Green Bay, Wis. (Nick Witwer) – The Green Bay Blue Ribbons wrapped up a five-game homestand on Saturday at Joannes Stadium by sweeping a double header against the West Allis Nationals. Green Bay dominated both games against last year’s Wisconsin State Baseball League Regular Season Champions by leaning on a relentless offensive attack and elite starting pitching.
In game one, the Blue Ribbons didn’t waste any time getting things going as back-to-back walks would lead to two runs coming across the plate on a ground out and an RBI single from left fielder Brendan Willadsen. Green Bay would add another run in the second and third innings on RBI singles from second baseman Payton Kohnle and shortstop Griffin Summers to give the Blue Ribbons a 4-0 lead.
In the fifth inning, West Allis was able to push across their first run of the day. Green Bay responded immediately in the bottom of the inning starting with a lead off home run from first baseman James Bornick. Two more runs were added later in the inning off a wild pitch and an RBI from catcher Garret Foth to extend the lead to 7-1.
In the sixth inning, West Allis pushed across their second run of the day. Much like in the fifth, the Blue Ribbons responded again in the bottom of the inning, this time with a two run RBI double from right fielder Ashton Long. Up now 9-2, the Blue Ribbons would give up just one run in the top of the seventh securing the 9-3 victory.
Offensively it was a great game for the Blue ribbons as the team combined for nine runs on nine hits. It was also a great game on the mound as starter Owen Deprez went a solid six inning of work allowing two runs on four hits and striking out nine batters. Austin Grube took care of the final inning allowing just one run and striking out two batters.
With an excellent performance in game one, somehow game two was even better for the Blue Ribbons. Much like in game one, Green Bay once again struck early by scoring two runs in the bottom of the first inning on back-to-back RBI singles from Brendan Willadsen and Ashton Long.
In the second inning, Green Bay added another run off a home run from center fielder Carter Kallies. The home run was Kallies’ first-ever career long bomb, “It felt good to finally get that under my belt but that’s not what I’m trying to do. My goal is to just keep getting on base. Singles, walks, just about any way I can but it still feels good to finally get that under my belt.”
Green Bay’s offensive barrage wouldn’t end there as two more runs would score in the following inning on a two-out home run from Long. Another run would score in the bottom of the sixth inning on an error giving Green Bay a 6-0 which ended up being the final score of game two.
Offensively for Green Bay in game two, Ashton Long led the way going 2-3 with a home run and three RBIs. Brendan Willadsen finished 2-4 with a triple and one RBI. Carter Kallies went 1-2 with a home run.
On the mound, just one man was needed as Reece Piontek went a full seven innings allowing just two hits and no runs while striking out five batters. “I felt really good, I had a handful of Ks, the defense made plenty of plays for me. A lot of ground balls, pop outs, just making plays. I felt really good.”
With the double header sweep on Saturday, the blue Ribbons completed the season sweep of West Allis. The two wins expands their winning streak to seven games in a row and improves them to an overall record of 19-5 and a WSL record of 13-2
The Blue Ribbons will now head to Greenville on Monday before taking about a week off to prepare for the second half of the season. The team’s next appearance in front of the Joannes crowd will be on Friday, July 12, when they take on the Menasha Macs.