Waterloo’s turnaround 2024 baseball season only continues to pick up steam. Last spring, the Pirates mustered only five wins. This time around, they’ve nearly tripled with with 13 wins in 16 tries. This hot streak has earned Waterloo state-wide respect.
The most recent Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association (WBCA) coaches poll placed Waterloo at No. 19 in Division 3. This decision came right on the heels of the Pirates’ season sweep of Capitol — South rival Belleville. Waterloo took the first game 6-2 at home on Tuesday, April 30 and battled for a 1-0 road victory on Thursday, May 2.
Runs as a whole were hard to come by in this series. Before Thursday’s pitching duel, the first three innings on Tuesday’s game at Waterloo Fireman’s Park went scoreless. Belleville struck first in the top of the fourth with its only run off of senior Waterloo starting pitcher Keegan Lauersdorf. In Lauersdorf’s five innings of work, he only allowed one hit for that single run to go along with six strikeouts.
The run woke Waterloo’s offense up in the bottom half of the inning. The Pirates erupted for five runs thanks to six hits. Waterloo nearly scored six runs, but senior Cal Hush was thrown out at home on a double from senior Trevor Firari. That didn’t slow down production, though, as Lauersdorf and junior Bryce Aubart connected on back-to-back singles, the latter of which scored Firari. Lauersdorf would soon come home on a pair of wild pitches.
Sophomore Ryder Jaehnke kept the big hits coming with a booming double to left field. The big shot brought both Aubart and freshman Mason Reedy in to score. Back to the top of the batting order, senior Jon Sampo punched a grounder into left field to bring Jaehnke home, giving Waterloo a 5-1 advantage.
Waterloo tacked on another run in the bottom of the fifth as Aubart brought Hush home with a single to center field. This was a bit of run support for himself as Aubart was then tabbed to come in to close the final two innings of the game on the pitching mound. He turned in a strong performance, allowing just two hits with three strikeouts. The run Belleville snuck across in the top of the seventh inning came via an error. It was too little, too late as the Pirates held on for the 6-2 win.
Aubart was also part of a three-man effort on the pitching mound two days later to shut the Wildcats out on their home field. Hush got the start, getting one strikeout and allowing one hit in one inning of work. Jaehnke took care of the next four. In his time on the mound, Belleville managed just two hits while Jahenke rung up five batters. Aubart was credited with the win and save as he pitched the final two innings. He struck out three batters as Belleville only managed one more hit.
It was a similarly frustrating day at the plate for the Pirates. They managed just three total hits, but the biggest of them came in the top of the sixth inning. Senior Cam Tschanz mashed a double into right field, putting himself in scoring position with one out on the board. Following a strikeout, Firari came up in the clutch. He pounded a tough grounder to third base which skirted by on an error. Tschanz rounded third and slid safely into home, giving Waterloo its only score in the 1-0 slugfest.
The pair of conference wins bump Waterloo up to a 13-3 overall record this season, including a 5-2 mark in Capitol — South play. Thanks to a recent three-game skid from New Glarus, the Pirates are up to second in the conference standings behind only Cambridge at 7-1.
Waterloo has a light week coming up, the highlight being a home conference matchup with Wisconsin Heights on Wednesday, May 8. The Pirates beat the Vanguards 10-6 on the road back on April 6. Waterloo’s only other action will be a non-conference trip to face Kenosha St. Joseph at Carthage College on Friday, May 10. The following week promises some intriguing action as the Pirates will play their series against New Glarus.
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Capitol — South conference baseball standings
(overall records in parenthesis)
-as of Monday, May 6
1. Cambridge, 7-1 (9-4)
2. Waterloo, 5-2 (13-3)
3. New Glarus, 5-3 (8-3)
4. Marshall, 4-3 (7-6)
5. Belleville, 1-7 (4-11)
6. Wisconsin Heights, 0-7 (2-12)
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