Coming onto the mound for Arlington Senior Legion baseball starter Jackson Stosich, Wes Monke held Wisner-Pilger/Dodge-Howells at three runs Friday night.
Post 71 added to its lead, too, closing out a 6-3 game at the Washington County Fairgrounds for its first Ralph Bishop League win of the summer season. Coach TJ Stosich's squad is 1-1.
“My change-up, during warmups, I was keeping it high,” Monke said after inducing the game-sealing groundout. “So, I tried a curveball and really getting on top of it.”
He also threw a fastball to keep the visiting batters off-balance.
At the same time, though, Arlington was able to put together its own success at the plate. Though it trailed twice at 1-0 and 3-2, Post 71 continually earned base runners throughout, scoring during four of the six innings it had the opportunity to bat.
“We just attack fastballs, normally,” Monke said. “And if it wasn't a fastball, we took the off-speed (pitch) to the opposite field, which is what we've been practicing.”
After Liam Shearer's single evened the game at 1-1 during the second inning, Monke sent his own RBI bloop single into shallow left field for a 2-1 lead.
Arlington's Tanner Kyllo later tied the game at 3-3, too, before Luke Sharp's fourth-inning sacrifice fly gave the Eagles a 4-3 advantage.
“We were seeing the ball well, I thought,” Shearer said. “Getting into deep counts.”
Sharp later earned a bases-loaded walk during the sixth frame, pushing Post 71's lead to 5-3, before Jack Morgan later scored on a passed ball.
Shearer said Arlington ran the bases well against Wisner as a whole. He credited Dallin Franzluebbers, who just joined the baseball team after completing his senior season of track at the NSAA State Championships, for his contributions in that department.
“That really just made them uncomfortable,” Shearer explained. “And I thought that really helped scoring runs.”
Arlington next plays Wednesday at Tekamah. The Junior Legion game starts at 5:30 p.m. before the Seniors' matchup at 8.
Post 71 drops opener
The first game of the Post 71 Seniors' summer schedule ended in a 3-2 walk-off win for their host, the West Point Bombers.
Myles Dinslage produced the game-winning hit May 28, according to Bombers state-keeping. The game had been tied 2-2 since the top of the fourth inning when Arlington plated both of its runs.
Peyton Marfisi led off of the fourth with an Eagles walk before Franzluebbers tallied a one-out hit. Kyllo contributed an RBI single next before Franzluebbers scored the tying run on an error.
While the Post 71 Seniors lost by a single run, the West Point Juniors earned a 6-1 victory against Arlington during their opener earlier in the evening.
POST 71 LINE SCORES
Friday
Arlington 6, Wisner-Pilger/Dodge Howells 3
WPDH 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 — 3
ARLO (1-1) 0 2 1 1 0 2 X — 6
May 28
West Point 3, Arlington 2
ARLO (0-1) 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 — 2
WP (1-0) 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 — 3
