The Waterloo baseball program is in the midst of its toughest stretch of the 2024 season. The Pirates started off red-hot, winning their first eight games to earn a ranking in the Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association (WBCA) coaches poll. As Capitol — South conference play started, a few losses followed.
That came to a head with the New Glarus series last week. Waterloo was battling for a spot near the top of the conference but suffered a pair of losses to the Glarner Knights, 8-3 on the road on Tuesday, May 14 and 7-6 at home on Thursday, May 16. Sandwiched between a 10-1 loss to Kenosha St. Joseph on Friday, May 10 and a 13-4 loss to Edgewood on Saturday, May 18, this is the longest losing streak of the Pirates’ season at four straight.
Tuesday’s trip to New Glarus got off to an inspiring start as the Pirates struck immediately in the top of the first inning. Senior Jon Sampo led off with a single and was pushed all the way to third on a groundout from senior Cal Hush. Senior Keegan Lauersdorf took it from there with a single into shallow left, scoring Sampo for a 1-0 lead.
Lauersdorf also got the start on the pitching mound for the Pirates. While he emerged from the first inning scoreless, New Glarus figured him out in the following innings. The Glarner Knights nabbed one run off of him in both the bottom of the second and third innings. Lauersdorf let in three more in the bottom of the fourth before he was replaced by junior Bryce Aubart.
Heading into the sixth inning, the Pirates trailed 5-1. The offense sparked back to life in the top half of the inning. Senior Trevor Firari got the party started with a single and was immediately scored by a triple from senior Cam Tschanz. An error on a grounder from Aubart then brought Tschanz in.
While the deficit was down to 5-3, errors would then bite the Waterloo defense in the bottom half of the sixth. The Glarner Knights used a pair of them to stretch three runs across home plate and extend their lead to 8-3. New Glarus then held the Pirates scoreless in the top of the seventh inning to shore up the win.
Thursday’s rematch at Waterloo Fireman’s Park was even tighter. This time, it was New Glarus that enjoyed the hot start. The Glarner Knights tallied three runs in the top of the first inning and two more in the top of the second. Waterloo’s offense went scoreless in the bottom of the first but roared to life in the bottom of the second.
The bats were working in the Pirates’ favor as both Lauersdorf and freshman Mason Reedy bashed doubles while Hush and sophomore Ryder Jaehnke connected on singles. Firari and Aubart also reached by way of errors. When the dust had settled, Waterloo had tied the game at five runs each.
New Glarus’ bats did not slow down. The Glarner Knights nabbed one run in both the top of the third and fourth innings. Aubart came in for the top of the fifth inning and shut things down, though. He allowed only two hits with no runs in his three innings of work.
Unfortunately, the offense couldn’t find the juice to fully erase the 7-5 deficit. The Pirates did score again in the bottom of the third inning. With two outs on the board, Jaehnke, senior Logan Dolfin, and Sampo kept the inning rolling by loading the bases. A New Glarus wild pitch allowed Jaehnke to steal home. Waterloo would not score again in a 7-6 loss.
To cap the week, Waterloo took a weekend trip to take on non-conference Edgewood. It was another hot start for Waterloo as it scored three runs in the top of the first inning. The Pirates were humming from the start as Sampo and Lauersdorf drew walks while Hush singled to load the bases with no outs.
Firari kicked off the scoring with a single up the gut, scoring Sampo while keeping the bases loaded. Tschanz then drew a full-count walk to bring Hush home. The scoring completed with Reedy, who’s grounder to short bought time for Lauersdorf to come home.
Waterloo’s lead then grew to 4-0 in the top of the fourth inning. With two outs on the board, Hush came up clutch with a single to center field to score junior Caleb Bullock.
The run ended there. Edgewood’s offense awakened with two runs in the bottom half of the fourth and proceeded to score six more in the fifth and an additional four in the sixth. The production proved to be overwhelming as Waterloo took the 12-4 road loss.
With the losses, Waterloo stands with a 14-7 overall record. This includes a 6-4 mark in the Capitol — South conference, good for third place in the final standings.
Conference play has come to a close, but Waterloo will have a home non-conference game against Pecatonica on Tuesday, May 21 for a chance to get its rhythm back. The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) state tournament begins later in the week as the Pirates will get a visit from Necedah on Thursday, May 23.
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Final Capitol — South conference baseball standings
(overall rankings in parnethesis)
-as of Saturday, May 18
1. Cambridge, 9-1 (14-5)
2. New Glarus, 7-3 (14-3)
3. Waterloo, 6-4 (14-7)
4. Marshall, 5-5 (7-12)
5. Belleville, 3-7 (9-14)
6. Wisconsin Heights, 0-10 (2-17)
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