By John Kemmeter

The Plover Black Sox American Legion Baseball team came up on the wrong end of a pair of late-inning rallies, as it was knocked out of the AAA Region 2 Regional Tournament at Memorial Park in Plover.

After winning their tournament opener, the host Black Sox fell 8-7 to rival Stevens Point Wednesday, July 19, when the Sixers scored the eventual winning run on a balk in the top of the ninth inning.

Facing elimination Thursday, July 20, Plover came back against Wausau to tie the game at 2-2 heading into the bottom of the eighth inning, when Wausau scored three runs with two outs and held on for a 5-2 win to end the Black Sox’ season at 17-20.

“We had so many guys left in scoring position offensively, and we’ve got to find a way to score,” said Plover manager Wayne Sankey following the loss to Wausau. “We’ve got to execute better offensively, especially with guys on second and third and less than two outs.

“Simply put, you hit a groundball to shortstop, you get a run,” he said. “I thought we should’ve been up 4-0 or 5-0 early, and we just didn’t execute.”

Plover starter Jake Thomas delivers a pitch during the Black Sox’ 5-2 loss to Wausau in the AAA Region 2 Regional Tournament at Memorial Park in Plover Thursday, July 20.
(John Kemmeter photo)

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