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That was the dilemma facing Logan High School baseball coach Terry Curtis, whose team fell behind Baraboo 3-0 six batters into their WIAA Division 1 sectional final Tuesday.
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Baraboo's Adam Smith gets caught between Logan's Austin Lubinsky, left, and Mike Weber on a run-down in the first inning of the WIAA sectional championship game in Middleton. Smith was out on the play. Erik Daily |
Curtis’ answer was swift: Go to the bullpen and call on junior left-hander Tony Mueller.
Mueller came on in relief starter Dan Schmidtknecht and held Baraboo to one run on two hits and two walks the final 62/3 innings in a 7-5 victory.
Junior third baseman Dylan Pedretti’s solo home run to lead off the bottom of the fifth broke a 5-all tie and delivered the Rangers, the 2001 Division 1 state champions, into the state quarterfinals next Tuesday in Grand Chute, Wis. Logan will face the winner of the Beloit Memorial sectional, which was postponed to today due to rain.
Baraboo, which defeated Waunakee 17-8 in the semifinals, forced Curtis to summon Mueller after Mitchell Schultz came home on a delayed steal for a 4-0 lead.
“Two batters longer,’’ Curtis replied when asked if he let Schmidtknecht stay in one batter too long. “We had Tony for all seven innings, we knew that. We didn’t want to get behind against Baraboo and we got too far behind.’’
In much the same manner the Rangers did to Tomah in the morning semifinal — getting all their runs in the fourth inning during an 11-0 victory — Logan scored in bunches in the bottom of the first against the Thunderbirds.
Mueller led off with a double and came home on Pedretti’s single. Bobby Butterfield knocked in Pedretti with a double and the sophomore centerfielder came around on Austin Lubinsky’s RBI single underneath the shortstop’s glove.
“I was scared in the first inning when they jumped out 4-0 right away but then we got three back and we knew we could pull it out,’’ said Pedretti, who went 5-for-6 on the day.
Logan took a 5-4 lead in the fourth when junior rightfielder Adam Kleman scored on junior catcher Zak Welke’s single. Mueller responded one batter later with an RBI double.
“I’ve been to too mamy games and coached too many years to ever think that you’re ahead by a lot,’’ Curtis said.
He was right. Baraboo drew even in the fifth on a two-out single by Aaron Leonhardt.
But Pedretti provided the eventual winner with his homer that hit a car on one bounce beyond the left-field fence.
“I was looking for a fastball but it was a curveball low and inside and that’s where I like my pitches,’’ Pedretti said of the 1-0 offering.
The Rangers then let Mueller finish what he almost started. He was at his best in the fourth; with two runners on he induced to 1-3 groundouts. Mueller, whose brothers Dale and Jon played on Logan’s state-championship team, retired his final seven batters and finished with seven strikeouts.
“My arm felt great. I haven’t thrown for two weeks,’’ Mueller said, referring to a first-round bye and a shutout in the Rangers’ first postseason game. “We knew that if we could keep it low and make them ground out, our defense would be fine.’’
Added Baraboo senior Scott Williams, who went 3-for-4 against Waunakee but went 0-for-2 with two walks against Logan: “That’s all credit to (Mueller) because he did a great job of keeping us off-balance.’’
Lubinsky delivered Logan in the semifinals, tossing a one-hitter.
“It was nice to score 11 right away and get out after five innings,’’ Curtis said, adding, “It’s all about going to state and these kids really wanted to go bad.’’
Nick Zizzo is a sportswriter for the Wisconsin State Journal in Madison.
