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Janesville Craig baseball wins a thriller

The Janesville Craig baseball team was down to its last out, trailing Sun Prairie by a run.

Luckily for the Cougars, Zach Bayreuther was up.

The senior shortstop came through with a game-winning triple, giving the Cougars an 8-7 eight-inning victory over visiting Sun Prairie, and sole possession of second place in the final Big Eight Conference standings.

Bayreuther went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored, raising his totals in the past three games to 10-for-11 with four RBIs and five runs scored.

Bayreuther’s game-winning hit capped Craig’s rally from a 6-0 deficit after four innings.

“It was like two different games,” Craig coach Victor Herbst said. “We were lethargic in the first half, but when we scored the run in the fifth, we seemed to pick it up.

Once Craig scored, Sun Prairie could not stop the Cougars. Craig scored once in the fifth, twice in the sixth, three times in the seventh to send the game into extra innings and twice in the eighth to win the game.

The Cougars were down to their last out in the seventh when pitch-hitter Brett Fredricks singled to left to score pinch runner Cameron Graves with the tying run. Christian DeCremer attempted to score from second, but slid to the outside of the plate to avoid the tag from the catcher.

The throw got past the catcher, but bounced right to the pitcher backing up the play, and he was able to tag out DeCremer before he scrambled to the plate.

Senior Zach Whalen also contributed a clutch two-out, two-run single in the three-run sixth.

Sophomore Austin Geller pitched the final four innings in relief to earn the win. He allowed just four hits and one earned run.

The Cougars take a 18-5 record into the WIAA tournament. The top-seeded Cougars get a bye Tuesday and play the winner of the Beloit Memorial-Milton game next Friday afternoon at Riverside Park.

“This puts us in the right frame of mind going into the tournament,” Herbst said.

CRAIG 8, SUN PRAIRIE 7

Sun Prairie (ab-r-h-rbi)—Rowles, 2b, 4-2-1-0; Huemmer, cf, 4-2-2-0; Handel, ss, 4-1-2-4; Patterson, c, 4-0-1-0; Wilberding, 1b, 4-1-0-0; Thiel, lf, 4-0-2-0; Diaz, dh, 5-0-3-1; Rode, pr, 0-0-0-0; Tanner, p, 4-1-1-0; Harmon, rf, 2-0-0-1. Totals: 35-7-12-6.

Craig (ab-r-h-rbi)—Bayreuther, ss, 4-1-3-2; Geller, dh, 4-0-1-0; Steed, p, 0-0-0-0; Whalen, 3b, 4-1-2-2; Graves, pr, 0-1-0-0; DeCremer, cf, 3-1-1-0; McCulloch, 1b, 2-0-0-1; B. Fredricks, 1b, 1-0-1-1; Mussey, c, 3-0-1-0; Meyer, c, 1-0-0-0; Olin, 2b, 3-2-2-0; Weber, rf, 4-1-1-0; Wright, rf, 3-1-1-0. Totals: 32-8-13-6.

Sun Prairie 200 400 01—7

Craig 000 012 32—8

E—Sun Prairie 1, Craig 4. LOB—Sun Prairie 10, Craig 4. DP—Sun Prairie 2, Craig 2. 2B—Handel, Bayreuther, DeCremer. 3B—Bayreuther. HR—Handel. SF—McCulloch, Harmon. SB—Rowles, Huemmer.

Sun Prairie IP H R ER BB SO

Tanner 6 2-3 11 6 6 1 3

Rowles 1-3 1 0 0 0 0

Handel (L) 2-3 1 2 2 2 1

Craig

Steed 4 8 6 5 4 1

Geller (W) 4 4 1 1 3 1