Portage County Gazette

By John Kemmeter

The Stevens Point Sixers American Legion Baseball team went unbeaten heading into the final day of the 46th Ed Kardach Firecracker Classic at Bukolt Park Sunday, July 1, where they were knocked out of their home tournament with a loss in the semifinals.

The Sixers (6-5) got a no-hitter from pitcher Nate Helms on their way to finishing 3-0 in Pool Play Thursday through Saturday, June 26-28, before they lost 4-2 to fourth-ranked Beloit (11-3-1) Sunday afternoon.

“All the way through the weekend, we just battled,” said Point assistant coach Nathan Olds. “It’s just an absolute great tournament, we love playing in front of a home crowd.

“Fourth of July, there’s nothing better,” he said. “We came out and performed to the best of our ability.”

Point opened Thursday night against Wisconsin Valley Legion League (WVLL) foe D.C. Everest, in a game that also counted in the conference standings.

The Sixers took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when right fielder Johnny Suwyn was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and catcher Jacob Danielsen followed with a RBI single, while Everest answered with a pair of runs in the top of the third inning off Point reliever Brady Franz to tie the game at 2-2.

The Sixers rallied in the bottom of the third inning, as Danielsen had a RBI double, and left fielder Reese Gaber and Franz had back-to-back, two-out RBI singles to give the team a 5-2 lead.

Everest scored two runs in the top of the fourth to close within 5-4, but Point held on for a 5-4 win, as Brennan Mueller struck out one and allowed one hit over three shutout innings to close out the game for the save.

Franz walked two and allowed two earned runs on four hits in two innings for the win, while Danielsen went 2-for-2 with a double and two RBI, and first baseman Sam Lawrynk was 2-for-4 to lead the offense.

“A conference game, so that’s a big win for us, and a huge motivator,” said Olds.

Point was back Friday night to take on Altoona, where Lawrynk had a RBI single in the bottom of the first inning to give the team a 1-0 lead, and it stayed that way until the bottom of the sixth inning, when Danielsen came through with a RBI single to increase the Sixers’ lead to 2-0.

Meanwhile, Altoona only had a pair of baserunners through the first six innings, as it reached on a second-inning walk and a fifth-inning error, as Helms carried a no-hitter into the top of the seventh inning.

There, Altoona had a pair of flyouts, before Lawrynk fielded a groundball at third and threw to Isaac Perner at first for the final out to seal Helms’ no-hitter and a 2-0 victory for the Sixers, as Helms struck out five and walked one in seven innings.

“Helms just threw lights out,” said Point manger Caleb Bembenek. “He got the no-hitter and he did amazing.”

“Just absolutely phenomenal,” said Olds. “He wasn’t going to be here the last day, so we said, ‘OK, we’re going to ride you, get us through what you can.’

“And you can’t do much better than that,” he said.

Point looked to finish unbeaten in Pool B when it faced Kimberly Saturday night, where the Sixers scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning and one in the second to build a 3-0 lead, before they exploded for 10 runs in the bottom of the third to go up 13-0 on the way to a 17-0 win in five innings.

Mueller went 3-for-3 with a double, two runs scored and five RBI; and Franz was 3-for-3 with a triple, two runs scored and three RBI. Legend Kieliszewski went 3-for-4 with a double and three runs scored, Austin Stankowski was 3-for-3 with three runs scored, Danielsen went 2-for-2 with two RBI, Lawrynk had two runs scored and two RBI, and Helms added a double in a 19-hit attack.

JD Schultz allowed one hit over the first two innings, and Gaber, Perner and Zach Zimmerman each pitched an inning, as they combined on a three-hit shutout.

“Kimberly is a young team, but they are really good and have a lot of potential,” said Bembenek. “Their pitching looked really good, but our hitting was just on top of it, and everything was rolling and worked out in our favor.

“Everyone was hitting,” said Olds. “The third inning we had seven hits in a row, just hard-hit balls, there’s nothing they can do about it. A fantastic matchup, we just got the better of it.”

The win sent Point to the semifinals Sunday at 11:30 a.m. to take on Pool A runner-up Beloit, which added players from Janesville Parker and Craig high schools this season, as perennial State Tournament contender Janesville doesn’t have a 19U Legion team this summer.

Beloit took an early lead Sunday, as it had a sacrifice fly to score an unearned run off Kieliszewski in the top of the second inning to go up 1-0, while Perner came through with a RBI single in the bottom of the third inning and Zimmerman scored on a passed ball in the next at bat to give the Sixers a 2-1 lead.

It stayed that way until the top of the fifth inning, when Beloit struck after a rain delay, as it had a two-run single with two outs off Kieliszewski to take a 3-2 lead, and drew a bases-loaded walk against Mueller later in the inning to make it 4-2.

The Sixers were unable to rally in the final three innings, as second baseman Justin Morton led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a walk for the Sixers, but Beloit retired the next three batters to win 4-2 and advance to the Championship Game, where top-ranked and reigning State Runner-up Oshkosh (17-0) won 11-1 in five innings to finish 5-0 at the tournament and beat Beloit for the second time over the weekend to win the Firecracker Classic.

The Stevens Point Sixers finished 3-1 at the 46th Ed Kardach Firecracker Classic at Bukolt Park following a 4-2 loss to Beloit in the semifinals Sunday, July 1. (John Kemmeter photo)

Kieliszewski took the loss against Beloit after he allowed three earned runs on five hits, struck out three and walked four, while Perner went 2-for-3 to account for the Sixers’ two hits in the loss.

“Beloit’s a good ball team, but they’ve got seven of Janesville’s best players as well, so combining the two teams, they’re a pretty lethal threat,” said Bembenek. “They played well, and we’re looking to hang with them in a couple of weekends as well, down at the Fort Atkinson Tournament.”

Point was set to be at home for WVLL games against Antigo Monday, July 2, and Wausau at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 5, before it competes at a tournament in Merrill Friday through Sunday, July 6 to 8.

“We went 3-0 (to start), we got a conference win and we beat some pretty good teams,” said Bembenek. “We hung with a really great team, and we’re looking forward to playing Antigo (Monday).

“Hopefully we can get rolling for conference play, and keep rolling into Regionals,” he said.