Sturgeon Bay's Ethan Kratcha struck out 12 and did not need much more than that in a 7-0 win over Gibraltar/Washington Island on Tuesday evening.
A matchup between two of the top pitchers in the Packerland Conference. The Clippers were able to touch up the Vikings' Aaron Brey in the second inning as they batted around. Ryan Ruenger's single, Patrick Haese's double, and Caleb Plzak's bases-loaded walk helped the Clippers build a 3-0 lead. The Clippers added two more runs in the fourth thanks to back-to-back hits from the Plzaks.
The fourth inning marked the Vikings' biggest threat as Owen Dannhausen and Cam Munao registered back-to-back singles. Kratcha, however, was able to bear down and retire Jaxin Lindgren via a strikeout and force Luke Rericha into a groundout to leave Dannhausen and Munao stranded at second and third. The Clippers capped off their scoring in the sixth inning thanks to a RBI single from Caleb Plzak and an error charged to Dannhausen.
Kratcha allowed three hits and one walk across seven innings to go along with his 12 strikeouts. Caleb Plzak went 3-3 with three RBI while Haese went 2-3 with one RBI. Dannhausen led the Vikings with two hits. Brey took the loss on the mound for the Vikings, allowing five runs (5 ER) on seven hits across 3 2/3 innings. Bennett Issacson-Krueger finished the game off for Brey, allowing two runs (1 ER) on three hits. Both pitchers struck out four Clippers in the loss.
The Clippers return to action Friday to play at Peshtigo before a pair of games Saturday against Howards Grove and Peshtigo. The Vikings look to rebound from their first loss of the season with a home game against Kewaunee on Friday and two games in Crivitz on Saturday. All three of those games will be carried live on 105.1 The GOAT.
