Whitehall legion makes run, finishes third in regional
Whitehall’s Brock Sluga lifted a fly ball to the outfield during their game against Arcadia on Friday. (Times photograph by Andrew Dannehy)
After entering the Wisconsin American Legion Class A Osseo Regional with just two wins on the season, Whitehall’s Hutchins-Stendahl Post 191 American Legion Baseball team won two games in the tournament to finish third.
The team opened the tournament with a 4-1 loss to eventual champion Arcadia (see story elsewhere in Sports), but rebounded with wins over G-E-T and the tournament’s top seed, Baldwin. Whitehall’s tournament run came to an end with a 15-7 loss to Osseo on Sunday as they were one of the final three teams in the tournament.
Whitehall 3 G-E-T 1
All four runs were scored in the first inning as Whitehall took a lead it would not surrender early.
G-E-T got on the scoreboard first as Collin Handke singled home Owen Eddy to put Post 354 ahead, 1-0, but it wouldn’t last long.
Devon McCune led off the bottom of the first with a single for Whitehall and scored on a double by Brock Sluga, tying the game. The go-ahead run scored on an error and Whitehall went ahead 3-1 when Connor Stevens walked with the bases loaded.
G-E-T had the bases loaded in the second, but McCune got a pop up to get out of the jam. They had two on with one out in the fourth, but McCune got a strikeout and a groundout to end that threat.
Brandon Sylla replaced McCune in the top of the seventh and the first two batters he faced reached base, but he got the next three out to give Whitehall the win.
McCune struck out six while allowing seven hits and four walks to earn the win. He also had two hits at the plate, as did Sylla.
Whitehall 9 Baldwin 0
Post 191 took the lead with three runs in the third and never looked back.
Jonah Czarnopis got Whitehall’s second hit of the game with one out in the third. Brandon Sylla later singled before Brock Sluga doubled as Whitehall went ahead 3-0.
Five runs in the fifth put the game away for Post 191. Czarnopis led off with a single and was followed by consecutive hits by McCune, Sylla and Sluga. Guenther and Mason Pientok then connected on consecutive doubles as Post 191 broke the game open.
Whitehall added another run in the seventh as Guenther singled and came around to score. Czarnopis added his third hit of the game in the final frame.
McCune, Sylla, Sluga and Guenther all had two hits for Post 191.
Sylla pitched a shutout, holding Baldwin to seven hits while striking out nine and walking two.
Osseo 15 Whitehall 7
Post 191 came out swinging, but it couldn’t keep up with Post 324.
Whitehall scored three runs in the top of the first inning and had a 4-2 lead entering the bottom of the third. After Whitehall scored one in the top of the third, Osseo broke through with three in the bottom half to take a 5-4 lead.
Post 191 regained the lead with two runs in the fourth, but the Whitehall team ran out of gas as Osseo was just getting started. Post 354 responded with six in the bottom of the fourth and two more in the fifth to take a 13-6 lead. Whitehall got one run back in the top of the sixth, but Osseo responded with two in the bottom half then shut Whitehall out in the seventh.
No further information from the game was reported to the Times.
