By: Indiana Schilz
Plenty of offense was on display Monday night as Tyler Blum led the Blue Ribbons with three hits as
Green Bay held on for a 7-6 victory over the Appleton Legends.
The Blue Ribbons got on the board first, all thanks to Matt Perry’s baserunning. Perry walked in his first
at-bat and stole second base before being awarded third on a balk. Steven Russell grounded out softly to
the second baseman allowing Perry to score, putting the Blue Ribbons up 1-0 in the top of the second.
Green Bay’s offense would stay quiet until the top of the fourth with a line shot to left field for Payton
Danen that plated two, giving the Blue Ribbons a 3-0 lead. Another run would come in during the top of
the fifth thanks to Perry’s single, giving Green Bay its largest lead of the night at 4-0.
However, Appleton wasn’t going away quietly, as the Legends found their bats in the bottom of the fifth,
tying the game at 4.
Chaos ensued in the top of the seventh after a wild pitch with bases loaded scored three, giving the Blue
Ribbons a 7-4 lead with three innings to play.
Appleton tacked on two more runs in the seventh and eighth inning, but Gavin Rusch continued to limit
the damage. Rusch got into a bit of trouble in the bottom of the ninth, but the Blue Ribbons would survive a ferocious comeback from the Legends to secure a key victory.
Bret Whiffen started for the Blue Ribbons on Monday night and went 4.2 innings, allowing four hits and
four runs. He struck out four on 81 pitches. Rusch secured the victory, pitching 4.1 innings, allowing six
hits and one earned run while striking out four on 72 pitches.
Blum led the Blue Ribbons in hits with three singles in five at-bats, while Danen drove in a pair. As a
team, Green Bay had 11 hits. The Blue Ribbons ran rampant on the bases, stealing six bases on Monday
night. Perry had three of his own.
Green Bay will face Menasha in their final regular season game of 2023 at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, August
1, at Joannes Park.
