Washington Baseball

Freese struggles as Warriors lose substate opener

IOWA CITY - Back-to-back home runs in the opening inning of play can deflate any baseball team pretty quickly.

Iowa City West pounced on Washington pitcher Dakota Freese for five runs in the first inning of the opening round of the Class 4A playoffs Friday night, but the Warriors never gave up.

As has been the trend for the Washington baseball team all year, the Warriors faced adversity and battled through it, displaying a good effort in their 7-5 loss at the Iowa City West field.

“We spotted them five in the first but we fought right back and got it to a 5-4 game,” said Warrior Coach Brent Henry. “We unfortunately had two runs too little.”

A powerful Iowa City West lineup got to Freese right away as Ryan Siems and Spence Bonner hit back-to-back RBI singles, starting the big first inning against the Chicago White Sox draft pick. West pitcher Jeremy Cronk then hit a two-run bomb over the left field fence, followed by another homer to left by Luke Crimmins.

“He was throwing good pitches. He got it in on their hands a little bit and they hit a couple of seeing-eye grounders and a couple of bloopers,” said Henry. “They really only tagged him for two good hits, everything else was in on the hands and they just found holes.”

West’s first inning proved to be crucial, because the Warriors took their bats out in the third inning. Dan White hit an RBI ground-rule double and A.J Puk followed with a two-run double as Washington pulled within 5-4.

Iowa City West tacked on another run in the fourth inning when Nate Ewing walked and scored on a wild pitch by Freese, putting the Trojans ahead 6-4.

Washington wouldn’t go away and answered in the fifth inning. The Warriors loaded the bases and Sam Kacena hit a grounder to short, scoring the runner from third base and making it 6-5.

In the sixth inning, the Trojans looked like they were going to blow the game open as they loaded the bases with no outs and chased Freese from the game. However, the Warriors held par to their reputation and limited West to only one run in the tough scenario as Mike Troendle came in and got his team out of the jam.

Iowa City West hurler Ryan Rumpf relieved in the seventh to close the game for the Trojans.

Washington finished the year with a 16-23 record. Henry praised the character of his team.

“Im so proud," he said. "These guys could have had a million excuses to why they could have failed.

"A coaching change the second day in the year, returning off of 11 wins last year, Dakota chasing his dream for pro ball. These guys could have made a mountain of excuses but we came to play everyday. I’m just so proud of my guys.”

Freese played for a travel team in Chicago during part of the high school season, trying to enhance his bargaining position with the White Sox after being drafted in the 34th round in June.

Iowa City West will host Iowa City High or Burlington in the substate final on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (5)
Brown, lf, 4 2 1 0, Dostal, 3b, 4 0 3 0, White, ss, 4 1 2 1, Puk, 1b, 4 1 1 2, Kacena, c, 4 0 0 1, Rhatigan, rf, 3 0 0 0, Freese, p, 3 0 0 0, Zingula, 2b, 3 0 0 0, Troendle, cf, 3 1 0 0. Totals  32 5 7 4.

IOWA CITY WEST (7)
Peller, cf, 4 1 0 0, Ewing, dh, 4 2 1 0, Rumpf, 3b, 4 0 1 0, Siems, rf, 4 1 1 1, Bonner, 1b, 4 1 1 1, Cronk, p, 4 1 2 2, Crimmins, ss, 4 1 2 1, Reiners, lf, 3 0 0 0, Franz, 2b, 3 0 0 0. Totals 34 7 8 5.

Washington        004 010 0 - 5 7 3
Iowa City West   500 101 x - 7 8 0

Freese, Troendle (6) and Kacena. Cronk, Rumpf (7) and Baker. W - Cronk. L - Freese. 2B - White, Puk. HR - Cronk, Crimmins. SB - Brown, Dostal, Peller, Siems, Bonner.

Warrior rally upends Davenport Central

DAVENPORT - Washington scored four runs in the first and seventh innings Tuesday and beat Davenport Central, 8-5, in a non-conference baseball game at Brady Street Stadium.

Washington (16-21) ended its regular season with seven wins in its last eight games. The Warriors play at Iowa City West on Friday in the first round of the Class 4A substate tournament.

Washington jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning, sending nine men to the plate.

Davenport Central (23-10) chipped away and held a 5-4 lead after five innings.

Washington still trailed by a run in the seventh inning, but came back to score four runs. Three of the runs were unearned.

Washington's Mike Troendle (3-4) was the winning pitcher with two innings of scoreless relief.

Jordy Brown was 3-for-4 with a triple, two runs scored and extended his school singles record to 44.

AJ Puk was 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI.

Washington Warriors at Davenport Central
Jul 12, 2011 at Davenport, IA (Brady Street Field)

Washington Warriors 8 (16-21)                 Davenport Central 5

Player                      AB  R  H BI       Player                      AB  R  H BI
---------------------------------------       ---------------------------------------
Jordy Brown lf/cf..........  4  2  3  0       Mike Cendrowski rf.........  3  1  0  0
Noah Dostal 3b.............  4  1  1  1       Ryan Cartee ss.............  2  1  1  0
Dan White ss...............  3  1  0  0       Blake Moe lf/cf............  3  2  2  2
AJ Puk p/1b................  3  1  2  1       Tony Bakeris 3b............  3  1  1  0
Robert Hogg pr/p..........  2  1  0  0       TJ Meyer dh................  4  0  0  0
Sam Kacena c...............  3  0  1  1       Nate Rauch cf/p............  2  0  1  1
Noah Burdt pr.............  0  1  0  0       David Mampre c.............  3  0  0  0
Cole Rhatigan rf...........  1  0  1  1       Bryan Christensen 2b.......  3  0  0  0
Zach Zingula 2b............  3  0  0  0       Devon Paulsen p............  1  0  0  0
Grant Dostal 1b............  2  0  0  1        Zach Behrendt ph..........  1  0  0  0
Mike Troendle cf/p.........  2  1  0  0        Kyle Franklin p/lf........  1  0  0  0
Kevin Hofeldt 1b...........  0  0  0  0
Totals..................... 27  8  8  5       Totals..................... 26  5  5  3

Score by Innings                  R  H  E
-----------------------------------------
Washington Warriors. 400 000 4 -  8  8  2
Davenport Central... 200 030 0 -  5  5  1
-----------------------------------------

E - Puk; G. Dostal; Bakeris. DP - Blue Devils 2. LOB - Warriors 6; Blue Devils 6. 2B
- Puk; Rauch. 3B - Brown; Bakeris. HR - Moe. HBP - Rhatigan. SB - Brown; N. Dostal;
Rhatigan 2; Cartee; Bakeris.

Washington Warriors            IP  H  R ER BB SO  WP BK HP IBB  AB BF  FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
AJ Puk ....................   4.1  2  4  4  6  7   2  0  0  0   15 21   1  5
Robert Hogg ...............   0.2  2  1  1  0  0   0  0  0  0    4  4   1  1
Mike Troendle  W,3-4.......   2.0  1  0  0  0  3   1  0  0  0    7  7   1  2

Davenport Central              IP  H  R ER BB SO  WP BK HP IBB  AB BF  FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Devon Paulsen .............   5.0  5  4  4  4  2   1  0  0  0   18 22   6  5
Kyle Franklin .............   1.0  1  0  0  0  1   0  0  0  0    4  4   1  1
Nate Rauch  L..............   1.0  2  4  1  3  1   1  0  1  0    5  9   0  1

WP - Puk 2; Troendle; Rauch; Paulsen. HBP - by Rauch (Rhatigan).

Strikeouts - N. Dostal; Hogg 2; Zingula; Cendrowski 2; Bakeris; Meyer 2; Mampre;
Christensen; Paulsen; Behrendt; Franklin. Walks - White; Puk; Kacena; Rhatigan 2;
Zingula; Troendle; Cendrowski; Cartee 2; Moe; Bakeris; Rauch.

Umpires -
Start: 7 p.m.   Time: 2:10   Attendance: 150

Warriors belted by No.6 Pleasant Valley

BETTENDORF - The Washington Warriors put their six-game winning streak on the line Saturday against the No.6 team in the state.

It did not turn out well for the Warriors.

Pleasant Valley belted Washington, 13-2, in five innings in a non-conference ballgame.

Sam Kacena hit a solo home run for the Warriors (15-21) and Noah Dostal had an RBI double. Grant Dostal started the game on the mound for Washington but had a rough outing, allowing eight runs (six earned) in one inning.

Washington Warriors at Pleasant Valley
Jul 09, 2011 at Bettendorf, IA (Pleasant Valley HS)

Washington Warriors 2 (15-21)                 Pleasant Valley 13 (27-8)

Player                      AB  R  H BI       Player                      AB  R  H BI
---------------------------------------       ---------------------------------------
Jordy Brown lf.............  1  1  0  0       Blake Wilson c.............  3  0  1  0
Noah Dostal c/p............  3  0  1  1        Seth Haidsiak pr..........  1  1  0  1
Dan White ss...............  3  0  1  0       Brandon Sheeder lf.........  2  1  2  0
AJ Puk 1b..................  3  0  0  0        Weiss lf..................  0  1  0  0
Sam Kacena dh/c............  2  1  1  1       Casey Addelia ss...........  4  2  3  0
Cole Rhatigan 3b...........  1  0  1  0       Ben Trewyn p/pr............  2  0  2  2
Noah Burdt rf..............  2  0  0  0        Zach Ahrens pr............  0  1  0  0
Zach Zingula 2b............  2  0  0  0        John Doe p................  0  0  0  0
Mike Troendle cf...........  2  0  0  0       Cory Clark cf..............  4  1  2  3
Grant Dostal p.............  0  0  0  0       Brady Hanna dh.............  2  2  0  0
David Conway 2b............  3  1  1  2
Trent Kress 1b.............  2  1  1  1
Logan Vandewostine 1b.....  0  0  0  0
Craig Ralston rf...........  3  2  1  1
Austin Suhr 3b.............  0  0  0  0
Totals..................... 19  2  4  2       Totals..................... 26 13 13 10

Score by Innings               R  H  E
--------------------------------------
Washington Warriors. 000 11 -  2  4  1
Pleasant Valley..... 830 2X - 13 13  0
--------------------------------------

E - Rhatigan. LOB - Warriors 5; PV Spartans 8. 2B - N. Dostal; Kress. 3B - Clark. HR
- Kacena; Conway; Ralston. SB - Brown.

Washington Warriors            IP  H  R ER BB SO  WP BK HP IBB  AB BF  FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grant Dostal  L,5-2........   1.0  7  8  6  3  1   2  1  0  0   11 14   1  1
Noah Dostal ...............   3.0  6  5  5  4  0   2  0  0  0   15 19   4  5

Pleasant Valley                IP  H  R ER BB SO  WP BK HP IBB  AB BF  FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ben Trewyn  W..............   4.0  2  1  1  2  3   1  0  0  0   14 16   4  5
John Doe ..................   1.0  2  1  1  1  1   0  0  0  0    5  6   0  2

WP - N. Dostal 2; G. Dostal 2; Trewyn. BK - G. Dostal.

Strikeouts - N. Dostal; Puk; Zingula; Troendle; Conway. Walks - Brown 2; Rhatigan;
Sheeder; Weiss; Trewyn; Ahrens; Hanna 2; Vandewostine.

Umpires - HP: Greg Miller  1B: Bill Poch
Start: 12:15 pm   Time: 1:40   Attendance: 115

Troendle shines as Warriors sweep Dubuque Senior

When one thinks of the Washington Warriors pitching staff, Chicago White Sox draft pick Dakota Freese usually comes to mind.

Washington senior Mike Troendle wants people to start thinking more freely.

Troendle took the mound in the first game of a doubleheader against Dubuque Senior on Friday evening and dominated the Rams’ lineup, helping the Warriors win 10-0 in six innings at the Washington Field.

“That is the kind of outing we expect from him,” said Washington Coach Brent Henry.

The Warriors carried that momentum into the second game and took the nightcap, 7-5, for their sixth win a row.

Troendle made quick work of Dubuque Senior, facing only 18 batters in six innings, which is the bare minimum. The Rams managed two singles, but Troendle forced the next batter to ground into an inning-ending double play both times.

“I got on my game and luckily I was able to control my pitches,” he said.

Friday night also marked senior recognition night for Washington (15-20, 9-17), and Troendle mentioned he used that as motivation for his pitching, much to the chagrin of Dubuque batters.

“I put a lot of heart in it and wanted it really bad for all of us seniors,” he said.

The upperclassmen continued to own the night in Washington’s exciting 7-5 win in the second game.

Dubuque Senior (14-23, 10-16) started strong, scoring three runs in the first inning against Dan White. The Warriors answered with three runs in the second inning, getting consecutive singles by Sam Kacena, Cole Rhatigan and Zach Zingula. Freese hit a sacrifice fly to center field to knot the score, 3-3.

The Rams scored in the third inning when White got a Dubuque runner in a pickle between second and third, but he made a throwing error and the run scored to give Senior a 4-3 lead.

Then came Washington’s upperclassmen heroics. Rhatigan cracked a two-run home run in the fourth, putting the Warriors up 5-4.

The Rams tied the game in the fifth with a sacrifice fly. In the bottom half of the inning, White made up for his mistake in the field. With the go-ahead runner on first base, he crushed an 0-2 pitch over the left field wall for a 7-5 lead, putting the Warriors in front for good.

“We had a couple of big home runs. Cole Rhatigan had a big one and then Dan White had that clutch two-run home run,” said Henry. “All of these guys do a great job. The hard work that they put in during practice is paying off during games.”

With the likes of Freese, lefty A.J Puk and Troendle in the pitching rotation, Henry feels confident going down the line.

“I feel like we have four or five guys who we can put out there at any time who are going to throw strikes and are going to get ahead and keep us in competitive ballgames,” he said.

The Warrior bats are also looking good. They collected 15 hits in the opener and clubbed two homers in the nightcap. Puk and Kacena each went 5-for-7 in the twinbill.

“Obviously if we keep swinging the bats like we were today it will continue to be fun,” said Henry.

The substate tournament begins next Friday. The Warriors like the way things are going, but are not satisfied yet.

“We are going to keep getting out there and working hard on the field every day,” said Troendle.

Game 1

DUBUQUE SENIOR (0)
Grant, rf, 2 0 0 0, Janes, 2b, 2 0 0 0, Jantsch, 1b, 2 0 0 0, Merritt, 3b, 2 0 0 0, Jones, ss, 2 0 1 0, Hansen, dh, 2 0 0 0, Kremer, lf, 2 0 1 0, Clemens, cf, 2 0 0 0, Capesius, c, 2 0 0 0. Totals 18 0 2 0.

WASHINGTON (10)
Brown, cf, 4 1 3 0, Dostal, c, 4 2 2 2, White, ss, 4 2 1 0, Puk, 1b, 4 3 4 3, Kacena, dh, 4 1 3 3, Rhatigan, 3b, 3 0 0 0, Zingula, 2b, 3 0 0 0, Hardin, rf, 3 0 0 0, Troendle, p, 3 1 2 0. Totals 32 10 15 8.

Dubuque Senior  000 000 -  0  2 3
Washington       202 402 - 10 15 0

Sabers, Merrit (4) and Capesius. Troendle and Dostal. W - Troendle. L - Sabers. 2B- Dostal 2, Puk 2, Kacena 2. 3B - Brown, Puk. SB - Brown 2, Dostal, Troendle.

Game 2

DUBUQUE SENIOR (5)
Grant, p, 5 1 0 0, Janes, c, 4 1 3 1, Jantsch, ss, 4 0 0 0, Merritt, 3b, 4 1 1 0, Jones, 2b, 4 1 1 0, Hansen, dh, 4 1 1 0, Kremer, lf, 4 0 0 1, Clemens, cf, 4 0 1 0, Sabers, 1b, 2 0 0 0, Powers, 1 0 0 0, Blake, 1 0 0 0. Totals 37 5 7 2.

WASHINGTON (7)
Brown, lf, 3 1 1 0, Dostal, ss, 3 0 0 0, White, p, 3 1 1 2, Puk, 1b, 3 0 1 0, Kacena, c, 3 2 2 0, Rhatigan, rf, 3 2 2 2, Zingula, 2b, 3 1 2 1, Freese, 3b, 2 0 0 1, Troendle, cf, 3 0 0 0, Hogg, p, 1 0 0 0. Totals 27 7 9 6.

Dubuque Senior  301 010 0 - 5 7 1
Washington        030 220 x - 7 9 2

Grant and Janes. White, Burdt (5), Hogg (5) and Kacena. W - Hogg. L - Grant. 2B - Kacena. 3B - Zingula. HR - Rhatigan, White. SB - Grant, Janes.