MILTON — A pair of mini streaks were on the line Saturday when Milton hosted Janesville Parker for a nonconference baseball game at Milton High.
The Red Hawks had gone a week without a win, losing three games in that span. The Vikings, meanwhile, had gotten their first two wins of the season Wednesday and Thursday and were going for three in a row.
The visitors got out of the gate strong, leading 5-4 through three innings, but Karson Lueck came out of the Milton bullpen and shut down Parker’s lineup to allow Milton’s hitters to first overtake and then pull away from the Vikings, ending both their losing streak and the Vikings’ win streak with a 14-5 result in their favor.
Lueck entered the game for Milton (7-6 overall, 4-4 Badger Large) after Parker had five runs across against Red Hawks starter Carson Biddick. The Red Hawks reliever inherited runners on first and second with two outs and struck out Tavyne Schnuck to start his outing.
His final line included 3 2/3 innings, seven strikeouts, no runs or hits, and one base on balls.
“For Karson, it’s just about getting the ball in the strike zone and challenging hitters,” Milton coach Kris Agnew said. “His last couple of outings, he had a tough time with some walks and trying to be too fine with his pitches. Today he came out and just owned the fastball, was able to get ahead of guys and put them away early.”
Milton took the lead for good in the bottom of the fourth with RBI singles by Broden Jackson and Charlie Kober.
That inning started with what appeared to be a routine groundout, but leadoff man Jack Spielmann, who went 3 for 4 on the day, was safe when Parker first baseman Max Monroe came off the bag in the process of receiving a throw. Parker pitcher Keegan Skrzypchak struck out Braylen Vande Berg and got Jordan Bundy to pop out.
Jackson then singled through the right side of the infield to bring Spielmann home after he had stolen second base. Jackson advanced on a two-base error on a Parker pickoff try thrown way over the first baseman’s head. He scored when Kober’s popup into left field got pushed by a strong wind out of the reach of Parker’s left fielder for a hit.
Those errors were two of seven committed by Vikings defenders. There were a handful of other plays that officially went down as hits that probably should’ve been Milton outs.
“Our pitchers threw outs, and we didn’t convert them,” Michaels said.
Of Milton’s 14 runs, five were unearned, including two in a six-run fifth that blew the game open for the Red Hawks.
Kober and Nathan Birkhimer each had two-run hits in the fifth off Schnuck, with Birkhimer’s making it 12-5 Milton. Braylen Vande Berg added a two-run double in the sixth for his third and fourth RBI of the day. He started his 2-for-3 day with a solo homer in the first inning.
“He’s just too good of a hitter to be down for too long,” Agnew said of Vande Berg. “We’re expecting him to get hot here pretty soon.”
Before Lueck came on for the Red Hawks, Parker (2-9 overall, 2-6 Big Eight) showed a little bit of pop in the top of its batting order.
Skrzypchak led off for the Vikings and singled to start the game. J.J. Douglas walked behind him to put two on, and Nathan Hach collected an RBI with a groundout before Max Monroe drove in a run with the first of his three singles in the game.
Skrzypchak and Douglas also started the third with back-to-back doubles to give Parker’s center fielder an RBI, then Carter Smalley hit an infield single to put two on again. Monroe and Gabe Bowers hit consecutive RBI singles, forcing Agnew to pull Biddick from the game and insert Lueck.
The Vikings are set to host Verona at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Riverside Park for their next game, while Milton will play another Big Eight opponent at 5 p.m. Monday in Middleton.
MILTON 14, JANESVILLE PARKER 5
Parker 203 000 0 — 5 8 7
Milton 112 262 X — 14 15 1
Leading hitters — Skrzypchak (JP) 2x3, Monroe (JP) 3x4, Spielmann (M) 3x4, Vande Berg (M) 2x3, Kober (M) 2x4, Fitzke (M) 3x4, Birkhimer (M) 2x3. 2B — Skrzypchak (JP), J.J. Douglas (JP), Spielmann (M), Vande Berg (M), Kober (M), Zeal (M). HR — Vande Berg (M).
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) — JP: Skrzypchak L, 4-8-6-3-1-3; Schnuck 1-4-6-4-1-0; Jones 103-2-2-1-0. M: Biddick 2 1/3-7-5-5-1-2; Lueck W, 3 2/3-0-0-0-1-7; Agnew 1-1-0-0-0-0.
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