Norse baseball team ends regular season, starts postseason with wins

The Whitehall baseball won its final regular season game to clinch a second-place tie in the Dairyland Conference before opening postseason play with a win.

Whitehall’s 8-4 win over Alma Center Lincoln on Monday put the team’s final regular season record at 13-6 and its DC record at 13-5, tied with Independence/Gilmanton for second place. The team then began Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association play with a 10-0 win over Montello in its Division Three bracket on Thursday. 

The Norse began this week with a four-game winning streak, after it had dropped five in a row earlier in May. They’re the fourth seed in their bracket and hosted (5) Pardeeville on Tuesday of this week. The winner of that game will play the winner of the game between (1) Aquinas and (8) Poynette on Wednesday. 

The sectional round will be this coming Tuesday in Viroqua. Should Whitehall get out of its bracket, it would play at 10 a.m. with the sectional championship game set for 4 p.m. the same day. 

Whitehall 8 AC Lincoln 4

A six-run sixth inning put the Norse ahead as they closed out the regular season with a win.

Whitehall trailed the last-place Hornets (3-19 on the season) 4-2 entering the sixth, but loaded the bases with no outs. After a strikeout, Seth Lambeck walked to bring home run home before Brayden Lisowski put the Norse ahead with a two-run double. Devon McCune added an RBI single and another run scored on a groundout hit by Bryce Schorbahn. 

Lambeck, who got the win in relief, got out of a jam created by two errors in the bottom of the sixth then pitched a perfect seventh. Lambeck struck out three without a walk and allowed two hits. 

Whitehall took an early lead on an RBI double by Mason Pientok in the top of the second. But the advantage was short-lived as the Hornets put up three runs in the third. Both teams scored one run in the fifth.

Pientok had two of Whitehall’s six hits in the game.

Lisowski got the start, pitching the first four innings and striking out eight without a walk. Two of the three hits he allowed came in the third, an inning in which the Norse committed two errors. None of ACL’s runs were earned.

Whitehall 10 Montello 0

McCune gave up a leadoff single then didn’t allow anything else as the Norse took control of the game.

Montello’s leadoff batter singled, but was out at second on a fielder’s choice and McCune retired the next two batters to get out of the first without any damage. He didn’t allow another baserunner in four innings of work. 

Whitehall took the lead in the bottom of the first as Lisowski singled and McCune reached on an error. After a walk loaded the bases, Schorbahn hit into an error, bringing two runs home.

The Norse added three more in the second as Nick Matejka reached on an error to start the inning and Preston Schroeder singled with one out. Lisowski doubled both home then scored himself on a wild pitch, making the score 5-0.

Whitehall didn’t let up. Schorbahn tripled to start the third inning and scored on a wild pitch. Two more Whitehall runs scored on errors as the team took an 8-0 lead.

Schorbahn added an RBI single in the fourth and Seth Lambeck walked and scored on a wild pitch in the fifth.

McCune struck out six and didn’t allow a walk in four innings. Lisowski pitched the fifth, allowing one hit and struck out one.