Local teams looking to notch wins as CRBL, Northwoods League seasons heat up

As the high school state baseball playoffs start to wind down, the summer league season is just beginning to heat up in the area.

Coming off a busy weekend on the diamond, four local teams look to pick up Ws in the week ahead. Three of the squads play in the Chippewa Falls Baseball League (CRBL) and the other, the Eau Claire Express, competes in the Northwoods League.

All were dealt losses on Sunday, though one squad, the Eau Claire Cavaliers, was able to salvage a double-header split to emerge victorious and now all four squads are focusing on some tough matchups as the end of May turns into the first full week of June.

First up, the Eau Claire Rivermen: They hope to rebound this week from Sunday’s doubleheader defeats to the Cadott Red Sox when they travel to Osseo Friday night to take on the Merchants. That is followed by a Sunday home game against the Bloomer Fighting Woodticks at Fairfax Park. The Rivermen lost the first game of Sunday’s double header against Cadott, 8-3, and the second one by a 10-0 count.

The winning pitcher for Cadott in the first game Sunday was Warren Bove, who got his first career win. Bove came out of the game after 5.1 innings due to reaching 100 pitches. Bove had a no hitter going through five innings. The losing pitcher was Tyler Gray.

Winning pitcher for Cadott in the second game was Zack Thiesse, who improved to 4-1 on the season with 37.2 innings pitched. The losing pitcher was Jesse Urbanek. Of note for the Red Sox, Ely Johnson hit his second homerun of the day in game two.

Commenting on his team’s play against the Red Sox, Rivermen player/manager Andy Niese spoke about the overall strength of Cadott, who presented a definite challenge to his guys on the diamond Sunday.

“Cadott is a talented team with an explosive line up and very good pitching. They outplayed us in every facet of the game. They were just better than us, plain and simple,” Niese told the Leader-Telegram Monday evening.

Game time for the Rivermen Friday at Jon Soiney Memorial Park in Osseo is set for 7 p.m., while first pitch for Sunday’s game is scheduled for 12:30 p.m.

As for the Eau Claire Bears, they are looking to get on the right side of the scoreboard this week after Sunday’s doubleheader defeat at the hands of the defending WBA champion, the Tilden Tigers.

The Bears lost the first game against the Tigers, 7-3, and were on the wrong side of the score in the night cap by a 5-1 count.

Their next game is Wednesday against the Beef River Bullfrogs. First pitch is set for 7:15 p.m. at Cinder City Park. That is followed by a Sunday game against the Jim Falls Sturgeons at Grumden Field, which is scheduled for 12:30 p.m.

Bears manager Blake Johnson spoke of the challenges Tilden presented his squad with and noted what his team needs to improve on moving forward.

“Tilden had some big timely hits on Sunday and were able to capitalize with runners on base where we did not,” Johnson noted.

“As a team we are looking to get back on the winning side of things by getting back to timely and situational hitting. We also need to continue to get good pitching and play solid defense,” the Bears manager explained.

Now on to Carson Park, where the Cavaliers split a doubleheader with the Jim Falls Sturgeons, losing the first contest, 7-5, Sunday afternoon and taking care of business in the second game by defeating the Sturgeons, 4-3.

Commenting to the Leader-Telegram on what the differences were for the Cavaliers between the first and second games, field manager Ryan Bembnister mentioned a few key things.

“The energy level of our kids was much higher in that second game,” Bembnister told the Leader-Telegram Monday afternoon.

He added that winning Cavs’ pitcher Jaxon Vance “pitched a gem of a game,” that helped lead the local team to victory.

As for what the Cavaliers need to continue to work on, the answer is the same as it has been since the start of the season.

“We really need to focus on defense and shoring up our errors,” Bembnister said, noting that four Eau Claire errors in the first game against Jim Falls Sunday ultimately contributed to the Cavaliers losing that game.

Bembnister added that at the cost of sounding like a broken record, the team’s defense needs to continue to be strengthened.

“We need our defense to be backing up our pitchers,” the Cavaliers’ field manager said.

Next up for the Cavaliers is a Wednesday trip to Augusta to take on the Athletics. First pitch at Jan Krueger Memorial Stadium is scheduled for 7 p.m. The Cavs will then be in Cadott on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. for a game against the Red Sox at Cadott High School.

After the first seven-to-eight games of the season in the CRBL, the Chippewa Falls LumberJacks sit atop first place in the North Division of the League with a 4-2 record. The Osseo Merchants lead the South Division of the League at 5-2, with the Bears in second place with a 5-3 record and the Cavs are playing 500 ball with a 3-3 record to date. The Rivermen sit in fifth place at 1-3.

Express lose heartbreakers to Thunder Bay Sunday and Monday

Now on to the Northwoods Baseball League and the Express, who were left on the rails Sunday in a 5-4 loss to the Thunder Bay Border Cats. A three-run fifth inning for the Express tied the game. Eau Claire followed with another run in the sixth inning, but two runs by Thunder Bay in the eighth inning put them up to stay. George Bilecki, Brugs Richartz, Dylan O’Connell and Ragan Pinnow scored for Eau Claire. The Express had 10 hits and two errors in the game compared to nine hits and four errors for the Border Cats. In a road game that finished right at deadline Monday, the Express fell to that same Thunder Bay team, 2-1.

Next up for Eau Claire is a home game at Carson Park Wednesday against the Rochester Honkers. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m.