The Plover 15-Year-Old Baseball team won the Nekoosa Tim Levy Memorial Tournament this past weekend. The championship was the second in three weeks for the Plover squad.
Plover opened the tournament by defeating the host team Nekoosa, 12-6, on Friday night, June 22. Jake Owens led the Plover charge, getting a pair of hits, and pitching four strong innings to get the win on the mound.
Plover defeated Appleton, 10-4, on Saturday to advance to the championship game. Jimmy Haluska hit a 2-run home run in the bottom of the first to put Plover ahead, 2-1, a lead they would not relinquish. Jason Pezewski added a two-run shot in the second inning, and collected seven strike outs in four innings to earn the victory.
In the championship game on Sunday, Plover squared off against D.C. Everest. Plover cut a 4-1 deficit in the bottom of the fifth inning, thanks to a run scoring single by Scott Kingston and a two-run triple by Owens.
With the score tied, 4-4, in the bottom of the sixth inning, Kingston continued with his late-game heroics. The third baseman stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs. Kingston ripped the first pitch up the middle for a single that scored two runs to give Plover a 6-4 lead, its first of the game.
"Kingston was clutch," said head coach John Kemmeter. "We got a bunch of big hits from a number of guys, and Scott really came up big when we needed him."
Garrett Wroblewski set D.C. Everest down 1-2-3 in the top of the seventh to secure the victory. Wroblewski allowed one hit over the final three innings to get the win.
"Wroblewski did a great job on the mound this weekend," said Kemmeter. "We were missing a couple of pitchers due to injury, and he really stepped up and pitched as well as I've ever seen him. Jimmy Haluska and Garrett really kept us in the game until we could get our bats going," said Kemmeter.
It was the second tournament championship for Plover in three tries. They won the Oshkosh Tournament June 9-10, knocking off Western Springs, Ill., 12-10; Stevens Point, 14-6; and Oconomowoc, 6-1.
In the Plover Early Bird Tournament June 16-17, Plover fell to Oshkosh in the championship game, 9-8, in eight innings.
The Plover 15-Year-Old team returns to action July 6 in the Stevens Point Invitational Tournament. They open up the tournament against Stevens Point on Friday, July 6, at Bukolt Park at 8 p.m.