SEVEN-RUN NINTH INNING LEADS GREEN BAY TO VICTORY
The Blue Ribbons wrapped up regular season NEWBL play on Thursday night in thrilling fashion, scoring seven runs with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, and capping an incredible comeback from a 9-3 deficit with an RBI double from Eric Modaff, to walk off with a 10-9 win over the Menasha Macs at Joannes Stadium in Green Bay.
Greater Green Bay got on the board first, when shortstop Griffin Summers doubled in the bottom of the first, and came around to score on an RBI single by Modaff.
Menasha rallied back to put up three runs in the top of the third against starting pitcher Cameran Crawford, then tacked on another in the top of the fifth to take a 4-1 lead.
The Ribbons picked up a run in the bottom half of the fifth after first baseman Sam Kohnle singled, moved to second on a wild pitch, and then scored on a base hit by third baseman Jayden Adrians, but the Macs added two more runs in the eighth to extend their lead to 6-2.
Green Bay picked up one run in the eighth when left fielder Eli Kramer scored on a wild pitch, but Menasha tallied three more runs in the ninth to make it 9-3 heading to the bottom of the ninth.
The Ribbons were in need of a huge comeback in the bottom of the ninth, and they got just that, doing all of their damage with two outs. They put up two runs when Ethan Habetler’s double drove in Summers and Modaff to make it 9-5. Then three consecutive walks to Tyler Blum, Eli Kramer and Kyle Kosobucki made it 9-6 before an error on the Menasha first baseman allowed another run to score to close to within 9-7.
With the bases loaded and the tying run at second base, Summers singled to left, driving in two more runs to tie the game and set the stage for Modaff’s heroics. On the first pitch he saw, Modaff ripped a double to left, and Yuta Kudoh came flying around from second base to score the game-winning run, as the Blue Ribbons completed an improbable comeback win.
| Name | AB | R | H | RBI |
| Yuta Kudoh RF | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Griffin Summers SS | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Eric Modaff CF | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Sam Kohnle 1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Jayden Adrians 3B | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Ethan Habetler 2B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Zach Ziesmer DH | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| — Tyler Blum DH | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Eli Kramer LF | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Kyle Kosobucki C | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
BB: Ethan Habetler, Eli Kramer (4), Kyle Kosobucki (2), Yuta Kudoh, Griffin Summers (2), Sam Kohnle, Eric Modaff, Tyler Blum 2B: Griffin Summers, Eric Modaff, Ethan Habetler SB: Eric Modaff (2), Eli Kramer (2)
| Name | IP | H | R | ER | SO | BB |
| Cameran Crawford | 5.0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 6 |
| Charlie Stenson | 4.0 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 3 |
The Ribbons have two more regular season games remaining, as they head to Burlington on Saturday to take on the West Allis Nationals in a Wisconsin State League doubleheader. They’ll follow that up with the NEWBL tournament next week, including home games on both Monday and Thursday.