7/18/2022 Nick Witwer
The Green Bay Blue Ribbons were back in action this past weekend for four Wisconsin State League games against a tough Lombard Orioles team. Prior to this past weekend, the Blue Ribbons lost a close game to the Orioles in last month’s fifth game challenge down in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. For a lot of players on the team, this was the first they have seen Lombard up close. This is true for Blue Ribbons rookie, Steven Russell, who, when asked about the experience and what to expect during the four-game series with the Orioles, said, “It’s the first time that I heard in history that we kept it close and I’m just ready to have competitive games. I think all the guys are ready to just go out there and show what they have against a good squad.”
On Saturday, Russell’s comments didn’t seem to come through as the Blue Ribbons would have both games of the double header end in a mercy rule with final scores of 13-3 and 12-2. In both games, the Blue Ribbons gave up the lead early on and found them selves in holes too deep to dig themselves out of. Pitching and defense were the root of the Blue Ribbons woes as they the team as a whole allowed sixteen walks and committed 7 errors between the two games. Despite the blowout losses, many Blue Ribbons players felt that they beat themselves and remained confident in the team heading into Sunday’s double header.
On Sunday, game one had a different feel to it as both teams would remain scoreless through seven innings. Blue Ribbons pitcher, Logan Lange, had a strong outing and thanks to some help from his defense, didn’t face more than three batters in an inning until the seventh. The Blue Ribbons had their closet attempt at upsetting Lombard in the bottom of the seventh. After Ethan Habetler reached on an error and a two out walk from Zach Hanson, longtime Blue Ribbon, Griffin Summers, just needed a single to get the walk off. Summers gave the pitcher a good battle, working the count full and seeing eight pitches before popping out in foul territory. In the eighth inning, Lange made his first mistake of the day giving up a lead off home run that sailed over the wall in center. He would eventually give up a second run in the inning and finished his day pitching seven and two thirds of an inning, giving up just the two runs and walking three batters while also striking out seven. The Blue Ribbons would not be able to score anything in the bottom of the eighth and would fall 2-0. Sunday’s second game was similar to that of Saturday’s games. The Blue Ribbons fell behind early but this time managed to fight to avoid a mercy rule before eventually losing 18-4.
While the results of each game were not ideal, there were plenty of positives for the team to take with them for the remainder of the season. James Bornick put a ball over the wall in Saturday’s second game. Eli Frank had an RBI double in Saturday’s second game and also pitched for the last two outs of Sunday’s first game. Trent Van Ess finished the series batting .500 with five hits and scored three runs.
The Blue Ribbons will be back at Joannes on Friday the 22nd for the annual Christmas in July game but will first look to rebound on a short road trip that will see them face Sheboygan on Tuesday the 19th and Appleton on Thursday the 21st.