The Plover 13-year-old baseball team recently completed its 1999 tournament season by taking first place in the Plover Tournament.
Plover opened up the round robin format with a win over Stevens Point. Ted Schlafke locked up with Point's Matt Zdroik in a pitching duel, with Plover leading 2-0 after four innings. After a pitching change, Plover erupted for six runs in the fifth to seal the win.
Jake Owens led Plover with three hits; Jimmy Haluska, Mitch Miskoski and Adam Macht each had two hits.
Plover then used pitching and defense to knock off unbeaten Oshkosh 6-3. Miskoski threw four shutout innings. Plover opened the scoring when Schlafke hit a two-run double. Haluska followed the next inning with another 2 RBI double. The scoring concluded with consecutive steals of home by Garrett Wroblewski and Schlafke. Wroblewski led Plover with three hits.
In the third game, Plover defeated East Madison 13-1 and Brian Churas recorded the win. Schlafke led the attack with three doubles, Scott Kingston had three hits and Alex Riordan, Mike Plaza and Miskoski had doubles.
Plover faced Shelby in the championship and Miskoski shut down the opposition with four shutout innings. A solid defense anchored by shortstop Owens and second baseman Plaza, along with a perfectly executed "suicide squeeze" by Wroblewski led to the Plover victory. Owens and Kingston, who had two hits apiece, paced Plover.
Other team members include Jimmy Fletcher, Jason Pezewski and Matt Korpal.
The Plover 13-year-old squad also placed second in the Stevens Point and Nekoosa tourneys.