WIOTA – Wiota has taken a little bit of a stumble heading into the Home Talent League playoffs.
    The Indians (10-6 in SL, 14-10 overall) dropped their second Sunday League game in a row and third game overall when they fell to Monroe, 7-3, in their regular season finale at Wiota Park on Sunday, July 31.
    Former Indian Rooney Janecke did much of the damage for the visiting Brewers (9-7) after smacking RBI-base hits in his first three at-bats to lead his team to a 5-1 lead after four innings of play.
    Monroe added a pair of insurance runs in the top of the seventh to open up a 7-2 advantage, then held off every attempt by the Indians to get back in the game.
    Wiota stranded the bases loaded in the seventh after cutting the deficit down to 7-3, left another on in the eighth and had two runners in scoring position in the ninth before a pair of pop-ups on the infield ended their threat.
    Centerfielder Jeff Solberg went 3-for-5 for Wiota with a pair of runs driven in, while Nick Flannery, Aaron Lancaster and Merrill Brunson each added two hits for the Indians.
    Pitcher Tommy Meier worked the first four innings for the Indians, allowing five runs on eight hits with three walks and one strikeout. Brock Bidlingmaier worked the next three innings, allowing two unearned runs on three hits and three walks with four Ks; while Flannery tossed two scoreless innings without allowing a hit and he walked two and struck out two for Wiota.
     At Ridgeway, on Sunday, July 24, Ridgeway pitcher Chris Thousand tossed a complete-game victory and helped his own cause by going 4-for-4 at the plate with a home run and a double as the host Cardinals thumped Wiota, 5-2, in a Western Section Home Talent League baseball game.
     Thousand surrendered single runs in the fifth and ninth inning to shut down the second-place Indians (10-5).
     Ridgeway (6-9) rallied from a 1-0 deficit by scoring three times in the bottom of the fifth to take the lead for good, and the hosts tacked on insurance runs in the seventh and eighth frames to secure the upset.
     Aaron Lancaster went 2-for-4 to lead the Indians’ six-hit attack.
     Brock Bidlingmaier took the loss after allowing four runs on eight hits and three walks with six strikeouts over seven innings of work.
    Wiota fell to Hollandale, 11-7, in a Night League contest on Thursday, July 21, and their NL make-up game finale against Cross Plains was cancelled due to rain on Thursday, July 28.
    The #6-seeded Indians open the NL playoffs on Thursday, Aug. 4, when they head to Mt. Horeb High School to face Pine Bluff at 7:30 p.m.
    Wiota gets a rematch with Ridgeway in the Sunday League playoffs when they host the Cardinals (6-10) at Wiota Park on Sunday, Aug. 7, at 1 p.m.
 
    * Wiota’s Kory Tuescher and Brock Bidlingmaier got a little extra time on the diamond last week when they played on the North/West All-Star team vs. the East/Southeast All-Stars in the 2011 Home Talent League All-Star Game at the Warner Park Duck Pond on Friday, July 29.
    The North/West All-Stars grabbed a 4-1 lead with a three-run rally in the fifth inning, but the
East/Southeast All-Stars  pulled ahead with a seven-run outburst in the top of the eighth and held on for a 10-6 victory.
    Tuescher singled and scored a run and turned a double play for the North/West All-Stars, while Bidlingmaier ripped a double at the plate and allowed a pair of runs on the mound in the ninth inning.

SUNDAY LEAGUE
Monroe… 201  200  200 - 7  11  0
Wiota…... 100  100  100 - 3  10  3
Leading Hitters: Jeff Solberg 3x5, Aaron Lancaster 2x4, Merrill Brunson 2x4, Nick Flannery 2x3. 3B- Solberg.
WP- Boals. LP- Tommy Meier.

Wiota……… 000  010  001 - 2  6  1
Ridgeway… 000  030  11x - 5  9  2
Leading Hitters: Aaron Lancaster 2x4.
WP- Thousand. LP- Brock Bidlingmaier.
(played on Sunday, July 24)

HTL ALL-STAR GAME
Southeast/East… 000  100  072 - 10  14  2
North/West…...… 100  030  101 -   6  11  0
Leading Hitters: 2B- Brock Bidlingmaier. 1B- Kory Tuescher.
WP- Bortz. LP- Boal.