GREEN BAY, Wis. (Nick Witwer) – Looking to bounce back from Wednesday night’s loss in Menasha, the Green Bay Blue Ribbons returned home Thursday night to celebrate flag day with a big statement win over the Greenville Stars.
In what started as a pitching duel, the Blue Ribbons were able to get on the board first in the bottom of the third inning. A pair of back-to-back walks to lead off the inning, followed by a double steal, would leave runners on second and third base. One run would score off a fielder’s choice ground ball from Landen Lozier to give Green Bay the early lead.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Blue Ribbons looked to extend their lead after starting off the inning with back to back singles. Later in the inning, James Bornick would steal second base allowing the runner on third (Lozier) to steal home and give Green Bay a 2-0 lead.
After Greenville tied the game in the top of the seventh, the Blue Ribbons would start off the bottom of the inning with yet another pair of back-to-back singles. Both of those runners would cross the plate on a one-out triple from Brendan Willadsen to retake the lead. An RBI single from veteran Griffin Summers tacked on another run giving Green Bay a solid 3 run lead entering the late stages of the game.
In the eighth inning, James Bornick would hit a one-out double to tack on yet another run for the Blue Ribbons. Later in the inning, with two-outs, Brendan Willadsen followed up his earlier triple with a towering shot over the wall in right field to put the exclamation point on the 8-2 win.
As a team, the Blue Ribbons finished the day with eight runs on 14 hits and six walks. Brendan Willadsen led the way going 3-5 with a triple, a home run, four RBIs, and two runs scored. Griffin Summers went 2-4 with an RBI and a walk. James Bornick went 2-4 and finished with a walk, one RBI, and two runs scored. Landen Lozier went 2-5 with one RBI and two runs scored.
On the mound, Gavin Rusch got the starting nod and had an electric five-inning outing in which he gave up no runs on just two hits while striking out nine Greenville batters. Logan Paplham gave two runs (one earned) in two innings of work and struck out four batters. In the late innings, Reece Piontek shut the door on the Stars, working two scoreless innings striking out five of the seven batters faced.
The 8-2 victory over Greenville puts the Blue Ribbons at 7-3 on the year. They’ll now go on the road this weekend for a double-header on Saturday in West Allis followed by a double-header on Sunday in Sheboygan.
