Junior Braeden Hoth doubled in the tying run and scored the go-ahead run in the sixth inning as Fort Atkinson’s baseball team rallied past Mount Horeb 7-6 at Jones Park on Monday in nonconference action.
The Fort sixth, which saw Hayden Anderson relieve Terek Isely for the Vikings, started with a single by Cam Haagensen, who was retired on a fielder’s choice by Mason Ketterhagen. Ketterhagen then stole second and took third when Alexis Martinez reached on an error at third base. The duo executed a double steal play, with Ketterhagen scoring to make it 6-5.
Hoth then smashed a double off the fence in left field to knot it up. After Braden Hausen drew a walk and Trent Wilson advanced both runners with a sacrifice bunt, Hoth took advantage of a wild pitch to give the Blackhawks their first lead.
“This is a nice win against another tough team from the Badger Small,” Fort baseball coach Andy Schwantes said. “Alexis and Mason did good work on the double steal in the sixth and Braeden hammered the ball to left to tie it, about two feet from being a home run.
“I was proud of the guys for hanging in there again and pulling out a win.”
The Vikings, who had a five-game win streak snapped, started the game with five consecutive hits, including RBI base knocks by Josh Manchester, who was 4-for-4, and Drew Preimesberger. Preimesberger scored on a wild pitch before Willy Cox’s run-scoring single capped the four-run frame.
Mount Horeb (6-2) was back at it in the second, when Preimesberger drove in a run on a sacrifice fly and Colin Larson plated Manchester on a single to make it 6-1, chasing Fort’s starter Wilson.
Jackson Leibman entered for the Blackhawks and plunked Talon Stoennetz before inducing a pair of ground outs to the left side of the infield that resulted in fielder’s choices to end the inning.
Fort scored on an error and wild pitch in the second to pull within 6-3. The Blackhawks tacked on another run in the fifth when Hausen led off the inning with a single, stole second, took third on a ground out by Leibman and scored on an error by Manchester at shortstop.
Alex Block relieved Leibman in the seventh and worked around a lead off walk to earn the save, stranding the game-tying run at third when Jake Sroda popped out to first base.
Leibman pitched 4 2/3 shutout innings of two-hit ball with three strikeouts, no walks in the victory for the Blackhawks (3-4).
“Offensively we continue to give ourselves a chance and have been competitive most offensive innings this year,” Schwantes said. “We continue to get inconsistent outings on the mound and once we can work through that, I think we will be very tough to beat.
“Jackson did a great job keeping us in it and Alex worked around the lead off walk to finish it.”
Fort travels to face Badger Large foe DeForest today at 5 p.m.
FORT ATKINSON 7, MT. HOREB 6
Mount Horeb 420 000 0 — 6 10 3
Fort 120 013 x — 7 7 3
Leading hitters — MH: Manchester 4x4, Larson 2x3, Finley (2B); FA: Hoth 2x3 (2B).
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) — MH: Isely 5-5-4-3-1-5, Anderson L; 1-2-3-3-1-0; FA: Wilson 1.1-8-6-5-1-1, Leibman W; 4.2-2-0-0-0-3, Block 1-0-0-0-1-1.
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