Bremen Athletics

It was another wild, chaotic game between the Lions and Jimmies on Friday night. Fans at Booster Field bore witness to a combined 21 runs, 17 hits, and 21 walks in a tight contest between the conference foes. Once again, the Lions prevailed late, scoring nine runs over the final two frames to secure a 13-8 win. The Jimmies came out hot, setting the Lions down quickly and hanging four runs in the bottom of the frame. Bremen escaped the inning on an outfield assist from right fielder Jack Wildauer, allowing starting pitcher JJ Cencelewski to settle in from there. He went on to throw three scoreless innings before running into trouble in the 5th. On offense, the Lions' lineup got busy in the 3rd, loading the bases for Cencelewski - who entered the game batting .636 on the young campaign. He promptly doubled to the left center gap, clearing the bags and trimming Jimtown's lead to 1. A single from shortstop Aiden Alvarado brought Cencelewski around and evened the game at 4. Bremen escaped trouble in the bottom of the frame on a 4-6-3 double play. Neither team could get much going until the bottom of the 5th when Jimtown scored three after a leadoff single and handful of walks. Alvarado took the ball with two runners on and the Lions trailing 7-4. He induced a fielder's choice to get Bremen out of the inning and into the box. The Lions came up in the sixth and strung together three singles in a row. Third baseman Max Barnes hit into a fielder's choice to bring in one, followed by Alvarado scoring on a passed ball. With Bremen trailing 7-6, Landon Bates hit into another fielder's choice to even the game but Jace Pippenger was out by a hair at the plate trying to score the go ahead run on the play. The Jimmies took the lead back in the bottom of the 6th, grabbing their 8th run of the game on another batch of walks. Leadoff hitter Corban Van Vuren came to the plate for Bremen in the 7th with the regiment trailing 8-7. Him and catcher Zack Rouch both worked walks to bring up Cencelewski, who was hit by a pitch to load the bases. With left fielder Zack Buszkiewicz up to bat, Van Vuren came in on a wild pitch to tie the game. Alvarado was then hit by a pitch to load the bases again. Jack Wildauer poked a two-strike single to center, scoring Rouch and giving the team its first lead of the game. Aided by an enthusiastic Bremen bench, Pippenger, Bates, Van Vuren, and Rouch all went on to draw bases loaded walks, ultimately putting the Lions ahead 13-8. For the second night in a row senior Maddux Hickman took the mound in the 7th inning. After picking up the win on Thursday, he slammed the door on Friday night, striking out two and inducing a 1-3 ground out to end the game while working around a pair of walks. With the win, Bremen moves to 4-0 on the season. The team will travel to Culver Academy on Saturday for a doubleheader, with the first game beginning at 11am ET. Friday, April 24th Bremen 13 Jimtown 8 Batters P/DH JJ Cencelewski: 2-4, 2 2B, 2 R, 3 RBI, HBP C Zack Rouch: 2-3, R, RBI, 2 BB SS Aiden Alvarado: 2-3, 2 R, RBI, HBP RF Jack Wildauer: 2-4, 2 R, RBI Pitchers Aiden Alvarado (W) 1.1 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 4 BB, 1 K Maddux Hickman 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K