The Streak is Over: A’s Finally Get a W

DOOR COUNTY LEAGUE BASEBALL

They did it.
The Baileys Harbor A’s defeated the Institute Cubs Sunday, 6-3, to win a game for the first time in almost four years.
It wrapped up an exciting week that saw the Ports win on a Derek Niedzwiecki walk-off home run and the Braves hold off Sister Bay in another epic showdown. That leaves no team undefeated after only three weeks. Maybe there will be a lot more parity in the Door County League this season than many of us anticipated.
The Swami not only hit on all four games last week, but he said that the Island would score some runs and boy did they ever. The Swami now sits at 11-1 for the season.

Let’s take a look at week four.

Washington Island (2-1) @ Egg Harbor (2-1)

On paper this is the marquee matchup of the day. The Islanders pounded out 19 hits Sunday in their win over Maplewood. Luke Geiger not only picked up the win, but also notched five hits and six RBIs. Caleb Cornell, Ray McDonald, and Matt Foss all chipped in with three hits which was more than enough to handle the Mets. 

Egg Harbor fought their way back to tie the game against the Ports, only to see the first pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning end their comeback hopes. Anthony Jennerjohn and Joe Sawyer collected two hits each which accounted for half of the teams’ total. This is an important game for the Indians as last year they started 2-0 before going on a losing streak. With a road date with Sister Bay next weekend this could very well be an early-season must-win game.

Swami Says: Egg Harbor

West Jacksonport (2-1) @ Maplewood (1-2)

Crushing a pitch out of the yard to win a game is one of the best feelings a player can get in baseball, and Niedzwiecki felt it on Sunday. To beat your rivals in dramatic fashion and put yourself in first place after giving up a lead that you had all game is one for the books. Woody Schartner also went deep while Paul Briney and newcomer Kyle Volkmann chipped in two hits each. Adding Volkmann will only make this team better and keep them in the title chase all season.

The Mets got a typical Island welcome Sunday. They return home after a beat-down at the hands of the Islanders and no rest for the wicked as they host a hot West Jacksonport team. Adam Gutschow had three hits on Sunday and Kordell Draves left the park in what was most of their highlights. The Mets are talented enough to steal one from the Ports but you have to ride the hot hand sometimes.

Swami Says: Ports

Kolberg (2-1) @ Institute (0-3)

The Braves didn’t stay down long and continued their recent dominance over Sister Bay. Jake Schneider was lights out with eleven strikeouts while Nick LeCaptain stroked two hits and Austin Rohe also had two with one of them being a home run. 

The Cubs were without their leadoff and cleanup hitters Sunday, but that may not have mattered. Timely hitting has seemed to fail them so far this year, and now they are coming off one of their toughest losses in recent memory. Frankie Ash went seven innings and they will need his arm all season. You can tell a lot about players in how they respond to adversity,  as coach Jared Pflieger agreed. Either they get after it, or they don’t. And while I believe he will get this team moving in the right direction, this week is a tough ask for any team. 

Swami says: Braves 

Baileys Harbor (1-2) @ Sister Bay (2-1)

The Bays now find themselves in an early five-team dogfight at the top of the standings. Spencer Krause, who was a nice addition last year, was the lone hitting star on Sunday against Kolberg, collecting two hits and an RBI.

The A’s celebration reverberated around the entire county. Even though it was against my former team, I had to smile when I heard the final out. As I have said before, a team that rides out a stretch like they have and continues to play hard will reap the rewards down the road. They could very well be sitting on a two-game winning streak if they had one more strong inning against the Mets two weeks ago. Youngsters Cooper Cole, Ben Johnson, Chris Lodl and Cal Ellefson will aid the cast that has already been performing and make this team better each week. While they would love to start a different type of streak, an angry Bays team isn’t a great place to continue. 

Swami says: Bays

Week 3 Results

Baileys Harbor 6, Institute 3

Kolberg 4, Sister Bay 3

Washington Island 20, Maplewood 6

West Jacksonport 5, Egg Harbor 4

Standings

West Jacksonport, 2-1

Kolberg, 2-1

Sister Bay, 2-1

Washington Island, 2-1

Egg Harbor, 2-1

Maplewood, 1-2

Baileys Harbor, 1-2

Institute, 0-3