Papermakers win the showdown in paper town

When Kaukauna and Kimberly meet on the baseball diamond, it seems like anything can happen. Earlier this season, the Papermakers had a three run lead late in the contest before a big four run inning gave their counterparts the come-from-behind win. Their game Saturday at Sunset Park mirrored their previous matchup, but this time the Papermakers used a big inning to come back from a three run deficit and defeated the Ghosts 5-4. Middle reliever Nate Miller could say, "I ain't afraid of no Ghosts," as he
came in to pitch two innings in relief of starter Ryan Nelson. Gary
Thompson pitched the seventh to earn the save.

"These guys deserve some success because they worked hard for it," said Kimberly coach Tim Handrich. "This was a big one because we were two evenly matched teams, they are a very nice ball club as well. Just like the first one could have went either way, this one could have gone either way."

Kaukauna struck early in the first as Ben Deering led things off with a single to right field. After being sacrificed over to second by Phil Gocker, he would come home to score when he stole third base and the ball trickled into left field on the attempt to throw him out.

Will Van Abel took the first pitch of the fourth inning deep to left for a solo home run. Tyler Krzewina followed with a single up the middle and was sacrificed over to second by Joe Lambie and advanced to third on a Kimberly error. Krzewina then scored as a Papermaker double play attempt failed to end the inning and the Ghosts were up 3-0.

Kimberly headed into the fourth inning with only one hit, but that is when the bats came to life. Nic Peters started things with a single to left and Gary Thompson followed with an infield single. A balk by Kaukauna pitcher Dan Wolter allowed Josh Hoffman, pinch running for Peters, to score from third. Kurt Breier and Jeff Nieuwenhuis reached on walks to load the bases. An infield error by the Ghosts allowed Thompson to score to cut the lead to 3-2.

Kimberly's leadoff hitter Dan DeBruin gave his team the lead with a clutch two out base hit to right to score Breier and Nieuwenhuis. Todd Riesterer added some insurance, and the eventually winning run with a single to bring home Eric Schreiber to complete the inning.

"We had one bad inning," said Kaukauna coach Jeff Gustman. "We gave up five runs. We didn't field the ball very well. Dan (Wolter) got a little rattled out on the mound and that happens. Other than that, it was a good ballgame. It was a good ballgame anyhow but we just have got to cut down on the one inning where we make the mistakes."

Ben Deering responded with his first-ever home run to lead things off in the fifth and make it 5-4. Kimberly starting pitcher Ryan Nelson fell behind to Gocker and the 'Makers brought Kyle Miller in for relief. Miller did his job by shutting down the Ghosts for the next two innings, allowing no runs and just one hit.

Thompson took the hill in the seventh and after Henry Schmidt reached on an error, he struck out Deering. Phil Gocker sacrifice bunted to advance Schmidt to second with two outs but Thompson took care of things himself when he struck out Bobby Deering looking to end the game.

"Miller did an outstanding job today," said Handrich. "If our starters can get us four or five innings, Miller got us two innings and we only had to use Thompson for one after he threw two yesterday. (Set up pitchers Miller and Kurt Breier) have been doing a nice job of getting five or six outs so Thompson doesn?t have to come in and throw 40 pitches, and that has worked really nice for us the past couple of days."

Gustman believed his team outplayed the Papermakers except for one inning and would make the same decisions he made in the last inning if the scenario presented itself again. The FVA's leading hitter, Van Abel, waited on deck when Deering ended the game on the strikeout.

"We had gone ahead 3-0 and that's when you have to take advantage but we let them right back in it," said Gustman. "We battled back and had an opportunity at the end but I'll take the chances with the opportunities at the end. Bob is our No. 3 hitter and he?s done a good job this year. He?s hitting well. If I can get to the top of the order you never know. Phil had a good bunt, he got the runner over and we had a chance to win. That's all you can ask."

After losing many close games early on, the victory on Saturday marked the third straight for the Papermakers in as many days and improved their record to 7-9 in conference play.

"I think when we were down we all knew that we could play with anybody just because of the way we were playing with losing a couple of one run games," said Kimberly's Todd Riesterer. "Coach made us look at ourselves and gave us a gut check after the loss last week to Oshkosh North. Everyone is stepping up now and we are playing really good ball."

The Ghosts will keep doing what they have been doing all season long as they head into the final stretch of the season in preparation for the post season.

"We just have to keep battling and battle back and the tournament is coming up. We've got three games left and we go from there," said Gustman.

For more photos of the showdown in paper town, see www.timesvillager.com.

Kaukauna 100 210 0 ? 4 5 2
Kimberly 000 500 x ? 5 5 4

WP: Ryan Nelson LP: Dan Wolter
Save- Gary Thompson
Leading hitters: (Kaukauna) Ben Deering 2x4, HR; Will Van Abel 1x3, HR. (Kimberly) Gary Thompson 1x3, Kurt Breier 1x2, BB; Dan DeBruin 1x3, 2 RBI.

This article originally appeared in the Heart of the Valley Times-Villager