What looked like an easy victory turned into anything but that on Tuesday night, as the Blue Ribbons bullpen coughed up an eight-run lead, before the team rallied to come back and walk-off the Sheboygan A’s with two runs in the bottom of the 11th to improve their record to 3-0.
Left-hander Jonah Landowski got the start on the mound for Green Bay, and he was dominant, going six scoreless innings while allowing just two hits and striking out 14 Sheboygan batters.
The Blue Ribbons got on the board in the fifth, when center fielder Tyler Blum scored following a base hit from second baseman Bennett Frazer, and then they erupted for seven runs in the sixth, highlighted by a two-run double off the bat of shortstop Griffin Summers.
Sheboygan finally broke through in the seventh, with three unearned runs, but the Ribbons still held an 8-3 lead heading to the ninth.
Three singles, two walks, one hit batter and an error allowed Sheboygan to tie the game, and then the A’s took the lead, when Trevor Olmsted allowed a pair of inherited runners to score, giving Sheboygan a 10-8 lead.
While some teams may have folded after a rough top half of the ninth, the Blue Ribbons continued to battle. After Jacob Lacy was hit by a pitch, and Trent Van Ess drew a walk, Blum stepped to the plate and ripped a triple to right, scoring both runners and tying the game back up at 10-10.
After both teams went scoreless in the tenth, the A’s reclaimed the lead in the 11th on a sacrifice fly, but Green Bay again answered in their half of the inning. A walk to Lacy was followed by a single by Van Ess, which brought Summers home to tie the game again. Catcher Tucker Kohl reached on an error to load the bases, and then Lacy raced home with the winning run on an error by the Sheboygan catcher, which gave the Blue Ribbons their third consecutive victory.
Greater Green Bay is off on Wednesday, before hosting Menasha and Little Chute on Thursday and Friday respectively. They then travel to Lombard this weekend for a four-game series with the Lombard Orioles.
