SHULLSBURG – The offensive woes continued for the Shullsburg/Benton Home Talent League baseball team as they dropped a pair of Sunday League contests over the past week to slip into the basement in the Western Section South Division.
    The Fever fell 5-1 in a holiday game at West Middleton on Monday, July 3, and then came up on the short end of a 9-3 decision at Argyle on Sunday, July 9.
    Since scoring 11 runs in a win over Ridgeway on May 21, the Fever have averaged less than three runs a game over their last 10 games. Sunday’s loss was the fourth straight for the Fever, who now sit sixth in the South Division with a 5-8 record.
    With three games remaining in the regular season, Shullsburg/Benton remains in the playoff hunt just two games out of second-place in the division but has a very narrow margin of error. Wiota leads the South at 8-4 with Argyle and Ridgeway at 7-6. Blanchardville is sitting at 6-7 and Hollandale is at 5-7.
    Verona leads the North Division with an 11-2 record. Mount Horeb/Pine Bluff is second at 10-2, followed by playoff contenders West Middleton at 7-5 and Dodgeville at 5-7. Muscoda is 2-10 and Oregon is 2-11 on the season. 
    At Argyle, on Sunday, July 9, the host Beavers scored five times in the second inning to open up an early lead and rolled to a 9-3 victory to take the season series with the Fever.
    Alec Treuthardt and Tayler Rupnow each banged out three hits in the game and combined for three of the Beavers’ five doubles to lead the attack for the hosts.
    Jake Marshall went 3-for-4 for the Fever, while Trevor Kattre went 2-for-4 at the plate for the guests.
    At Middleton, on Monday, July 3, the host Braves scored single runs in the third and fourth innings to jump ahead of the Fever and put the game away with a two-run rally in the seventh as they went on to post a 5-1 victory.
    Joe Cox had two hits in the game to lead Shullsburg/Benton.
    The Fever (7-12 overall) have a pair of dates at Blanchardville’s McKellar Park over the next week, facing the Bullets in a Night League game on Thursday, July 13, at 7:30 p.m. and then again in a key Sunday League affair on Saturday, July 15, at 4 p.m.   

HTL SUNDAY LEAGUE
Shulls/Bent… 000  002  001 – 3    7  1
Argyle………. 050  220  00x – 9  13  0
Leading Hitters: S/B– Trevor Kattre 2x4, Jake Marshall 3x4. A– A. Schwitz 2x3, Rossing 2x3, Nafzger 2x3, Treuthardt 3x4, Rupnow 3x4. 2B– A. Schwitz, Treuthardt (2), Ritschard, Rupnow.
WP- Erickson. LP- Colton Bormann.
At Argyle, on Sunday, July 9

West Middleton… 001  100  201 – 5  12  0
Shulls/Bent……… 000  010  000 – 1    6  1
Leading Hitters: WM– Everson 2x4, Glassburn 2x5, Gleiter 3x5. 2B– Gleiter, Wipfli. S/B– Joe Cox 2x4.
WP- Leggett. LP- Justin Crotty.
At Middleton, on Monday, July 3