Polk County Sports

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By Clay Lilley
Sports contributor

The Onalaska Wildcats (9-4) faced the 14th ranked Anderson-Shiro Owls (11-4) Tuesday night. For the second time in as many years, the Wildcats stunned the Owls with a come-from-behind victory, 5-4.

Onalaska took an early lead in the third inning when Wyatt Reyes hit a ball off the end of his bat, allowing Conner Ruiz to score from second base, putting the Wildcats up 1-0. Anderson quickly bounced back in the fourth inning, tying the game 1-1 on an RBI-single to right field. The score remained tied until the sixth inning, when the Wildcats ran into trouble. A couple of misplayed balls by the Wildcats and key hits from the Owls, Anderson-Shiro took a 4-1 lead.

In the top of the seventh inning with Anderson two outs away from the win, the Owls pulled their starting pitcher and the Wildcats took advantage. Jarrett Purkerson started the rally with a walk. That was followed by a line drive single to center field by Conner Ruiz. Purkerson scored after Wyatt Reyes abd Thad Lilley drew back to back walks, putting the go-ahead run on first. Lucas Jackson picked up two huge RBIs on a liner to right center, tying the game 4-4 and advancing Lilley to third. The Wildcats’ cleanup hitter, Brayden Topkins, got the go-ahead RBI, scoring Lilley on a sacrifice grounder to shortstop, giving the Wildcats a 5-4 lead.

Going into the bottom of the seventh with Onalaska leading 5-4, starting pitcher Thad Lilley took the mound to try to close out the Owls with only 10 pitches left. First up was the lead off hitter, and Lilley got him to pop up to Jackson on five pitches. The next batter grounded out on two pitches. With two outs, Coach Cody Pinkert intentionally walked Anderson’s most dangerous hitter to face their cleanup batter, which would be Lilley’s last on the pitch limit. With a 3-1 count on the batter, he popped up to Ruiz in centerfield to end game at 5-4.

Lilley pitched a complete game for the Wildcats, throwing 114 pitches over seven innings allowing only two earned runs on six hits, three walks, and six strikeouts. Ruiz was 1-for-2 with a walk and scored two runs. 

“Thad had one of the better performances of his career,” Pinkert said. “The kid just competes. I say it often, you can’t teach someone to be a competitor, they either have it or they don’t, and Thad has it.”

The coach also talked about the play of Ruiz in center field. 

“Conner’s defense in center has been on a very high level. He has struggled a little offensively in the past, but he has made it almost impossible to DH for him this season. It seems like every few games he is getting a big hit for this team.”

Game 2 against Anderson-Shiro was scheduled for Friday night, but was suspended until Saturday morning because of field conditions.

Onalaska struggled at the plate against the Owls in game 2. The Wildcats didn’t give up, and took advantage of Anderson’s mistakes to get a hard-fought 2-1 win.

The Owls scored their only run of the game in the second inning, when the Wildcats let an easy pop fly drop in short right. They then hit a couple of Texas Leaguers to go up 1-0. Following that sequence, hits were scarce for both teams until the bottom of the sixth. Jackson led off the inning for Onalaska with a stand-up double, followed by a couple of walks by Topkins and Roth. A sacrifice grounder by Grant Thornton scored pinch runner Ryder Humbird-Smith to tie the game, 1-1. Next up, Purkerson hit a hard grounder that was booted by the Owl second baseman, allowing Roth score from third. A ground ball ended the inning, but Onalaska took the one-run lead. In the top of the seventh, the Owls had runners on first and second with two outs and their most dangerous hitter up. With a 1-0 count, the lefty hit a liner down the first-base line that hit the runner going to second for the final out, giving the Wildcats a 2-1 win.

The ‘Cats received a strong performance on the mound from Topkins. He went 4.1 innings, allowing a run on four hits, two walks and two strikeouts. Brody Hoover pitched 2.2 innings, allowing just one hit. Jackson got the only hit for the Wildcats. He was 1-for-2 with a standup double and a walk. Roth had two walks and scored a run. Reyes had three walks.

“I am very happy with Brayden and Brody’s performances today,” Pinkert said. Wins don’t come easy in district 23-3A. Anytime you can win a couple of games against a team of Anderson’s caliber, that’s got to fire you up.” 

With the sweep of the No. 14 Owls, Onalaska is 11-4 overall and 5-0 in District 23-3A. They are tied with Coldspring atop the district. They play the Crockett Bulldogs, Thursday night in Crockett with first pitch at 7 p.m. 

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Maddodx Murphy is safe at home after a throwing error. PHOTO BY BRIAN BESCH

By Brian Besch
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Corrigan-Camden baseball took advantage of double-digit walks and strong pitching for an 11-1 win Tuesday over Alto on Polk County’s north side.

The Bulldogs were one of the county’s better teams last year and are on pace to repeat that success.

Maddox Murphy took a base on balls in the first inning, and with two outs, Brayden Dobson, Mason Murphy and Bayden Lawrence did the same to push in Corrigan-Camden’s first run of the contest.

Landry Nash and Cooper Kilgore started the second inning with walks, and Alto starter Keegan Davis was pulled after seven walks in an inning-plus of work. Michael Sullivan then greeted new pitcher Layden Rogers with an RBI-single. Brenden Shelley grounded into a fielder’s choice and Dobson walked. Mason Murphy also walked on a wild pitch that scored a run, and another came around to touch home on a throwing error at the plate. Bayden Lawrence grounded into a fielder’s choice and Bryce Lawrence brought in another run with an RBI-single. Batting a second time in the inning, Nash walked and Kilgore was hit by a pitch to load the bases, then Sullivan walked to bring home a run. After a new pitcher was inserted into the game, Maddox Murphy was hit in the helmet and jogged to first, scoring the eighth run of the inning. The Bulldogs led 9-0 after just two frames.

“Tonight, I thought a lot better of them than I had earlier in district games,” Corrigan-Camden coach Kevin Purvis said of his squad. “We played the 1A teams (earlier) and just looked a little sluggish and hadn’t been hitting the ball like we should. Tonight, my Bulldogs that I have seen throughout the year finally showed up a little bit against a pretty decent Alto team.”

In the third, Dobson doubled, Mason Murphy walked and the twins Bayden and Bryce Lawrence both grounded into a fielder’s choice, scoring a run for the double-digit lead.

Shelley came on in relief for Sullivan after 3.2 innings of shutout ball. Other than a few Yellowjackets reaching scoring position, Sullivan had little trouble versus the Alto lineup.

Corrigan received a valuable insurance run in the fourth when Kilgore reached on error, Sullivan singled and Maddox Murphy moved the runner to third. A Shelley sacrifice grounder made the score 11-0 after four innings. Alto would get on the board in the fifth, scoring from third on a wild pitch. However, the Bulldogs secured the run-rule win after five.

“We finished last year strong and lost three great seniors, but we had the core coming back and we were plugging in two or three,” Purvis said of the team. “We are 13-3 right now, and I am pretty pleased, but hopefully there is a lot more in front of us.”

With the ‘Dogs reaching the third round of the postseason in 2023, the team is looking for even more in ’24. Purvis said district will be a big challenge with Cushing, Groveton and Douglass ahead. Groveton, considered the district favorite, brought back all nine starters from last year’s team.

“It is going to be a dogfight each week, day in and day out,” the coach said of district. “Pitching (has been a strength), which is usually not our strongpoint, but pitching has kept us in games. We are throwing strikes and playing defense behind it so far. I like our chances all the time. This is a scrappy bunch that will battle and compete, so I will take them up against anybody.”

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Onalaska took two games from Trinity this week. Photo by clay Lilley

By Clay Lilley
Sports Contributor

The Onalaska Wildcats were back at it Tuesday night on the road against the Trinity Tigers, and packed the big bats in a blowout win, 23-3.

The game didn’t start as well for the Wildcats, going three up and three down in the top of the first. In the bottom of the inning things almost got out of hand. Trinity came out swinging with a double, two singles, and a walk, but with the bases loaded and one out, they weren’t able to score. The Wildcats took the lead in the second with help from a two-RBI double by Conner Ruiz. Onalaska exploded in the third inning, scoring 10 runs on two doubles, a single, six walks, and two batters hit by pitch. They added four more runs in the fourth and six in the fifth. Trinity was not able to keep up with Onalaska’s hot bats.

Thad Lilley got the start against the Tigers, struggling early, but remained focused and fought his way through three innings. Brayden Topkins and Brody Hoover both pitched an inning apiece to close out the big win. Topkins went 2-for-3 with two doubles, two walks, three RBIs, and three runs. Ruiz went 2-for-3 with a double, one run, and three RBIs. Senior Grant Thornton went 2-for-2 with two hits, two runs, two walks and two RBIs.

Game two of the district series was played Thursday. It was another lopsided outcome for the Wildcats, beating the Tigers 15-0. Starter Topkins and reliever Jarrett Puckerson threw a combined no-hitter, allowing no runs or walks. Topkins threw three innings, striking out six and Puckerson went two innings striking out four. The Wildcats scored five runs in the first inning, adding eight in the third and two more in the fourth. Jackson went 3-for-3 with two RBIs, two runs, two walks and four stolen bases, Lilley went 1-for-3 with a triple, walk, three runs, two RBIs and two stolen bases, Roth went 1-for-2 with a double, two walks, three runs, and two RBIs.

With the series sweep of the Tigers, the Wildcats are 3-0 in district and in a three-way tie for first. Next week’s series will pit two of those first-place teams, as the ‘Cats take on the No. 14 Anderson-Shiro Fighting Owls.

“Anderson has been so good in this district for years,” Onalaska coach Cody Pinkert said of the upcoming games. “So, every time we play them is a huge game. I think the boys are playing with confidence and they are starting to believe in one another.”

The Wildcats and the Owls battle for first place in District 23-3A, with Tuesday in Anderson at 7 p.m. and Friday in Onalaska at the same start time.