trio of home wins before collecting another on the road. They knocked off Poynette 12-6 on Tuesday, April 9, squeaked out a 4-3 thriller against Lakeside Lutheran on Thursday, April 11, and outlasted Waukesha South 6-3 on Saturday, April 13. The hot streak extended into this week, too, with a 12-3 win at Random lake on Monday, April 15.

Last Tuesday’s romp over Poynette was a consistent offensive showing from Waterloo. The Pirates got two runs in the bottom of the first three innings of the game. After allowing Poynette to sneak back into the game with three runs in the top of the third inning, Waterloo turned on the jets to score six in the bottom half.

Senior Cam Tschanz, playing left field that day, was the star of the show on offense. He went 2-5 with four RBIs and also came in to score once himself. Junior Byrce Aubart, who both played third base and pitch, went a perfect 3-3 at the plate with two doubles. He scored twice and knocked in two RBIs himself. Senior Keegan Lauersdorf also had a stellar day, going 3-4 with two RBIs and a run scored.

On the mound, Waterloo threw four pitchers at the visiting Pumas. Senior Jon Sampo got the start and the win, going three innings with only one hit, one earned run, and four strikeouts. Senior Cal Hush allowed three runs in two innings of work, freshman Shea Sellnow allowed two runs in one inning, and Aubart came in for the save in the seventh inning. He did not allow a hit and struck out two of the three batters he faced.

Thursday’s visit from Lakeside Lutheran looked like a fantastic matchup before the first pitch was even thrown. The Warriors entered the matchup 3-0, having crushed those three opponents a combined 32-2, including shutout wins over Gibraltar and Marshall.

Waterloo struck first in the bottom of the first inning. Tschanz put himself on the base path with a single and quickly stole second base. Hush bashed a grounder to third base, which was not fielded cleanly. Tschanz raced all the way home off the error to start the Pirates with a 1-0 lead.

The Pirates got a solid start from Lauersdorf on the pitching mound. He went five innings strong, allowing seven hits and three earned runs. One came in the top of the second inning to tie the game. Two came in the top of the fifth inning. Lauersdorf was in luck, though, as his offense had already bought him some insurance.

Back in the bottom of the third inning, Waterloo had rattled off three more runs. Sampo kicked off the explosive half inning with a double to center field, follwed by Hush getting hit by a pitch. Both runners came home as senior Trevor Firari bashed a double into left field to make it a 3-1 ballgame. After advancing to third on a passed ball, Firari would also come home to score on a sacrifice fly to left field from sophomore Ryder Jaehnke.

Aubart replaced Lauersdorf on the pitching mound in the top of the sixth inning and was untouchable. He allowed only one hit in the final two innings of the game, primarily relying on groundouts and pop outs as he shut the Warriors down. He recorded the save as Waterloo notched yet another impressive victory.

It took the Pirates’ offense a bit longer to heat up in Saturday’s visit from Waukesha South. They went scoreless for the first three innings of play while the visiting Blackshirts put one run up in the top of the second inning. This was all they would get off of junior starting pitcher Caleb Bullock. In his five innings of work, he allowed only one earned run with three strikeouts.

Waterloo’s offense woke up in the final three innings. The Pirates tied the game with one run in the bottom of the fourth, tacked on three more in the fifth, and added two more for good measure in the sixth. Sampo and senior outfielder Logan Dolfin were at the forefront of this scoring effort with two RBIs each. Jaehnke and freshman Mason Reedy were the pawns on the chessboard as they both came in to score twice.

Monday’s trip to Random Lake gave the Pirates another good look at adversity, much like the Lakeside Lutheran game. The host Rams were able to nab a pair of runs off of Firari in the bottom of the first inning to go ahead 2-0. Firari would only pitch the first two innings of the game, allowing two runs off of five hits with a strikeout.

The Pirates’ offense went hitless in the first two innings but found their stride in the top of the third. Dolfin led off by drawing a walk, followed by singles from Aubart and Sampo to load the bases. Tschanz and Hush then hit back-to-back groundouts to the middle infield, but both plays bough time for runners to score. Firari capped the inning off with a stripe to center field to bring Sampo home, giving Waterloo a 3-2 lead.

Jaehnke took over on the mound in the bottom of the third inning. That first half inning was a rollercoaster as he walked four batters, allowing one to come in to score, while also getting all three outs via strikeout. He regained composure and stopped the bleeding at one run, keeping the game at a 3-3 tie.

Waterloo got three solid innings out of Jaehnke, who struck out five total and only allowed one hit. He did not allow another run after walking one in during the bottom of the third. His replacement, Aubart, was flawless. He threw the final two innings of the game and did not allow a hit, collecting two strikeouts in the process.

However, the game remained tied until the seventh inning as Random Lake’s starting pitcher continued cooking. The Rams opted to bring out a closer in the top of the seventh, which proved to be a grave mistake. The new pitcher only recorded one out as he walked two batters and allowed seven hits.

The Pirates came out firing as Sampo, Tschanz, Hush, Firari, Lauersdorf, and Jaehnke all hit consecutive singles. Bullock, Aubart, and Dolfin drew three straight walks to follow. Sampo got his second hit of the inning, Hush was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to score another, and Firari connected on his second single with the bases loaded to score two. When the dust had settled, Waterloo had erupted for nine runs to take a 12-3 lead.

With Aubart on the mound, there was no hope for a comeback. He iced the game with a strikeout, ground out, and fly out to move Waterloo to a perfect 7-0 mark on the season.

Next, Waterloo returns to Capitol — South conference competition with a pair of games against Cambridge. The Pirates will travel to the Blue Jays on Tuesday, April 16 and host them on Thursday, April 18. The week comes to a close with Waterloo hosting a four-team tournament at Waterloo Fireman’s Park on Saturday, April 20. Deerfield, Palmyra-Eagle, and Watertown Luther Prep will be in attendance.