Storm Sweeps Eagles in Packerland Showdown

Southern Door’s Will Jandrin (right front) reaches home plate to score while Derek Schinktgen (10) looks on holding the bat in the first game of Monday’s Packerland Conference baseball doubleheader at Kewaunee. Photo by Kevin Boneske.

The baseball matchup for first place in the Packerland Conference lived up to its hype Monday when Southern Door traveled to Kewaunee for what turned out to be a competitive doubleheader.

The first game needed an extra inning to complete when the Storm scored the winning run on an infield ground ball by Sawyer Pribek with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth to defeat the Eagles, 4-3.

Kewaunee jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second inning on a solo home run by Mitchell Thompson followed by a two-run homer from Caleb Schaller off Southern Door starting pitcher Tyler Neinas. Those round-trippers turned out to be the Storm’s only two hits of the game.

The Eagles tied the game at 3-3 in the top of the fifth inning with singles from Will Jandrin, Taylor Schaefer, Jack Peterson and Neinas.

Kewaunee scored the winning run in the bottom of the eighth without a hit or hitting the ball out of the infield.

The Storm’s Thomas Stangel pitched the final three innings to record the win in relief of Cal Ihlenfeldt. Jaden Diller took the loss in relief of Neinas.

Jandrin led Southern Door with two hits, which included a single and a double.

Storm 10, Eagles 6

The second game, which went six innings before darkness fell on the field, featured the lead changing hands before Kewaunee pulled out a 10-6 victory.

After the Eagles led 2-1 following the opening frame, Storm tallied four runs in the top of the second to regain the lead at 5-2 with a rally that included three walks and three singles. 

Southern Door got a run back in the bottom of the third, and then took a 6-5 lead with three runs in the fourth inning, which featured an RBI double by Neinas aided by two Kewaunee infield errors.

However, the Eagles’ lead was short-lived when a combination of Kewaunee hits and Southern Door infield errors produced a total of five runs for the Storm in the fifth and sixth innings.

The losses dropped Southern Door to 10-2 in the Packerland and 14-3 overall. The Eagles close out their league schedule with a doubleheader Friday in Green Bay against NEW Lutheran and a home twin bill Monday against Sturgeon Bay.

Kewaunee, which remains the only undefeated conference team at 14-0, can win the Packerland title outright with at least one win in Friday’s home doubleheader against Peshtigo.

The Eagles and Storm could face each other again in the postseason with both teams in the WIAA Division 3 Tournament.