Dollansky wins Jim Boyd Memorial

http://www.widirtracin.com/2013/07/03/it-was-for-jim/

BEAVER DAM RACEWAY REPORT - World of Outlaws: June 29, 2013

By Nicholas Dettmann

BEAVER DAM, Wis. - It was for Jim.

Craig Dollansky won for the fifth time in his career at Beaver Dam Raceway on Saturday in the STP World of Outlaw Sprint Cars’ Jim “JB” Boyd Memorial. But it was Dollansky's first career triumph since the event began to honor Boyd a few years ago and that made this triumph all too humbling.

"This one is for Jim Boyd," Dolansky said, fighting back emotions. "He meant so much to so many people."

To Dollansky, Boyd meant a lot more to him.

For 10 years, the Boyd family was instrumental in Dollanky's development, on and off the race track. Dollansky drove for the Boyd family, beginning in 1999.

"This is for them," Dollansky said.

“Jim Boyd was just a great person and an inspiration for me and an awesome individual,” he added. “He passed away a few years back. He’s gone but not forgotten.”

Daryn Pittman, the series points leader, finished second. Tim Kaeding was third, followed by Donny Schatz and Paul McMahan to round out the top five. Schatz was also the night's KSE Hard Charger Award winner, improving nine spots from his starting position.

The night's fast qualifier was Jason Sides, his first of the season, with a time of 13.115 seconds around the one-third mile oval.

"We just came up a little bit short," said Pittman, who owns the track record here (11.275 in 2001).

"We're running a lot of seconds," he added. "We just feel like we're going to win another race here real quick."

Dollansky was in awe after winning Saturday's race, which was also his fifth of the season. He had come so close a couple times since his last victory at Beaver Dam in 2005.

"Just a great family," Dollansky said. "I'm so glad we were finally able to win this thing for them."

Cody Darrah, the polesitter for the "A" main, led the first 13 laps. Dollansky took the lead for the next handful of laps until Pittman passed him on the back straight on lap 18. Just one lap later, Dollansky passed Pittman and led the rest of the race.

"It was a hard-fought race," Dolansky said.

Dollansky has had great success at Beaver Dam throughout his career. In 24 career starts, he now has 18 top-five finishes, including the five victories. The victory was the 58^th of his career in the series. Right away, this victory shot right up to the top of memorable victories for Dollansky. And it may be a hard one to out-do.

Jim Boyd was a great friend just to talk to. Whenever Dollansky needed guidance, Boyd was there to help. Dollansky learned so much how to be a good person before a good race car driver.

As the laps ticked away, closer and closer to the 40th and final lap, Dollansky's car began to get tight. With all the mayhem going on around him, about 20 cars at 900 horsepower packed onto the track, Dollansky, once again, sought Boyd's help. He felt Boyd's presence and that helped ease the nerves to hold on for the coveted victory.

This year was the World of Outlaw's 20th visit to the track. On May 5, 1996, Dave Blaney, who's gone on to compete in more than 600 NASCAR touring series races, won the inaugural visit.

Last year's winner, Kraig Kinser, finished 15th after being involved in an accident with Sammy Swindell just past the midway point of the race.

Other notable finishes were Bill Balog, the five-time Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprint Car champion, in 11th. Balog won the "B" main after having some mechanical problems during his heat race. Mike Kertscher, the May winner with the IRA Series at Beaver Dam, was 17th.

Steve Kinser, the winningest driver in World of Outlaw Sprint Car history, finished 10th after finishing third last year.

Beaver Dam's Jeremy Schultz was 19th.

Pittman had to work his way to runnerup after starting seventh. Pittman made a couple runs at Dollansky, but to no avail.

"The cars were pretty equal," Pittman said. "I was really good on the bottom (in Turns) 1 and 2 when I hit it right. I had to kick myself a little. I passed him twice under the green flag and in the very next corner, I made terrible corners.

"He did a good job. He's been really fast the last month or two."

The finish for Pittman was a bit of redemption after struggling June 28 at LaSalle (Ill.) Speedway. He finished 14th.

"We had a really good car," he said. "We just got beat."

In the support races, Joseph Bongiorno won the legends "A" main. Joe Johnson, the division points leader, finished second, followed by Eric Barth, Brandon Schmitt, the 2012 track champion, and Brian Peterson. Peterson, Barth and Mike Mueller won the division's heat races.

Tim Brannam won the Wisconsin-Illinois Mini-Sprints' "A" main, followed by Nick Petska, Jim Scanlon, who won the April race at Beaver Dam, Mike Neau and Doug Johnson. Petska and Johnson won the heat races.

Dollansky's nickname is the "Crowd Pleaser." Mission accomplished.

"You know that family supported me for a long time," Dollansky said of the Boyds. "… This one is for them."

RESULTS

World of Outlaws

Fast qualifier: Jason Sides (13.115 seconds)

Heat winners: David Gravel, Daryn Pittman, Joey Saldana, Kerry Madsen

Dash winner: Cody Darrah

"B" main winner: Bill Balog

Feature

1, Craig Dollansky; 2, Daryn Pittman; 3, Tim Kaeding; 4, Donny Schatz; 5, Paul McMahan; 6, James McFadden; 7, David Gravel; 8, Cody Darrah; 9, Jason Sides; 10, Steve Kinser; 11, Bill Balog; 12, Chad Kemenah; 13, Joey Saldana; 14, Kerry Madsen; 15, Kraig Kinser; 16, Bill Rose; 17, Mike Kertscher; 18, Sammy Swindell; 19, Jeremy Schultz; 20, Jason Solwold; 21, Wayne Modjeski; 22, Brian Brown; 23, Todd King; 24, Paul Nienheiser.

KSE Hard Charger Award: Donny Schatz (+9 positions)

Wisconsin-Illinois Mini-Sprints

Heat winners: Nick Petska, Doug Johnson

Feature

1, Tim Brannam; 2, Nick Petska; 3, Jim Scanlon; 4, Mike Neau; 5, Doug Johnson; 6, Nicholas Daywalt; 7, Kyle Koch; 8, Adam Schroeder; 9, Matt White; 10, Mark Heinert; 11, Jeff Schmidt; 12, Kyle Daywalt.

Legends

Heat winners: Mike Mueller, Brian Peterson, Eric Barth

Feature

1, Joseph Bongiorno; 2, Joseph Johnson; 3, Eric Barth; 4, Brandon Schmitt; 5, Brian Peterson; 6, Michael Mueller; 7, James Bucher; 8, William Lehmann; 9, Hal Russell; 10, Matthew Streekstra; 11, Christopher Flick; 12, Warren Ropp; 13, Nelson Stewart; 14, Craig Peekenschneider; 15, Austin Wiese; 16, Mark Ritger; 17, Kim Clover; 18, Francesca Hoch; 19, Johnny Kringas; 20, Scott Wiegele; 21, Anthony Jagoditsh; 22, Kevin Schutz; 23, Marlena Boyd; 24, James Sommers; 25, Nathan Chitko.

Bishofberger ends Steenbergen's streak

http://www.widirtracin.com/2013/07/21/beaver-dam-raceway-report-july-20-2013/

BEAVER DAM RACEWAY REPORT: July 20, 2013

By Nicholas Dettmann

BEAVER DAM, Wis. - Jeff Steenbergen's 5-for-5 streak to start the season in the sport modified division was halted by the driver who won 11 in a row to start the 2011 season: Zeke Bishofberger.

The 2011 track champion got the jump on the field on a restart with three laps to go to win the sport modified "A" main feature Saturday night at Beaver Dam Raceway, ending Steenbergen's five-race win streak to start the 2013 season.

Even for someone who's been in a position similar to Steenbergen's, Bishofberger had enough of Steenbergen winning.

"Tonight was just lucky because of the track conditions and started up front," Bishofberger said. "It was a good night."

"It's always a goal: beat the best guy out here."

Up until Saturday night, Steenbergen was that guy. But in that championship season, Bishofberger was the guy to beat, as he came one race short of sweeping the season. Aaron Muhle was the spoiler, winning the second-to-last race of the 2011 season. Bishofberger won the season finale to give him 12 victories in 13 races.

Steve Schneider made his 2013 debut at Beaver Dam with a second-place finish. Steenbergen wound up third.

"Zeke's pretty strong competition," Steenbergen said. "I'm not surprised (he won)."

Matthew Rechek went on to take fourth and Travis Kleindl rounded out the top five.

Dating back to the 2010 season, Steenbergen won 11 straight sport mod features he's competed in at Beaver Dam. That streak is now over.

"I don't feel bad about it," Steenbergen said. "It was going to happen at some point."

During Bishofberger's dominating run of 2011, there was talk of putting on a bounty on him. If Steenbergen continued to win, the talk grew louder as to whether to do the same. Bishofberger is glad no bounties were set.

"I think they're all right, but you end up with a wrecked race car a lot of times," Bishofberger said. "My dad, back in the day, had some bounties put on him and he came home with a wrecked race car a couple times."

"Bounties," he added. "There's pros and cons. I don't want to end up with a wrecked race car."

The car count was a bit lower in 2011, which Bishofberger believed took a little bit of the excitement from winning 11 in a row. This year, that's not the case. The competition has vastly improved and so has the car count.

"I was just the class of the field ahead of everybody," he said. "But it's still tough, though. You've got to avoid accidents, play it safe, have things that don't break. There's more than just getting beat. There's beating yourself and your car."

Brandon Riedner led the opening two laps of the 20-lap feature. Bishofberger took the lead on lap three.

Steenbergen started the feature in ninth. He quickly made his way through the field, moving into the top five by lap four. When the race's second yellow came out on lap seven, Steenbergen was running fourth, more than four seconds behind Bishofberger. Once back under green, Steenbergen moved into third place. There, he caught up to Schneider, who is second in the sport mod points standings at the Oshkosh Speedzone, didn't make it easy on Steenbergen.

Since his championship season, Bishofberger has been a contender, but not a regular at the track. In his last four sport mod starts of the 2012 season at Beaver Dam, he won each of them. He five of his seven starts.

"I wanted to go travel," he said. "My whole life I've been racing at one track for points. Last year I just wanted to go around to different tracks and have some fun."

He estimated he won 10 of 20 races last year.

"It was still a great year," Bishofberger said.

Since Aug. 14, 2010, Bishofberger has won 18 of the 39 "A" mains at Beaver Dam, almost half.

"I don't know what it is about this place," he said. "I love flat race tracks. I grew up on racing flat asphalt (tracks). I don't know what it is about this place but for some reason it works for me. I believe I'm better at Oshkosh where it's flat."

Bishofberger and Steenbergen won the heat races as well.

The points leaders in the street stock division all had troubles Saturday, with four of the top-seven in the points finishing outside the top 12, including Jesse Krahn, third in points going in, as he blew a motor during a heat race and couldn't start the feature.

Points leader Scott Riedner had to drop out of the race because of a flat tire while running in the top five. He wound up 13th. Kyle Riedner, second in points, finished 16th. Roger Frank, seventh in points, finished 14th, but was running in top five early in the race before a flat tire forced him to pull of the track.

Derek Childs won the feature, while Brandon Riedner, the two-time defending track champion, finished second in his first start of the season in the divison.

Aaron Stolp took third, while Ethan Ross and Chad Hummelmeier rounded out the top five.

Scott Riedner, Kyle Riedner and Hummelmeier won the division's heat races.

Todd Ascherien won a thrilling grand nationals "A" main, edging Kenny Richards, the 2011 track champion, by 0.101 seconds at the start-finish line. It was Ascherien's first "A" main victory of the season and first in more than a year. He lost won the "A" main July 14, 2012.

Richards had won the previous two features, and each of the top-three in points finished the feature in the top four.

Jeffrey Richards was third, Aaron Streblow was fourth and Donald Schumacher was fifth.

Streblow, Schumacher and Kenny Richards won the division's heat races.

Joel Wyttenbach won his first legends "A" main since July 7, 2012, when he passed race leader Joe Johnson on the outside with two laps to go. Johnson rebounded from back-to-back races where he finished outside the top 15 and lost his points lead with a second-place finish.

Points leader Michael Mueller finished third. Joseph Bongiorno was fourth and Kim Clover was fifth.

Mueller and Clover won the division's heat races.

In the night's final event, the modifieds "A" main, Noah Schepp flipped over during a big crash in Turn 2 of lap two. Dave Schoenberger spun in front of a pack of cars. In a chain reaction, one car after another collided and when Schepp crashed into a car, he flipped over and landed on the roof of his car. The cars involved in the crash were Schepp, Schoenberger, Nicholas Woods, Ben Godlewski and Don Scheffler, who went into the night tied for the points lead with Jeremy Christians.

Scheffler didn't return to the race and finished 12th.

Daniel Roedl went on to win the feature, a race marred with six caution periods, and only six cars finished the 20-lap feature out of 19 that started.

Daniel Tafelski finished second, followed by Nicholas Firari, Dustin Jackson and Jeffrey Schepp to complete the top five.

Schoenberger and Christians won the heat races.

RESULTS

Street Stocks

Heat winners: Scott Riedner, Kyle Riedner, Chad Hummelmeier

Feature - 1, Derek Childs; 2, Brandon Riedner; 3, Aaron Stolp; 4, Ethan Ross; 5, Chad Hummelmeier; 6, Timothy Draheim; 7, Michael Heimann; 8, Karly Stadler; 9, Aaron Falbe; 10, Stuart White; 11, Alexander Crapser; 12, David Kinjerski; 13, Scott Riedner; 14, Roger Frank; 15, Kyle Neuman; 16, Kyle Riedner; 17, Alfred Nester; 18, Craig Lepple.

Legends

Heat winners: Mike Mueller, Kim Clover

Feature - 1, Joel Wyttenbach; 2, Joe Johnson; 3, Michael Mueller; 4, Joseph Bongiorno; 5, Kim Clover; 6, Christopher Flick; 7, Bille Lehmann; 8, James Bucher; 9, Eric Barth; 10, Matthew Streekstra; 11, Johnny Kringas; 12, Francesca Hoch; 13, Austin Wiese; 14, Mark Ritger; 15, Scott Wiegele; 16, Warren Ropp; 17, George Giesen; 18, Nathan Chitko.

Sport Modifieds

Heat winners: Zeke Bishofberger, Jeff Steenbergen

Feature - 1, Zeke Bishofberger; 2, Steve Schneider; 3, Jeff Steenbergen; 4, Matthew Rechek; 5, Travis Kleindl; 6, Chad Martin; 7, Kevin Tillema; 8, Christopher O'Leary; 9, Nickolas Heelein; 10, Gary Bauer; 11, Brandon Schmitt; 12, Matthew Bedker; 13, Aaron Muhle; 14, Colten Van Hierden; 15, Jeff Schmuhl; 16, Michael Sandholm; 17, Joel Wyttenbach.

Grand Nationals

Heat winners: Aaron Streblow, Don Schumacher, Kenny Richards

Feature - 1, Todd Ascherien; 2, Kenny Richards; 3, Jeffrey Richards; 4, Aaron Streblow; 5, Donald Schumacher; 6, Thomas Moore; 7, Scott Hermersmann; 8, Timothy Vargo; 9, Craig Boettcher; 10, Daniel Schumacher; 11, Brian Vinney Jr.; 12, Will Schumacher; 13, Kelly Brown; 14, Steven Wirtz; 15, Jay Schaalma; 16, John Schultz III; 17, Keith Faber; 18, Terry Schoppenhorst; 19, Kodiak Wirtz; 20, Charlie Sancinati (DQ).

Modifieds

Heat winners: Dave Schoenberger, Jeremy Christians

Feature - 1, Daniel Roedl; 2, Daniel Tafelski; 3, Nicholas Firari; 4, Dustin Jackson; 5, Jeffrey Schepp; 6, Jeremy Christians; 7, Dave Schoenberger; 8, David Jaeger; 9, Matthew Rechek; 10, Andrew Araco; 11, Dustin Smits; 12, Don Scheffler; 13, Noah Schepp; 14, Ben Godlewski; 15, Nicholas Woods; 16, Brian Crapser; 17, Michael Vogt; 18, Kevin Reed; 19, Scott Magsamen (DQ).

Braun wins race, dedicates it to sister, niece

Date: July 16, 2013

AUTO RACING: PEPSI CHALLENGE 60

Braun wins race, dedicates it to sister, niece

Driver takes over points lead

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN
Daily News Sports Editor

SLINGER — Whether it was fate or not, Rob Braun had to win.
He had to because he was on a cold streak and because his sister, Shelley Feig, was visiting from San Diego.
He won in dominating fashion. Braun led 59 of the 60 laps in Sunday’s super late model feature at Slinger Superspeedway.
Lowell Bennett bounced back from a disappointing Slinger Nationals performance with a runnerup finish Sunday. Veteran Fred Winn finished third, his first top-five finish since July 15, 2007 — almost six years to the day — where he took third. Michael Bilderback was fourth and Mike Egan was a season-best fifth, his first top-five finish since Sept. 2 — a span of 10 races.
Hartford’s Nick Wagner, the 2011 Slinger Bees champion, finished a career-best sixth.
“I wanted to win this race for her daughter, who’s going through some issues,” said Braun, trying to fight back some emotions in victory lane. “It means a lot to me.”
Points leader Steve Apel struggled, finishing 13th. Braun took over the points lead with the victory and now leads Apel by 17 points.
In victory lane, Braun promptly handed the tall trophy to his sister, prompting a problem that will be discussed over the next couple of days: how to get the trophy in the suitcase to take back to California?
“I’ll be sending it out to California,” Braun said.
“It was cool that she came,” he added. “It was pretty inspirational for me. In the last 10 laps I was thinking, ‘It’d be so cool if I could win and I could dedicate this win to her daughter.’ “I thought it’d be really cool to do and when you’re able to do that kind of stuff it means a lot to you.”
Back home in California, Feig’s 7year-old daughter, Emma, has cerebral palsy. And it was the first time Feig has seen her baby brother win a race.
“I had a feeling he could win; I could tell,” she said. “He looked strong.”
Feig isn’t a race fan, but only a Rob Braun fan.
She’s only watched Braun a few times, estimating the number to be about five. In 1999, about 10 years after graduating from college, Feig moved to California and stayed there about seven years. At that time, Braun was getting into racing.
She lived in Michigan for a couple of years before moving back to California three years ago.
“It’s been years,” she said when asked the last time she watched Braun race. “So it’s real special to come and watch.”
While in California, Feig keeps tabs on her brother through social media and the Internet.
“I had a feeling he’d win,” Feig said.
At the beginning of the season, Braun was on a hot streak. He had four straight top-five finishes, seven top-five finishes in a row dating back to last season. In the six races following his hot start, Braun, the 2010 limited late model track champion, had just two top-five finishes.
He finished 15th at the Slinger Nationals. He was due for a better result and it came at the right time.
As a car owner, Braun has five victories in the super late model division. James Swan, who didn’t compete Sunday, has won three features at Slinger this season, his first full year in the division. Swan didn’t compete because he was working on his ARCA Midwest Tour car after a big crash at last week’s Howie Lettow 150 Memorial.
“I wish it was the other way around where I had three wins and Swany had two,” Braun said. “But I’ll take it any way I can get it.”
Braun was in control as soon as the green flag dropped.
Starting outside the front row, Braun surged past Wagner, the pole sitter and led up until Egan took the lead for one lap (lap 28). Braun retook the lead and wasn’t challenged the rest of the race. He won by 1.402 seconds.
“It’s special to win on any night,” Braun said. “But when you can do it and make it mean something, it makes it even more special.”
Braun was also ready for bed as he and the family went camping over the weekend, not arriving to the track until after the first practice session.
“It’s been a long weekend,” he said. “I had a lot of fun. This a cherry on top with the way the weekend went.”
“I’m going to relax (Monday); do it when go to work can rest at work,” he joked.
After finishing 21st at the Slinger Nationals, Bennett got back into the top five, his fourth such result this season, but first in three weeks.
“We did our best,” Bennett said.
Bennett’s biggest thrill came early in the race when he looked in his rear-view mirror and saw his son, Braison.
Braison Bennett made his first career super late model start on the same night he won his fifth career limited late model feature, his second of the season.
“It was a really cool experience for me to look in the mirror and see my kid right there,” Lowell Bennett said. “I can’t tell you how much that means to me as a dad.”
Braison Bennett is on a hot streak. He has seven top-five finishes in a row after having just one through the first four races of the season.
Kenny Joosten won the midwest sportsman feature, and Kody Hubred won the area sportsman feature. Slinger’s Ron Schmitt won his third Figure 8 feature of the season as well. The Slinger Bees race was stopped for more than 15 minutes when Nicole Mueller, who won a heat race earlier in the evening, made heavy contact with the Turn 4 wall. No further information was available.

RESULTS
Feature winners
Super late model — Rob Braun
Limited late model — Braison Bennett
Midwest sportsman — Ken Joosten
Area sportsman — Kody Hubred
Slinger Bees — Brandon Tackes
Figure 8 — Ron Schmitt
Fast qualifiers
Super late model — Steve Apel (11.521 seconds)
Limited late model — Alex Prunty (12.735)
Midwest sportsman — Jay Shambeau (12.965)
Area sportsman — Kyle Chwala (13.330)
Slinger Bees — Steve Dickson (15.112)
POINTS STANDINGS
Super late model — 1, Rob Braun 864; 2, Steve Apel 847; 3, Lowell Bennett 758; 4, Michael Bilderback 726; 5, James Swan 691.
Limited late model — 1, Alex Prunty 996; 2, Ryan DeStefano 974; 3, Mike Lichtfeld 945; 4, Braison Bennett 893; 5, Danny Church 853.
Midwest sportsman — 1, Kenny Joosten 565; 2, Ryan Gutkneckt 502; 3, Brian Holtz 490; 4, Jay Shambeau 483; 5, Jack Stern 457.
Area sportsman — 1, Kyle Chwala 1,093; 2, Kody Hubred 1,023; 3, Joe Shelby 796; 4, Nick Egan 741; 5, John Daley 609.
Slinger Bees — 1, Nick Schmidt 1,103; 2, Stephen Dickson 981; 3, Brandon Tackes 873; 4, Grant Griesbach 742; 5 (tie), Marty Tackes and Dale Kiley-Schaefer 729.
Figure 8 — 1, Willy Van Camp 1,105; 2, Scott Goetzke 1,085; 3, Ron Schmitt 1,045; 4, Joe Mueller 1,025; 5, Shane Becker 1,020.

Steenbergen still perfect at Beaver Dam

Beaver Dam Raceway Report: July 13, 2013

http://www.racingwisconsin.com/story.asp?aid=5261

By Nicholas Dettmann

BEAVER DAM, Wis. - Jeff Steenbergen is back in the sport modified division at Beaver Dam Raceway and all he's doing is picking up where he left three years earlier.
Steenbergen made it 5-for-5 this season in "A" main feature victories, easily winning Saturday's race by more than three seconds over Brandon Schmitt. Jeff Schmuhl was third, followed by Ezekiel Bishofberger and Brandon Riedner.
"It's very cool," Steenbergen said. "Every week I expect it to end. This car is making me look a lot better than I am.
"It's really hooked up on a rail."
Either way, Steenbergen has looked good driving that No. 62. And because of that, fans are getting a glimpse of the past with Steenbergen.
"It's definitely not easy, but it's rewarding against these guys," Steenbergen said.
Steenbergen won the 2010 sport modified championship at Beaver Dam. Then he took some time off from the division. In 2011, he raced in the grand national division. He had 14 top-10 finishes in 16 starts, 10 top-fives and three feature victories. He also won six heat races. In 2012, he competed in the modified division. He won one feature, finished in the top-10 six times. He also had two top-10 finishes with the Badger Modified Tour.
Dating back to 2010, Steenbergen has won 11 straight sport mod features he's run at Beaver Dam.
Steenbergen also won the 2002 Mid-American Supertruck championship. In Steenbergen's sport modified championship season, he had seven feature victories, including six in a row to end the season. He also had 12 top-five finishes and 14 top-10s in 17 starts. He also won eight preliminary races.
"That was really cool," said Steenbergen about winning a mod feature at Beaver Dam. "That's all I really wanted to do (at Beaver Dam), so I did more traveling after that.
"It was kind of a dream come true. It's been something I've wanted to do for a long time because I used to come here as a kid and watch the races."
Steenbergen is back in the sport mod division because the engine blew on his modified. Plus, the costs were piling up.
"I was planning on running a mod again this year until that happened," Steenbergen said.
In all, Steenbergen has won nine features at four tracks this season, also winning at Manitowoc, Oshkosh and Lafayette County Speedway in Darlington. His goal is to win 10 features.
And why 10? In 2009, he won nine legends features between Beaver Dam and Chilton.
While he's had all the luck at Beaver Dam this year, the same can't be said for the other tracks he's raced at this season.
On Wednesday night, while racing at Darlington, he got into a scary accident, causing about $600 damage and he had little time to get the car ready for Saturday's events. He worked on the car until just hours before the night started.
"It took a lot just the car to the track (Saturday)," Steenbergen said.
Steenbergen, 30, is in his sixth year of racing on dirt after eight years of racing on asphalt. He enjoyed a lot of success on the asphalt as well, including set fast time at the 2007 Slinger Nationals in a late model and won a Big 8 Late Model Series race at Jefferson in the same season. He's also won features in a truck and an open-wheel car, and almost won the 2011 grand national championship at Beaver Dam.
Winning the modified feature last year was important for another reason. In all of his years of racing, he never competed in the top division at a respective track. That feature victory, which came June 16, 2012, fulfilled that wish.
"It was really special," said Steenbergen, who couldn't start racing until he graduated from high school. The next day, Steenbergen was in a race car after his dad helped sponsor sprint cars during the 1990s.
He downplayed the possibility of running the table this season. He said it's going to be too difficult with this year's competition.
"I can't believe (the win streak) will hold up (that long)," Steenbergen said. "I think this is one of the best tracks in the state as far as competiton goes. Everybody's really stepped up their game this year."
Still, Steenbergen has made it look easy. But he's also had to work for it. In the five starts this season, Steenbergen has started sixth, ninth, 10th and 12th twice.
Schmitt led the opening four laps of the 20-lap feature until Bishofberger took the lead on lap five and it was short lived. After a caution, Steenbergen sped past Bishofberger, who won 12 of 13 features in 2011 in the sport mod division, for the lead.
Steenbergen and Bishofberger won the division's heat races.
Jeremy Christians won his first modified feature of the season, a night after finishing third in the Badger Modified Tour feature at the Dodge County Fairgrounds. Craig Priewe was second, followed by Dave Schoenberger, Andrew Araco and Edward Lemay Jr. Don Scheffler, the division points leader going into the night, finished eighth and is now tied with Christians, the two-time defending division champion.
Three of the top-nine in the points were in the "B" main, Scheffler, Daniel Roedl and Will Sorce. Roedl and Sorce finished outside the top four and missed the "A".
Priewe, Brian Crapser, Christians and Matthew Rechek were the modified heat winners.
Eric Barth won his first feature of the season, while Kim Clover was second, followed by Michael Mueller, James Bucher and Nathan Chitko. Barth led 18 of the 20 laps in the feature.
Clover, Barth and Joe Johnson were the heat winners.
Mueller took over the legends points lead from Johnson with his third-place finish. Johnson was running second on the last lap but spun coming off Turn 2. Johnson went on to finish 16th. Mueller leads Johnson by 19 points.
Kenny Richards led each of the 20 laps in the grand nationals "A" main for his third feature victory of the season, including two in a row. Kodiak Wirtz was second, followed by Thomas Moore, Todd Ascherien and Charlie Sancinati.
Daniel Schumacher, Wirtz and Richards won the heat races.
Kyle Riedner won the street stock feature, his second of the season. Jesse Krahn was second, followed by Scott Riedner, Karly Stadler and Michael Heimann.
Roger Frank, Krahn and Heimann won the heat races.

RESULTS
Grand Nationals
Heat winners: Daniel Schumacher, Kodiak Wirtz, Kenny Richards
Feature - 1, Kenny Richards; 2, Kodiak Wirtz; 3, Thomas Moore; 4, Todd Ascherien; 5, Charlie Sancinati; 6, Daniel Schumacher; 7, Aaron Streblow; 8, Nicholas Schumacher; 9, Brian Vinney Jr.; 10, Tim Thompson; 11, Dustin Weiss; 12, Arianna Beattie; 13, Jay Schaalma; 14, Scott Hermersmann; 15, Donald Schumacher; 16, Patrick McGwin; 17, Michael King; 18, Pat Heaney.
Legends
Heat winners: Kim Clover, Joe Johnson, Eric Barth
Feature - 1, Eric Barth; 2, Kim Clover; 3, Michael Mueller; 4, James Bucher; 5, Nathan Chitko; 6, Austin Wiese; 7, Joseph Bongiorno; 8, Larry Zirbel; 9, Matthew Streekstra; 10, Christopher Flick; 11, William Lehmann; 12, Scott Wiegele; 13, Mark Ritger; 14, Marlena Boyd; 15, Francesca Hoch; 16, Joseph Johnson; 17, Anthony Jagoditsh; 18, Kevin Schutz; 19, George Giesen.
Modifieds
Heat winners: Craig Priewe, Brian Crapser, Jeremy Christians, Matthew Rechek
"B" main advancements: Don Scheffler, Mike Sandholm, Steve Mueller, Nicholas Firari
Feature - 1, Jeremy Christians; 2, Craig Priewe; 3, Dave Schoenberger; 4, Andrew Araco; 5, Edward Lemay Jr.; 6, Matthew Rechek; 7, Brian Crapser; 8, Don Scheffler; 9, Noah Schepp; 10, Joel Crowbridge; 11, Steve Mueller; 12, Ben Godlewski; 13, Mitchell Webber; 14, Nicholas Firari; 15, Daniel Tafelski; 16, Mike Sandholm; 17, Dustin Smits; 18, Nicholas Woods; 19, David Jaeger; 20, Dustin Jackson.
Sport Modifieds
Heat winners: Jeff Steenbergen, Ezekiel Bishofberger
Feature - 1, Jeff Steenbergen; 2, Brandon Schmitt; 3, Jeff Schmuhl; 4, Ezekiel Bishofberger; 5, Brandon Riedner; 6, Aaron Muhle; 7, Colten Van Hierden; 8, Chad Martin; 9, Matthew Bedker; 10, Travis Kleindl; 11, Gary Bauer; 12, Joel Wyttenbach; 13, Nickolas Heelein; 14, Leroy Ostrowski; 15, Jeremy Schwoch.
Street Stocks
Heat winners: Roger Frank, Jesse Krah, Michael Heimann
Feature - 1, Kyle Riedner; 2, Jesse Krah; 3, Scott Riedner; 4, Karly Stadler; 5, Michael Heimann; 6, Charles Hummelmeier; 7, David Kinjerski; 8, Aaron Falbe; 9, Douglas Draheim; 10, Roger Frank; 11, Kyle Neuman; 12, Alexander Crapser; 13, Brandi Lubke; 14, Aaron Stolp; 15, Mitchell Brockway; 16, Justin Lueck; 17, Derek Childs; 18, Craig Lepple.

West Bend shows discipline at plate

Date: July 17, 2013

LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL — JUNIOR LEAGUE DISTRICT POOL-PLAY: WEST BEND 13, GLENDALE 9

West Bend shows discipline at plate

Team scores 12 unanswered runs

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN
Daily News Sports Editor

West Bend manager Michael Fleischman and his team are feeling a lot better now.
West Bend came from behind and defeated Glendale, 13-9, in the first pool-play game of the Wisconsin Little League District 1 tournament Tuesday inWest Bend.
After three innings, West Bend trailed 9-1.
“I wasn’t feeling really good in the third or fourth innings,” Fleischman said. “I’m feeling really good right now.”
Plate discipline was the biggest factor as to how West Bend came back and eventually pulled out the game. And for 13- and 14-year-olds to have the patience they showed, Fleischman couldn’t help but be impressed.
“When you’re 13 years old it’s a tough thing to do,” he said about his team’s discipline.
West Bend methodically chipped away at Glendale’s lead, inning after inning.
After the third inning, West Bend scored 12 runs on just six hits, but had nine walks. The team scored three runs on walks with the bases loaded in that span.
Through the first three innings, West Bend had four hits and just one walk.
“The key to this game was good plate discipline,” Fleischman said.
While he wasn’t happy with the start of the game, Fleischman knew his team was still in it, despite trailing by eight runs. And with good reason.
This group of players won the state championship as 10-year-olds and advanced to the state semifinal last year as 12-year-olds.
“This team is always in it no matter what because there are a bunch of good hitters on this team,” Fleischman said. “What we can’t do is get our heads down and they did a great job of keeping their heads up.”
West Bend’s first two pitchers — Cole Surprenant and Kyle Yochem — struggled a bit. But Ethan Wedemeyer was there to help, along with a potent offense.
Wedemeyer pitched 2 2/3 innings, allowing just two runs on five hits, walked two and struck out two.
West Bend started to chip at the lead with a four-run top of the fourth inning.
Joe Michels, who had two hits, along with Yochem, Bennett Schmidt and Peyton Janto all scored. Wedemeyer drew a bases-loaded walk.
West Bend took the lead in the fifth at 10-9, scoring five runs. Canon Melstrand and Jackson Jommen each had RBI hits. Jommen had an RBI double that gave West Bend the lead.
The defense also chipped in on the comeback.
In the fourth inning with runners on first and second, Will Egan hit a line drive at Wedemeyer, who stuck out his glove and caught the ball. Then, from his rear end, Wedemeyer threw a strike to second base for a double play.
Then in the fifth, West Bend cut down a runner at home plate. Michael Vecitis hit a long fly ball to deep center field and Melstrand was unable to make the catch. Melstrand got up and fired a strong throw to Yochem who turned and fired a strong relay throw to Nathan Fleischman at home plate to get the runner. Had the run scored, it would’ve tied the game.
“I heard a couple of parents say, ‘Don’t throw it. Don’t throw it,’” Michael Fleischman said.
Glendale had just three baserunners the rest of the game.
“These guys have been playing together for a long time,” Fleischman said. “Everybody knows what everybody can do. They have a lot of confidence in each other and it says a lot about the team.”
West Bend will continue the district tournament at 6 p.m. today against Grafton. The top-two teams from the two pools advance to the championship bracket. The semifinals and final will be Saturday and Sunday, hosted by James Beckum Little League in Milwaukee.

WEST BEND 13, GLENDALE 9
West Bend..............001 452 1 — 13 10 1
Glendale..................054 000 0 — 9 9 4
Pitchers — WB: Cole Surprenant (IP, H, 4R, 2BB), Kyle Yochem (1 1/3IP, 3H, 3R, 2BB, K), Ethan Wedemeyer (W, 2 2/3IP, 5H, 2R, 2BB, 2K), Jackson Jommen (SV, 2IP, 2K, BB); GL: Eli Winter (3 1/3IP, 5H, 5R, 4BB, K), Andrew Eidenberger (L, IP, 2H, 5R, 3BB, K), Michael Vecitis (1 2/3IP, 3H, 3R, 2BB, K), Will Egan (IP, BB, 2K).
West Bend hitters — Karl Lemke 2-3 (2 BB, 2B, RBI), Cole Surprenant 1-2, Canon Melstrand 1-3 (RBI), Jackson Jommen 1-4 (RBI), Nathan Fleischman 1-3 (2B, 2 BB), Joe Michels 2-3 (RBI), Carter Mayer 1-1 (2B), Bennett Schmidt 1-2.

West Bend All-Stars hold off rally

Date: July 18, 2013

LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL — JUNIOR LEAGUE DISTRICT POOL PLAY: WEST BEND 13, GRAFTON 8

West Bend All-Stars hold off rally

West Bend nearly blows 8-1 lead

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN
Daily News Sports Editor

West Bend All-Stars manager Michael Fleischman could have sworn he was having an episode of déjà-vu.
West Bend held on for a 13-8 victory over Grafton on Wednesday in the All-Stars’ second pool-play game of the Wisconsin Little League District 1 tournament in West Bend.
The All-Stars had to hold off a rally by Grafton, which trailed 8-1 after three innings.
Sound familiar?
In Tuesday’s pool-play game against Glendale, West Bend trailed 9-1 after three innings.
“I thought, when I went into the dugout when we were winning 8-1, I should tell them, ‘Just remember last night. It’ll come back to haunt us,’” Fleischman said. “I didn’t say anything and sure enough, we let them get back into it.
“But that’s baseball. That’s 13-year-old baseball.”
On Tuesday, West Bend exercised plate discipline to work its way back into the game and pull out a 13-9 victory.
On Wednesday, Grafton showed more discipline at the plate. Through five innings, Grafton forced West Bend to throw 115 pitches. Grafton only threw 64 pitches in that span.
Grafton had seven combined walks in the third and fourth innings. But it was also hitting the ball, with 10 of its 12 hits coming in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings.
For the game, Grafton threw 105 pitches; West Bend threw 147.
“Give their pitchers credit,” Fleischman said. “They threw strikes. Our kids, when they see a strike, they go after it. We’ve got aggressive hitters. That’s what we’re known for.”
Grafton scored the game’s first run with an RBI single in the bottom of the first inning.
In the top of the second, Kyle Yochem got things going for West Bend, hitting a two-run home run off the scoreboard in left field. Then in the third inning, West Bend scored six runs to take what seemed to be a commanding 8-1 lead. Grafton came back in the bottom of the fourth with six runs of its own to draw to within one run at 8-7.
“We had a little lull. We got a little complacent,” Fleischman said.
The teams traded runs in the sixth. Canon Melstrand hit an RBI sacrifice fly to center to make the score 9-7 in the sixth.
And in the seventh, West Bend scored four runs, which made the bottom of the seventh inning a bit more bearable to watch.
RBI singles by Nathan Schubert and Karl Lemke stretched West Bend’s lead to 11-8. Schubert laid a suicide squeeze bunt and beat the throw to first for his RBI. Schubert had his bat almost in the dirt just to get the ball in play. Ethan Wedemayer also had an RBI on a suicide squeeze to make it 13-8.
“I can’t tell you how huge that was,” Fleischman said. “That’s been sort of our game. We play a little bit of small ball when we need to. We had one unbelievable suicide squeeze by Nathan Schubert. That was a fantastic bunt.
“Ethan Wedemayer, who’s been doing it for us all year, laid down another really good suicide (squeeze). Those were two runs that gave us a cushion that were invaluable.”
Grafton made a couple attempts to either tie the game or take the lead, but Alex Rondorf was up for the challenge. The big moment came in the sixth when Grafton’s first three batters reached base. Grafton managed just one run as Rondorf struck two of the final three batters in the inning.
“Alex is someone we like to have in there because she throws strikes,” Fleischman said. “She throws the ball really well, she throws a really nice offspeed pitch and throws it for a strike.” Also picking up hits for West Bend were Nathan Fleischman, who was 3-for-3 with two runs scored and a walk, Rondorf and Joe Michels, who is 3-for-4 with an RBI in two games of the tournament.
Pool play wraps up today when West Bend plays Shorewood at 8:30 p.m. in West Bend.

WEST BEND 13, GRAFTON 8
West Bend.............................................026 001 4 — 13 9 2 Grafton...................................................100 601 0 — 8 12 4
Pitchers — WB: Cole Surprenant (2 2/3IP, 2H, R, 3BB, 2K), Carter Mayer (1/3IP, 3H, 6R, 3BB, K), Alex Rondorf (W, 3IP, 7H, R, BB, 4K), Nathan Fleischman (IP, K); GRA: Mitch Macek (L, 3 2/3IP, 5H, 8R, 6ER, Jalen Lowdermilk (1 2/3IP, H, R, BB), Matthew Fischer (2/3IP, H, 3R, 2BB), Jonny Holdway (IP, 2H, 4R, K).
West Bend hitters — Karl Lemke 2-5 (2B, RBI), Alex Rondorf 1-2, Nathan Fleischman 3-3 (3 R, BB), Kyle Yochem 1-2 (HR, 2 RBI), Joe Michels 1-1, Nathan Schubert 1-2 (RBI)

Slinger's Johnson in hunt at Beaver Dam

Date: July 19, 2013

Slinger’s Johnson in hunt at Beaver Dam

By Nicholas Dettmann
Daily News Sports Editor

BEAVER DAM - Joe Johnson doesn’t particularly race for trophies. Bragging rights are what he’s after. However, Johnson needs a trophy as a way to prove he did something great, just in case someone doesn’t believe him.
Johnson won the Chilton track championship last year. Unfortunately for Johnson, shortly after the season, the track went bankrupt, and he didn’t get any hardware to prove his championship.
“It’s like, ‘Yeah, we won it, but we don’t have anything to show for it,’” Johnson said.
“It’d be nice to get something to show for it and our hard work for the year.”
With the season half over at Beaver Dam Raceway, Johnson is in contention to add to his trophy case. Johnson is second in the points standings in the legends division at Beaver Dam, 19 points behind Mike Mueller. Johnson has hit a bit of a rough patch the last two races, finishing 18th and 16th.
However, before that, Johnson was strong. In the first seven races of the season, the Slinger native had finished in the top four in each race for an average finish of 2.6. He has one feature victory as well.
“This year has been my best season by far,” Johnson said.
Johnson, a 2004 Slinger High School graduate, finished second in the 2011 points standings at Beaver Dam, but ran a partial schedule in 2012.
A couple of rule changes this season helped Johnson as they seem to fit more of his driving style. One of the big changes was the brakes package.
“You can carry (the car) into the corner farther,” Johnson said. “I can get in the corner farther and get back on the gas at the same point.”
“Out on the track, I can see I’m gaining probably two-car lengths on cars coming into the corners,” he added.
This is Johnson’s ninth year in the division and seems to be perfectly happy with where he’s at.
“The car’s are inexpensive and they’re not all that easy to drive,” Johnson said. “There’s not really any maintenance to them per week ... if you don’t wreck them.”
Johnson got into the legends division for safety reasons. He started racing go-karts when he was about 13. After a couple of instances where he flipped over in his go-kart at 70 mph, his father, Bill Johnson III, looked at him and said it was time to put Johnson in a car with a roll cage.
One of Johnson’s greatest achievements was winning the 2007 state championship for the Wisconsin Dirt Legends series.
Johnson isn’t overly interested in switching to an asphalt late model, simply because it’s a bigger time and money commitment, one that he doesn’t want to make. But that’s OK. His family were legends on the dirt anyways.
Johnson’s grandfather was one of Slinger Superspeedway’s greatest drivers.
Bill Johnson Jr. won the midgets division track championship at Slinger in 1948, the year the track opened. Johnson also won four modified track championships at Slinger (1963, 1965, 1966, 1968).
In all, Johnson Jr. won 19 track championships between Cedarburg, Beaver Dam, Slinger, State Fair Park, Hales Corners and Plymouth. He, along with his father Bill Johnson Sr., were inducted into the Southeastern Wisconsin Short Track Hall of Fame in 2007.
At the time of his retirement, Bill Johnson Jr. was the only driver to sweep all five track championships in the same season.
If Joe Johnson were to leave the legends division, he’d like to race a winged sprint car.
“People still come up to me and say, ‘You’re Billy Johnson’s grandson,’ and expect me to fill those shoes,” Johnson said. “I don’t think those are shoes anybody could fill.”
And, as one could imagine, it’s not easy to even come remotely close to filling those shoes.
“He raced six nights and was competitive six nights a week,” Johnson said.
Winning a second track championship won’t remove him from his grandfather’s shadow, but it’ll be a step, albeit a small one, out of it.
Johnson said he doesn’t race for championship points only because he doesn’t want that to be a determining factor to how he drives in a race. If he’s consistent, the points will take care of itself. Winning and winning often is far more satisfactory.
“If I’m at the points lead at the end, I’m in the points lead at the end,” Johnson said. “The only thing we’re going to gain out of it is bragging rights and a trophy.”
And the bragging rights will be sweet.
“The competition has gotten harder (since 2010),” Johnson said. “It makes winning that much better.”
❑
Germantown’s Nick Strobbe Jr. won one of the two heat races in the grand nationals division Saturday at Plymouth. Strobbe finished third in the “A” main feature.
Kewaskum’s Shane Wenninger took second in the 360 Sprint Car “A” main at Plymouth. He was also the division’s hard-charger award winner. Kewaskum’s Donny Goeden won one of the four heat races.
West Bend’s Paul Pokorski was third in the “B” main.
Wenninger was also seventh Friday at the Manitowoc County Fairgrounds, and Pokorski was eighth and was the division’s hardcharger winner, improving nine positions.
❑
Wilmot Raceway will host 3-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Tony Stewart on Aug. 16.
Stewart will race with the Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw Sprint Car Series at the track. It’ll be Stewart’s second race of the season with the IRAs. On June 15, he won the “A” main at Plymouth.

Jahnke, field ready to test itself

Date: July 19, 2013

GOLF: WISCONSIN STATE AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

Jahnke, field ready to test itself

Kewaskum native wants to put 2010 behind him

By NICHOLAS DETTMANN
Daily News Sports Editor

Kewaskum’s Jason Jahnke got a rude awakening in the 2010 Wisconsin State Amateur Championship at The Bull in Sheboygan Falls.
It was his first State Amateur. He thought he had a chance of at least making the cut.
“I thought my swing was there,” Jahnke said. “I learned my lesson.”
In the first round, Jahnke had a rough three-hole swing toward the end of his round, shooting 7-over par. Before that, he was 1-under through 13 holes. He finished with an 8-over 80. In the second round, he shot a 19-over 91.
“Back then, I don’t think my mental game was fully developed,” Jahnke said. “You’ve got to let mistakes go. I was still struggling with it. Now you make a bad hole, you move on.”
The next week, on the same course, Jahnke shot a 75 and qualified for the Wisconsin State Open.
“I feel like I can play with the top players in the state,” Jahnke said. “It’s a matter of putting it all together.”
Jahnke, 25, a 2006 Kewaskum High School graduate, and a field of 179 other golfers will try to do the same beginning Monday with the 112th Wisconsin State Amateur Championship at The Bog in Saukville.
The tournament returns to The Bog for the first time since 2004. In that tournament, Pat Boyle overcame a seven-shot deficit to win the tournament in a one-hole playoff over Jeff Kaiser.
“You get the best players in the state,” Jahnke said. “It shows you where you sit as a player and how good you are and what level you’re at.”
There will be plenty of players to watch in a tournament that’s featured some of the state’s best golfers. Past winners include Steve Stricker (1985), Skip Kendall (1987), Mark Wilson (1996) and two-time U.S. Open champion Andy North (1969).
Brady Strangstalien is the defending champion, but is not scheduled to compete.
One player to watch will be Jordan Niebrugge of Mequon. Niebrugge is the 114th-ranked player in the World Amateur Rankings. He will try to become the third golfer in state history to win the State Open, the State Amateur and the State Match Play titles, joining Kendall and Wilson.
Niebrugge is believed to be the youngest State Open champion in the modern era. He was 18 at the time.
Niebrugge is currently in the quarterfinals of the USGA Amateur Public Links Championship in Virginia. Brookfield’s Kyle Henning is also in the quarterfinals and will compete at the State Amateur.
A player from The Bog will not compete, making Jason Samuelian in 1992 as the last player to win the State Amateur on his home course.
Out of Washington County, five players will compete in the tournament: Jahnke, Phillip Johnson (Colgate), Mike McDonald (West Bend), Jason Rosenfeldt (Germantown) and Jake Schmitt (Hartford).
McDonald is the 2011 State Amateur champion.
In addition, four players from outside of the county but with county-course affiliations will compete in the tournament: Jacob Mayer (Hartland, Washington County GC), Mitch McGuire (Rubicon, West Bend CC), Matthew McIntosh (Hartland, Washington County GC) and Sam Weber (Hartland, Washington County GC).
Jahnke is prepared for his second State Amateur.
“I feel more excited than anything,” he said. “I feel like my game is ready.”
Jahnke’s had a good summer. In May, he won the WSGA Match Play qualifier at Mee-Kwon Park Golf Course, shooting a 3-over 73. He finished tied for ninth at the WSGA State Amateur qualifier at the Hartford Golf Club with an evenpar 72.
“When I won that, it was an awakening,” Jahnke said. “It made me feel like something’s coming together. Like I turned over a new leaf in my golf game.”
Jahnke played a practice round Wednesday at The Bog, designed by seven-time majors champion Arnold Palmer and opened in 1995. Jahnke was happy with his even-par 72 round.
Jahnke last played at The Bog as a junior golfer about eight years ago. He didn’t remember much about the course, except for one factor.
“There are a lot more blind tee shots than I remember,” he said.
“I should be able to make the cut without struggling,” he added. “My head feels really clear. I think I’m prepared and ready. My game has come around this summer. The last couple rounds I’ve been even par or 2-under. I feel good.
“I don’t think my game is quite developed (to win). I should make it within the top 30.”

Despite tough loss, West quiets critics

Date: July 20, 2013

Despite tough loss, West quiets critics


By NICHOLAS DETTMANN
Daily News Sports Editor

MEQUON — People just keep doubting West Bend West and its baseball program and the Spartans snicker when they prove those folks wrong. The doubters were fooled once again by the often-fundamentally sound Spartans in Friday’s WIAA state semifinal against Sheboygan Falls and in the final against New Berlin West, down five runs in the sixth.
All year, the Spartans have heard they’re not good. They didn’t stand a chance against the tough North Shore Conference. The Spartans lacked powerful hitting or standout pitchers.
A couple times, they were right as West started 5-4 and had a lateseason three-game losing streak. West wasn’t going to quit and it was ready to show up the doubters.
Faced with the season on the brink, West’s Jake Kopp got red-hot Nate Heili to ground out to end the game as the Falcons had the goahead run on second base in the top of the seventh inning.
With first base open and two outs and the Falcons’ best hitter at the plate, there was a belief West coach Bill Albrecht and Kopp would intentionally walk Heili to load the bases, creating a force-out situation at any base.
West hasn’t listened to any naysayers up to this point. Why now?
Kopp wanted the ball and wanted to get Heili. Albrecht wanted Kopp to do it and had faith he could do it.
Kopp and a remarkable defensive play took care of the job and put West to within one game of a state championship. Not bad for a bunch of nobodys.
“I’m sure a lot of people thought we should’ve walked him,” Albrecht said.
“But if I’ve got Jake Kopp going up against anybody, I’ve got full confidence in (Kopp). I’ll take him against anybody.”
In the preseason, West was picked toward the bottom of the North Shore.
Who could blame the doubters? West went into the season without a Daily News All-Area or even an All-North Shore Conference pick from the 2012 season. So, in other words, this team was young, lacked experience.
The Spartans weren’t a sexy pick.
But the way they play baseball isn’t sexy, either. It’s just fundamental.
Instead of the long ball, West plays small ball — bunting runners into scoring position, attempting suicide squeezes. And most of the time, the Spartans are successful.
Their first run in Friday’s semifinal was on a suicide squeeze.
Anybody who’s ever watched West baseball, especially in the last two years as the powerful bats of Shane Hayes, Eric DuCharme and Dylan Hinckley have graduated, knows small ball is coming. But nobody ever seems to be able to stop it. Why? Good coaching of a team that refuses to quit, understands how to win and plays with a chip on its shoulder. So you want to doubt the Spartans? OK.
Last year, the Spartans were given little chance to do anything. What they did in the end was win 20 games and finish second in the North Shore.
Going into this year was a bit of a different story. There was even less experience and maybe even less talent.
You can bet Albrecht will take a less talented team over one that is maybe more talented, but not as easy to coach.
“We haven’t done things pretty all year, but we got the job done,” he said.
Albrecht, the 2007 state coach of the year, put together one of his best coaching jobs this season and added to his future Hall of Fame resume with the job he did this season. He took a bunch of “nobodys” and turned them into a team that played for a state championship when nobody outside of the West program gave them a chance.
There was even some belief West was on the decline. Ha!
Albrecht challenged his six seniors and his young pitching staff to carry this team and they gladly accepted it.
They came to practice ready to prove naysayers wrong.
“This group, they just never give up,” said Albrecht, who joined the 300win club this season. “They just keep playing.”