G-E-T baseball splits four games

In the top of the first inning last Thursday, the Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau high school baseball team was in a pinch.

A pair of errors allowed Coulee Conference opponent Onalaska Luther to get runners on second and third base with just one out.

The Red Hawks didn’t panic, though, and got out of the inning without surrendering a run. They responded with four runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning before silencing the Knights (2-7 overall, 0-5 Coulee) in an 11-1 win in just five innings.

The win was one of four games for G-E-T in a week that they split with a 2-2 record to remain .500 on the year.

 “We got out of that jam with no runs scored to kind of give us a little momentum going into the bottom half, and then we just kept that momentum and put up some runs right away,” G-E-T coach Scott Hovell said after the win.

The Red Hawks (6-6, 2-3 Coulee) dropped last week’s opener at Holmen on Monday before stacking together a pair of Coulee Conference wins over Black River Falls on Tuesday and the triumph over Luther on Thursday. The week ended with a falter to Westby at home on Friday.

Four more games are on the slate this week, beginning with a trip to Blair-Taylor on Monday and a visit to Onalaska on Tuesday. Luther hosts G-E-T for a rematch on Thursday before the week draws to a close at home against the West Salem Panthers.

Owen Eddy got the team going last Thursday with an RBI single that scored teammate Warren Stoner, and Collin Handke hit a 2 RBI double in the next at-bat to bring home Eddy and junior Jack Beedle. The Red Hawks ended the first with a 4-0 lead and added five more runs in the bottom of the third.

A two-run double from Eddy got the Red Hawks to double digits and made it 10-0. Stoner led the Red Hawks on offense with a 3-for-4 performance—including a triple—to go with Eddy’s two doubles.

Senior Thomas Haney allowed just one hit in an efficient pitching performance and struck out two Knight batters while walking one.

At times this year, the Red Hawks have scored and let their guard down a bit, their coach said. 

That wasn’t the case on Thursday as the Red Hawks added five more runs in the bottom of the third before closing the game in the fifth inning.

“We didn’t do that tonight, so that was good. We continued to hit the ball, and I thought we had a really good approach at the plate today,” Hovell said.

As the team continues to navigate a tough conference schedule, their coach said the Red Hawks will need their best baseball to stay in the race. 

He thinks they’ve already come a long way since opening day.

“We bounce guys around a lot and ask guys to play a lot of different positions and stuff. So that can be tough on them, I think,” Hovell said. “But they’re handling it well and we’re playing a lot better baseball right now than we were two weeks ago.”

Holmen 11 G-E-T 9

The host Vikings unleashed a six-run second inning on the Red Hawks last Monday, and a late push wasn’t enough for the guests.

The Red Hawks scored five runs in the sixth and seventh inning to make it close before Holmen ended the game. Both clubs finished with nine hits.

Eddy, Ben Hansen and Chris Wagner each had two hits for G-E-T, and four Red Hawk pitchers split three earned runs, three strikeouts and nine walks.

G-E-T 10 BRF 3

After playing a scoreless three innings, the Red Hawks found their offense in the bottom of the fourth inning last Tuesday against the Tigers (1-6 overall, 1-5 Coulee).

The Red Hawks brought home five runs in the fourth and added three more in the fifth inning.

Handke led the hosts with two hits and three runs while also striking out five batters in five innings on the mound. Teammate Nathan Holthaus brought home five runs on offense and struck out two Tiger batters in one inning of relief.

Stoner also threw two strikeouts.

Westby 3 G-E-T 2

A game that didn’t feature much offense went in favor of the visitors on Friday.

Westby (4-4, 1-4 Coulee) claimed a 1-0 lead in the third before G-E-T matched the score in the fourth inning. The Norse outscored the hosts 2-1 in the fifth inning and that was the difference.

Stoner and Wagner co-led the Red Hawks with two hits apiece, and Handke got the start on the mound.

Handke allowed four hits and two earned runs while striking out nine Westby batters and walking two.