Posted: June 30, 2009 |(0) Comments

Menomonee Falls baseball

The Menomonee Falls baseball team showed its competitive side on several fronts in scoring a two-day sweep over defending state champ Marquette June 25 and 26.

Adam Rubatt set down 10 of the last 11 Hilltoppers he faced to finish out a 7-3 Greater Metro Conference home victory June 25 and Cole Myhra made a dramatic Willie Mays-style catch in center and pitcher Ben Burns showed some steely nerves to get out of a bases-loaded none-out jam and preserve a 3-2 road win over the Hilltoppers on Friday.

Falls, which dropped the first of a critical three-game set with Brookfield East (9-3, 13-9) on Monday (see MenomoneeFallsNOW.com), was a game back of the Spartans at 8-4 and 20-4, respectively going into Tuesday's tilt at East. They will be at East for the final 5:30 p.m. tilt on today.

The Indians will then host non-conference border rival Germantown in a 1 p.m. contest Friday.

Indians coach Pat Hansen could not overpraise the effort that was shown in the Friday road win over the Hilltoppers.

"Cole's catch was the best I've ever seen," Hansen said. "Over the shoulder, sliding to his knees. Just amazing."

Two runs would have scored easily, Hansen said, had Myhra not made the catch.

In the seventh, Burns got out of his jam with two strikeouts and a groundout.

Falls got all its runs in the top of the sixth as Alex Sutherland had an RBI single and a passed ball and an error accounted for the other two runs.

The Indians combative spirit was a carryover from the night before, when they held off the visiting Hilltoppers.

Alongside Rubatt's solid performance (two strikeouts and three walks), the Indians also got some clutch hitting. Shortstop Ryan Romens notched a two-out, two-RBI single on a full-count pitch to give Falls a 2-0 lead in the second, and Sutherland cracked a two-run double in the bottom of the sixth to improve the advantage to 7-3.

Adjustments on the infield, including putting Donny Matovich back at second and Romens at short have paid huge dividends and improved confidence, Hansen said.

"Even though a lot of guys graduated last year, we still expected to be good," Rubatt said. "… We have some big-time guys out there who know how to win games even if we don't have our best stuff."

Germantown baseball

Both were pre-season favorites in the North Shore Conference, but now the Germantown and Whitefish Bay baseball teams were just two squads looking for a push in the right direction June 23.

And it was the injury-plagued Warhawks who found their way back with a five-run first. After the quick start, they never looked back, routing host Blue Duke team, 14-2.

The Warhawks (5-6 in the North Shore and 8-10 overall) were coming off a dispiriting 11-0 loss to Slinger on June 22 and needed the quick start to restore confidence, coach Parrish Wagner said.

"This proved a lot of what we've been talking about all summer," Wagner said. "We're a team of momentum and this is a game of highs and lows. You can't let yourself get too high and you can't let the lows hold you down.

"With us, the roller-coaster continues."

But the Blue Dukes couldn't get much done against Warhawks senior Mitch Andrus, as he scattered just four hits over five innings with six strikeouts and just one walk.

Andrus could relax early, as the Warhawks pounded Bay starter and loser Markson for five runs in the first. Tyler Wester, Ryan Seifert and Jared Fon all had RBI hits and Jordan Flasch cracked a two-run double down the third-base line for the final tallies of the frame. Flasch would finish with five RBI for the game.

Wagner was pleased with his pitching.

"I liked Mitch's (Andrus) approach to the game after we got the lead," Wagner said. "I told him I didn't want to see any walks and he just went out there and pounded the strike zone."

Germantown rallied for a 5-3 North Shore win over West Bend East on June 25 as Wester found his mojo again in a solid outing and Fon had a clutch two-run double to put the Warhawks ahead for good in the fifth.

The Warhawks closed the week on a frustrating note Saturday, faltering 5-4 to visiting Greater Metro Conference co-leader Brookfield Central (22-4) after taking a 4-0 lead. Mike Heyman started for the Warhawks while Mike Minsky had two doubles and three RBI. Blake Marks also contributed two hits.