Bremen Athletics

Coming off a home loss to LaPorte, Bremen hosted Triton on Tuesday in a classic Marshall County showdown, looking to avenge last year's loss in Bourbon. On a cold day with a steady drizzle, the Lions grinded out a 7-6 victory over the 1A top 10 Trojans. Starting pitcher Casey Ton fired another complete game victory, this time going seven innings on 89 pitches en route to his 4th win of the season. Although they only had one true RBI - a sac fly by Max Barnes - the Lions kept traffic on the bases throughout and only struck out four times against a very solid Triton pitching staff. The Trojans got out to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first and held that lead unitl the bottom of the third, when the Lions evened the score. Landon Bates reached on an error, Corban Van Vuren walked, and Zack Rouch reached on a bunt single to load the bases for JJ Cencelewski. He ripped a ground ball past the first baseman with two scoring on the error. In the top of the fourth, Triton got a run in with two outs, going single, walk, error to push the score to 3-2. Bremen chipped away in the bottom half of the frame, loading the bases and plating two after a pop fly from DH Zack Rouch tipped of the left fielder's glove. The Lions almost got two more but a long line drive off the bat of Cencelewski was ran down by the Triton centerfielder. Ton and catcher Jack Wildauer protected the one run lead in the fifth, with Wildauer cutting down a one out baserunner at second after a dirt ball. Bremen extended its lead in the bottom of the fifith. SS Aiden Alvarado led off with a single to center, RF Zack Buszkiewicz reached on an error, and 2B Jace Pippenger beat out a bunt to load the bases. Max Barnes' sac fly brought in Alvarado, and Wildauer followed up with another bunt to load the bases again. A two-run throwing error allowed Buszkiewicz and Pippenger to score, pushing the Lion lead to 7-3. Triton would not go quietly, however. The Trojans got three of their own in the 6th on a combo of hits, passed balls, and an error. With the score at 7-6, Bremen got the first two runners on in the bottom half, but popped out twice in foul territory to kill the potential rally. That was no issue for Ton though, who worked a 1-2-3 seventh inning to lock up Bremen's tenth win in twelve tries. It was a tense grinder of a game that had a postseason energy to it. The Lions ultimately prevailed, making use of three excellent bunts after a long offseason of getting them down in the cages to go along with a few less defensive miscues than the opponent, particularly in the outfield. Ton pounded the zone throughout the game, getting better as he went, ultimately ending with 61 strikes on 89 pitches. The Lions will take on conference opponent Tippy Valley Thursday afternoon (at Tippy) before hosting the Vikings on Friday. Tuesday, May 5th Bremen 7 Triton 6 Hitters CF Corban Van Vuren: 2-3, R, BB 2B Jace Pippenger: 1-2, 2 R, BB, SB C Jack Wildauer: 1-2, R, BB Pitcher SP Casey Ton: 7.0 IP, W (4-0), 7 H, 6 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 89 pitches Photo Credits: John Buszkiewicz (JB) & Ian Pepin-Lizardo (IPL)