WIOTA – While one season came to an end for the Wiota Indians Home Talent League baseball team, another will go on.
    The #2-seeded Indians– the defending Western Section champions and a 2016 Final Four participant– were issued an early exit from the playoffs after being knocked off 8-3 by the #7-seeded Dodgeville Knights in the opening round of the Western Section tournament held at Wiota Park on Sunday, Aug. 6.
    However, the Indians returned to their home field on Monday, Aug. 7, and kept their Night League season alive by securing the wild card playoff berth with a 10-1 victory over the Hollandale Rockies.
    Wiota (17-10 overall) finishes the season with an 11-6 record in Sunday League play, while moving to 6-4 in the Night League.
    At Wiota on Sunday afternoon, the visiting Knights (8-9 SL) snapped a 3-3 tie with a three-run outburst in the top of the sixth inning, and then added insurance runs in the seventh and eighth innings to pull away from the Western Section South Division champion Indians.
    Wiota trailed 3-0 heading into the home half of the fourth, but got on the board when DH Rooney Janecke scored on a ground out by shortstop Merrill Brunson to cut the deficit to 3-1.
    Janecke lined a clutch two-out, two-run single in the fifth frame to bring in teammates Tyler Torstenson-Harris and Mitch Marty to even the score at three all.
    The Knights struck right back with three runs in the top of the sixth to regain the lead for good. Right fielder Jordan Olson singled in a run and later scored on a base hit by shortstop Trent Jones in the sixth to spark the rally.
    Mark Ludwig had a RBI-single in the seventh and winning pitcher Danny Sullivan added a RBI-single in the eighth to extend the lead to 8-3. The Knights finished with 17 hits– all singles– as all nine starters recorded at least one hit in the game with seven having multi-hit games.
    The Indians had runners on in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings, but could not push across another run as the Knights defense came up big. Jones made a pair of nice plays to end the Indians’ threat in the seventh, the Knights caught a runner trying to steal home in the eighth, and Olson threw out a runner at first from the outfield for the first out in the ninth and also turned a double play to end the game.
    Janecke and Torstenson-Harris each finished with two hits for Wiota.
    Home field was no advantage for any of the higher seeds in the Western Section on Sunday as all four lower seeds went on road and pulled the “upset” over the host team. Hollandale downed top-seed Mount Horeb/Pine Bluff, 6-4; Argyle edged #3-seed Verona, 4-3; and West Middleton defeated #4-seed Ridgeway, 7-2.
    Argyle hosts Dodgeville and Hollandale heads to West Middleton in second round action on Sunday, Aug. 13.
    At Wiota on Monday night, pitcher Ryan Glendenning gave up just one run en route to a complete-game victory while teammates Ben Muhlstein and Tyler Osterday combined to score five runs and drive in four more as the Indians secured the final berth in the Night League playoffs with a 10-1 win over the Hollandale Rockies in a make-up game from May 18.
    Muhlstein got Wiota rolling in the bottom of the second inning when he doubled in a pair of runs and scored on a groundout by shortstop Blake Burns to put the hosts ahead to stay at 3-0.
    Osterday and Muhlstein each scored on errors in the fourth, and the duo had back-to-back RBI-extra base hits in the five-run fifth to extend the Indians’ lead to 10-1. Jesse Sturtz added a RBI-single in the fifth, while Osterday tripled in a run and scored on Muhlstein’s second double of the night.
    Glendenning (3-0) scattered four hits and five walks over seven innings and surrendered just one run while striking out nine batters on his way to the win on the mound.
    Muhlstein was 2-for-2 with three RBI and two runs scored, while Osterday went 2-for-3 with three runs and a RBI and Sturtz finished 2-for-3 with a run and a RBI. Brad Solberg also had a hit and scored twice for Wiota. 
    The Indians will open the NL playoffs at Middleton (9-1) on Thursday, Aug. 10, at 7:30 p.m.
    Then, on Friday, Aug. 11, Wiota’s Kory Tuescher and Rooney Janecke will each participate in the annual Home Talent League All-Star Game at Madison’s Warner Park. The game is set to start at 7 p.m.

HTL SUNDAY LEAGUE PLAYOFFS
Dodgeville…… 002  103  110 – 8  17  1
Wiota…………. 000  120  000 – 3    8  4
Leading Hitters: D– Jones 2x5, A. Larson 2x5, J. Larson 2x5, Sullivan 2x5, T. Solberg 2x5, Ludwig 2x4, Olson 3x4. W– Rooney Janecke 2x4, Tyler Torstenson-Harris 2x4. 2B– Jeff Solberg.
WP- Sullivan. LP- Ben Conway.
Sv- A. Larson.
At Wiota, on Sunday, Aug. 6

HTL SUNDAY LEAGUE GAMES
Shulls/Bent… 001  021  001 – 5  12  1
Wiota………... 330  000  02x – 8  11  2
Leading Hitters: S/B– Joe Cox 2x5, Colton Bormann 3x5, Jake Marshall 3x4. 2B– Bormann, Marshall, Jacob Green. W– Rooney Janecke 3x4, Kory Tuescher 2x3, Casey Schroeder 2x4, Tyler Torstenson-Harris 2x5.
WP- Ben Conway. LP- Bormann.
Sv- Jesse Sturtz.
At Wiota, on Sunday, July 30

Blanchardville… 020  010  030 – 6  12  2
Wiota…………… 002  001  112 – 7  11  3
Leading Hitters: B– Co. Carmody 3x5, D. Schliem 2x5, Ca. Carmody 2x4, Breuer 3x4. 2B– Ca. Carmody. W– Kory Tuescher 2x3, Tyler Torstenson-Harris 3x5. 2B– Torstenson-Harris.
WP- Jesse Sturtz. LP- Kamps.
At Wiota, on Sunday, July 23

Hollandale…… 300  000  200 – 5  5  2
Wiota…………. 000  101  020 – 4  6  2
Leading Hitters: H– James 2x5. W– Jayson Haldiman 2x3, Tommy Meier 2x3. 2B– Meier.
WP- Schlimgen. LP- Ben Conway.
Sv- Ames.
At Wiota, on Saturday, July 22

HTL NIGHT LEAGUE GAMES
Hollandale…… 001  000  0 –   1  4  3
Wiota…………. 030  250  x – 10  9  0
Leading Hitters: H– Rear 2x3. W– Jesse Sturtz 2x3, Tyler Osterday 2x3, Ben Muhlstein 2x2. 3B– Osterday. 2B– Muhlstein (2), Osterday.
WP- Ryan Glendenning. LP- Gould.
At Wiota, on Monday, Aug. 7

Shulls/Bent… 100  000  0 – 1  5  0
Wiota………... 000  011  x – 2  2  1
Leading Hitters: S/B– 2B– Jake Marshall. W– None.
WP- Tommy Meier. LP- Chris Trejo.
At Wiota, on Thursday, Aug. 3

Wiota…………… 030  003  0 – 6    8  3
Blanchardville… 200  001  4 – 7  10  1
Leading Hitters: W– Tommy Meier 2x4, Will Schwartz 2x3. B– Chandler 2x4, Kurschner 2x3.
WP- Kurschner. LP- Jesse Sturtz.
At Wiota, on Thursday, July 27

Wiota………… 201  121  0 – 7  11  2
Ridgeway…… 100  010  0 – 2    3  4
Leading Hitters: W– Tommy Meier 2x3, Ben Muhlstein 2x3, Will Schwartz 2x4. 2B– Muhlstein. R– Roelli 2x4.
WP- Ryan Glendenning. LP- Devoss.
At Argyle, on Thursday, July 20