A well-attended Father's Day afternoon played host to one of the most anticipated first-half games on the schedule. The 5-0 Kolberg Braves traveled north to take on the 5-0 Sister Bay Bays on 105.1 The GOAT.
The first two innings between the Bays and Braves were a pitcher's duel, with Sam Forkert throwing two scoreless innings, retiring all 6 batters in order, and Tyler Neinas only allowing one run, on an RBI Sacrifice Fly from Sawyer Johnson. It was the third, however, where Kolberg was able to do their damage, as a leadoff double from Devin Schinktgen and a walk from Trevor Hawkey would result in Schinktgen stealing home after Hawkey took second base with a throw. An Austen Rohe RBI single would make the game 2-1 after 3 innings.
Tyler Neinas would exit the game completely in the bottom of the third inning, with Trevor Reinhardt coming on in relief, surprisingly multiple innings earlier than expected. Reinhardt would find his groove early, however, as he would retire the first six batters he would see in order, and would scatter 10 strikeouts over the seven innings he would pitch.
Kolberg would do more damage in the fifth and seventh innings, as back to back singles from Hawkey and Reinhardt would result in a 2 RBI double to the right-center field fence from Rohe, making the game 4-1. Rohe would end the game as the hit leader for both sides, ending the day with 4 hits and 3 RBIs. Rohe's third hit of the day, partnered with a Jack Peterson single, would both count as runs for Kolberg, as Austen Dart recorded a sacrifice fly and Nick Lecaptain recorded an RBi single.
It was 6-1 Kolberg, and first place looked good as theirs. After a run in the eighth for Sister Bay, cutting the lead to 4, Austen Rohe would enter in the bottom of the ninth looking to end the game. After getting the first two batters out, Carl Burgess and Alex Laughlin would have back-to-back walks, and Rohe's day would be over, re-enter Trevor Reinhardt. Reinhardt would face Stew Larsen, who recorded an RBI single, making the game 6-3. Then Spencer Krause, who entered the day batting .600 but was 0-4 with 4 K's before the at-bat, roped a double into the gap to cut the lead to 6-5. Tom Sawyer would single home another run, and Sister Bay would force the game to the 10th inning after scoring 4 unanswered runs with two outs in the inning.
In the top of the tenth, Sam Forkert would show some signs of slowing down. Nick Lecaptain started the Braves off with a walk, be bunted over to second, and then another RBI single from Devin Schinktgen would bring him home and bring the score to 7-6. Reinhardt would record strikeout 9 and 10 in the bottom of the tenth, and Kolberg would remain unbeaten after one of the all-time classics in the DCBL.
Sam Forkert was the losing pitcher, pitching 10 innings and striking out 8 Braves. Trevor Reinhardt would get the win, eclipsing double-digit strikeouts with 10.
Kolberg and Sister Bay will both face teams at the bottom of the standings next week, as Kolberg will travel to Institute, and Sister Bay will play host to Baileys Harbor.
Other scores include West Jacksonport blowing out West Jacksonport 13-2 while Washington Island edged Maplewood 3-1.
