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Fourth of July a bang for Evansville Home Talent team

HOME TALENT BASEBALL

WEST DIVISION

W L

Evansville 8 1

Utica 6 2

Stoughton 5 3

Albion 4 3

Orfordville 2 7

EAST DIVISION

Jefferson 6 3

Fort Atkinson 5 4

Lake Mills 4 4

Cambridge 3 5

Whitewater 2 7

Deefield 2 8

RESULTS FRIDAY

Evansville 2, Stoughon 1

Utica 7, Orfordville 0

Fort Atkinson 3, Whitewater 1

Lake Mills 6, Deerfield 0

Albion 5, Dodgeville 1 (NL)

GAMES TODAY

(1 p.m. unless indicated)

Evansville at Utica

Orfordville at Albion

Deerfield at Fort Atkinson

Jefferson at Whitewater

Lake Mills at Cambridge, 4 p.m.

The Fourth of July was another big bang for the surging Evansville Jays in Home Talent League baseball.

After picking up a 12-1 win over Whitewater in a seven-inning makeup earlier in the week, the first-place Jays celebrated the holiday on Friday by nipping second-place Stoughton, 2-1, for their eighth straight win.

While dropping Stoughton (5-3) to third place in the West Division of Southeast Section, Evansville improved to 8-1 and maintained a 1 ½-game lead over Utica (6-2), whom the Jays face today at Utica.

Utica moved up to the No. 2 spot in the West by beating Orfordville, 7-0. Fort Atkinson edged Whitewater, 3-1, and Lake Mills downed Deerfield, 6-0, in East Division action.

Albion defeated Dodgeville, 5-1, in a non-league game on Jim Eastman Day at Racetrack Park in Edgerton.

n Evansville 2, Stoughton 1—Evansville overcame a 1-0 deficit in a two-run eighth inning to slip past Stoughton.

Jim Bronkema lifted the Jays into a 1-1 tie with an RBI single, and an error on the play enabled them to score what the winning run.

Mattt Drefahl and Nic Larson combined on six-hit pitching for Evansville. Drefahl had a nine strikeouts, and Larson took over in the eighth inning to get the victory.

Bronkema, Larson and Craig Paton each had two of Evansville’s nine hits.

Utica 7, Orfordville 0—Scott Hestnes and Matt Ellington shut down Orfordville (2-7) as Utica remained in West Division title contention.

Utica, which collected 12 hits, had three-run rallies in the third, sixth and eighth innings to put the game out of reach.

Albion 5, Dodgeville 1—Albion pitchers Mike Nanstad and Jeff Stone combined to allow only three base-runners as Tigers did their part in the Edgerton Lions Club Fourth of July celebration.

Nanstad struck out nine in earning the win. Brian Towns and Aaron Laskowski each had two hits for Albion, and Towns’ two-run single in the first inning put the Tigers ahead for good.

Along with the victory, the Tigers celebrated Eastman’s 20th season as a player and manager. He was honored by Dodgeville manager and league president Pat Reilly after the game.

Eastman, the Home Talent manager of the year in 2002, began his Albion career in 1989 after his graduation from Edgerton High School. He started Friday’s game in right field, not far his son, Josh, who started at second base for the Tigers.

Fort Atkinson 3, Whitewater 1—After driving in two runs, Tim Garant scored the game-winning in a three-run third inning that carried Fort Atkinson past the visiting Swingers.

Chris Koepke pitched a five-hitter as the Generals (5-4) kept their hold on second place in the East Division, while Whitewater dropped to 2-7.

Lake Mills 6, Deerfield 0—Lake Mills evened its East Division record at 4-4 with the help of Eric Wollin’s three-hit pitching.