Sports Wrapups: July 6

Oak Creek baseball

Winning 20 games has become old hat for the Knights.

With three wins at the South Milwaukee/Oak Creek Blast on Saturday, the Knights not only clinched their third straight weekend tournament championship but also went over 20 victories for the eighth straight season.

"Getting to 20 wins is always exciting because that is sort of the benchmark for summer teams in terms of the quality of depth of your team," said Oak Creek coach Scott Holler, whose team was 23-7 overall, 10-7 conference as of Tuesday. "We've been fortunate to have a nice run and I'm really proud of this team in particular because not many people outside of our group of 20 some players and coaches probably figured we'd get to 20 this season."

The Knights swept through the Blast after splitting with Greater Metro Conference champion Muskego June 28-29 and losing to Marquette, 4-2, June 30. The league losses knocked Oak Creek out of league-title contention, but Holler was impressed with his team's ability to bounce back.

"The guys showed great perseverance by going out to Muskego on (June 29) and putting it on them pretty good (9-2 win), a night after we felt we gave one away," said Holler, whose team lost at home to Muskego, 2-1, June 28. "Some high school kids would still have the night before on their mind and go out and lay an egg, but what I love about this team is they don't get too high or too low, whether we win or lose they're able to move forward and take care of business the next day. Baseball is too crazy a game to sit around and harp on one win or one loss."

The Knights displayed that again following their two-run loss to Marquette.

"We were upset for a few hours, then had two great practices and won three more games over the weekend," Holler said. "This is as even keel a team as I've coached in terms of knowing they can play with anybody, but not thinking they can just show up and beat somebody. They have a lot of respect for their opponent night in and night out."

Oak Creek scored 29 combined runs in their tournament title run, beating Cudahy, 9-4, in the finals after beating Kettle Moraine, 10-7, in the semifinals and Catholic Memorial, 10-0, in the quarterfinals.

Against Cudahy, a team Oak Creek beat, 14-0, in the semifinals of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Tournament one week earlier, the Knights scored five times in the top of the eighth inning to snap a 4-4 tie. Joey Gribble belted a two-run triple to put his team ahead for good in the eighth.

Tyler Zemla was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and his third home run of the season, and Chris Bournelis allowed one run in four innings of relief to earn the win.

Josh Jesko belted his eighth home run, a two-run shot and was one of three Knights with two hits against Kettle Moraine. Kaedan Peterson added three RBIs for the victors.

Freshman Hayden Krimmer got the tournament going for the Knights by allowing just one hit with seven strikeouts in the shutout win over Catholic Memorial.

In recent league victories, Zemla shut out Muskego for five innings to lead the Knights to their 9-2 win at Muskego on June 29. Tyler Magyar was 3-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs.

Zemla also fired a four-hitter with 10 strikeouts and six walks as the Knights beat visiting West Allis Hale, 8-0, Monday. Zemla also went 3-for-4 with a double and four RBIs.

Franklin baseball

With a two-game series against Oak Creek today and Friday, seedings for next week's conference tournament are on the line in the crowded GMC.

After beginning the week with an 8-5 loss to Muskego, which has already wrapped up the league title, the Sabers (17-10, 9-7) sat in fourth place. With six teams separated by two games, Franklin could finish as high as second place or as low as seventh as the regular season comes to a close this week.

The Sabers should be ready for the stretch run after playing Muskego. After falling behind 4-0 after the first inning and 7-2 after four innings, the Sabers clawed back scoring three in the fifth. Muskego, though, got an insurance run in its half of the fifth and held on to take the opener of the two-game series.

Ryan Geil, Jay Dirienzo and Evan Walton all had two hits for Franklin, which drew five walks in the first five innings. Geil contributed a two-run home run to ignite the Sabers, but the Warriors' bats were all over pitchers Evan Kruczynski and Matt Konz from the beginning.

The loss came after Franklin went a combined 4-1 against West Allis Central, Wauwatosa East and Hale, the conference's bottom-feeders, last week.

After blowing out Central, 11-1, June 28, the Sabers followed with a close 3-2 home victory over Central behind superb pitching from Kruczynski, who secured the win by striking out 10 in 4 1/3 innings, and Marcus Schlemm, who got the save by retiring eight of the nine batters he faced while striking out three.

On June 30, the Sabers put on an offensive show in defeating Wauwatosa East, 15-7. Geil, who pitched a complete game, was again sharp at the plate, collecting three doubles and four RBIs. Dirienzo was also effective; he hit a two-run home run in the first inning, reached base three more times on walks and scored four runs.

Franklin's four-game win streak was snapped when a lack of clutch hitting led to a 3-2 loss at Hale on July 1. The Sabers, who allowed all three runs in the decisive fifth inning, stranded 10 runners.

The Sabers responded by upending visiting Hale, 3-2, Friday in eight innings. Marcus Schlemm scored the winning run on Lance Baretz's single to center. Schlemm also sparkled on the mound in relief. He did not allow a run in his 3 2/3 innings and struck out three. Walton and Baretz went a combined 6-for-7.

Greendale baseball

After beginning the week with two blowout losses to Whitnall, the Panthers ended the week with another big loss to New Berlin Eisenhower, 7-0.

At least the middle of the week was kind to the Panthers.

Greendale defeated New Berlin West, 9-8, July 1, and followed it with an 8-4 win over last-place Wauwatosa West on Friday.

The Panthers (11-14, 9-6 Woodland Conference) will look for their offense to carry them to victories during the final stretch of the regular season, as they travel to St. Francis today and host St. Thomas More on Friday.

Greendale, which committed 13 errors in its four games last week, hosted Greenfield in a doubleheader earlier in the week after press deadline.

In two wins last week, the Panthers had timely hitting while a pair of juniors put forth solid efforts on the mound.

Jo Jo Sardina and Nick Lichtenwalner both pitched complete games against New Berlin West and Wauwatosa West, respectively.

Sardina worked with a 4-0 cushion after Greendale's bats exploded in the fourth, but West came back to score six in the third. Greendale responded by scoring five runs over the next three innings. Sardina then settled down and only allowed two runs during the next four innings.

Brandon Kozinski, Sam Brick and Mike Prescott all had two hits for the Panthers. Prescott, however, had the biggest impact recording four RBIs.

Prescott stayed hot against Tosa West going 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Andrew Brees also chipped in going 3-for-3 with two RBIs as well. The duo combined for six of the team's eight hits.

- David Cotey and Christopher Kuhagen