BELMONT – Two of the hottest teams in the Six Rivers West locked horns in Belmont last Tuesday with the visiting Benton/Shullsburg hanging on to their spot atop the league standings with a 10-3 win over the Braves at BHS on May 1.
    The Zephyr-Miners (13-1 overall) improved to 9-0 in the Six Rivers with the win, and then ran their winning streak to nine-games with an 11-9 non-conference victory over Warren/Stockton at the Woodside Sports Complex in Mauston on Friday, May 4.
    “We have been playing well in all aspects of the game recently; and, when we didn’t play our best game defensively versus Belmont, the offense and pitching helped to take care of the rest,” said Ben/Shulls’ head coach Tim Strang. “It has taken everyone on the team to make us successful this season, and we have had a different guy step up and contribute almost every game we play.”
    Belmont had won five straight games going into Tuesday’s contest. They moved to 6-3 in the SRC and 8-4 overall after splitting a cross twinbill against Barneveld on Friday afternoon.
    The Zephyr-Miners got off to a good start against the Braves, scoring five times in the top of the first inning to take the lead for good. Griffin Wiegel doubled in a run, while Jacob Berendes and Will Lawrence added RBI singles and two other runs scored on errors for an early 5-0 lead.
    The guests added single runs in the third and fourth innings to go up 7-0; and then, after the Braves cut the lead to 7-3 with two runs in the fourth and a run in the fifth, the co-op struck for three runs in the sixth to put the game away.
    Brooks Tiedeman had a RBI-double in the fourth and Nick Wagner drilled a two-run double in the sixth for Ben/Shulls, while Riley Christenson and Travian Rucker had RBI-singles in the fourth and Colin Austin singled home a run in the fifth for the Braves.
    Nathan Mowry (4-0) locked up the win after allowing three runs on 10 hits over six innings with eight strikeouts and no walks.
    At Mauston, on Friday, Lawrence went 2-for-4 with five runs batted in and a run scored to help lead the Zephyrs-Miners over the WarHawks by a score of 11-9.
    A RBI-single by Alex Wand in the bottom of the sixth inning snapped a seven all tie, and then Lawrence followed with a three-run inside-the-park home run to put the game out of reach. Lawrence also had a triple in the game.
    Wagner went 3-for-4 with a double and two runs scored, while Wand drove in two runs in the win.
    At Belmont, on Friday, the Braves snapped a 2-2 tie with a five-run outburst in the bottom of the sixth inning to put down the Golden Eagles, 7-2, in game one (the league game); but Barneveld came back to take the non-conference game two, 10-2, in five innings to earn a split.
    Justan Ernst plated Kolton Westemeier with a fielder’s choice to put the Braves up for good, and then Jacob Amenda followed with a two-run single and Christenson added a two-run double to give the hosts some extra cushion.
    Amenda (4-2) also earned the win in game one, allowing two runs on five hits and four walks and fanning eight over six innings of work.
    Connor Wiegel went 3-for-4 with a double and a run in game one.
    Christenson added a double in game two, while Ernst and Brady Wedig drove in runs for the Braves.
    Ben/Shulls has upcoming games scheduled at River Ridge, Ill. (Hanover) on Thursday, May 10 (5 p.m.), at Barneveld (DH) on Friday, May 11 (4:30 p.m.), at River Ridge, Wis. (Patch Grove) on Saturday, May 11 (1 p.m.), at Benton against Belmont on Monday, May 14 (5 p.m.), and at Potosi on Tuesday, May 15 (5 p.m.).
    Belmont has Six Rivers West game at home against Highland on Thursday, May 10 (5 p.m.) and at River Ridge, Wis. on Tuesday, May 15 (4:30 p.m.), and the Braves will take on North Crawford (10 a.m.) and Cashton (12 noon) on Saturday, May 12, at the North Crawford Tournament.
 
Ben/Shull…… 501  103  0 – 10  12  1
Belmont…….. 000  210  0 –   3  10  5
Leading Hitters: B/S– Brooks Tiedeman 2x3, Nick Wager 2x4, Jacob Berendes 2x3, Nick Jansen 2x4. 3B- Nathan Mowry. 2B- Tiedeman, Wagner, Griffin Wiegel. BEL– Jacob Amenda 2x4, Ethan James 2x4, Colin Austin 2x4. 2B- Amenda, James, Connor Wiegel.
W- Mowry (6IP, 10H, 3R, 3ER, 8K, 0BB). L- Austin (5.67IP, 11H, 10R, 7ER, 1K, 3BB).
At Belmont, on Tuesday, May 1
 
GAME ONE
Barneveld……. 001  010  0 – 2    6  2
Belmont……… 200  005  x – 7  12  0
Leading Hitters: BA– Gordon 3x4. 2B- Gordon. BE– Jacob Amenda 2x3, Colin Austin 2x4, Connor Wiegel 3x4. 2B- Wiegel, Riley Christenson.
W- Jacob Amenda (6IP, 5H, 2R, 2ER, 8K, 4BB). L- Behnke (5IP, 11H, 7R, 5ER, 4K, 2BB).
 
GAME TWO
Belmont……… 011  00 –   2  5  3
Barneveld……. 124  3x – 10  6  2
Leading Hitters: BE– 2B- Wiegel, Riley Christenson. BA– Gordon 2x4. 3B- Gordon. 2B- Baumgarten.
W- James (1.67IP, 2H, 3R, 1ER, 3K, 6BB). L- Baumgarten (3IP, 5H, 2R, 2ER, 2K, 2BB).
At Belmont, on Friday, May 4
 
War/Stock…. 021  400  2 –   9  14  5
Ben/Shull….. 330  104  x – 11  12  2
Leading Hitters: W/S– McGivney 2x5, Kubat 2x5, Raab 3x5, G. Williams 2x4, Kaiser 2x3. 3B- G. Williams, Rowe, Cox. 2B- McGivney. B/S– Nick Wagner 3x4, Nathan Mowry 2x3, Will Lawrence 2x4, Griffin Wiegel 2x4. HR- Lawrence. 3B- Lawrence. 2B- Wagner.
W- Strang (3IP, 5H, 2R, 2ER, 2K, 3BB). L- Rowe (4.33IP, 6H, 5R, 5ER, 1K, 3BB).
At Mauston, on Friday, May 4