Wolverine baseball teams have a busy week

The Weiser Wolverines hosted the Fruitland Grizzlies on Monday, April 12 at Walter Johnson Memorial Field.  
 The Grizzlies took the lead early in the game scoring seven runs in the first five innings before Weiser responded in the bottom of the fifth inning.  
 Tensions were high between the two teams and could have contributed to the restrained play demonstrated by the Wolverines but in the fifth inning that changed.  
 Weiser put seven batters at the plate before Fruitland picked up their first out, and scored five runs. In a controversial play with the bases loaded, a Wolverine runner was called out when it was clear to all that he was safe. The Wolverine momentum was broken.  
 Another interesting play occurred in the sixth inning where a runner ran into the infield grass, running to third base, and collided with Brett Spencer, the Wolverine third baseman. Clearly, the collision was due to interference by the runner but was cited as obstruction by Spencer. This added two more to Fruitland’s score and an additional two scored late in the sixth inning wouldn’t allow Weiser back into the game. Fruitland won 11-5.  
 On defense, Weiser committed five errors and allowed 11 hits and 11 runs. Jarret Mink started on the mound for the Wolverines and went four innings and had two strikeouts.  
 Ray Calley came in on relief for two innings followed by Beau Shields with one inning and one strikeout.  
 On offense, Weiser had nine hits and five runs.  The Wolverines recorded four RBI’s.  Kooper von Brethorst and Payton Albertson led the Wolverines in batting average going two for three, followed by Spencer going two for four. Willy Shirts, Mink, and Calley each added one hit.  Spencer had two RBIs and Jack Burke and Mink each added an RBI apiece.  
 The Wolverines are currently 10-3 for their total record so far this season and 2-1 in conference play.  
 “We were rough around the edges the first three innings, but then found a groove.  It was incredibly frustrating to have our momentum broken and then to get the obstruction call just made it worse. We had a lot of fight in us, but we cannot defend errors and those didn’t help us tonight,” said coach Bowe von Brethorst.  
Weiser vs. Homedale
 Weiser hosted Home-dale Wednesday. Willy Shirts started on the mound for Weiser and pitched five innings striking out six batters and allowing seven hits and six runs. Beau Shields came in to relieve Shirts, pitching two innings recording no hits, no runs, and five strikeouts.  
 The Weiser defense had three errors, but Weiser was challenged by a slew of unprecedented calls by officials. One such call allowed Homedale to capitalize with a three-run home run when the ball was clearly outside of the foul pole.
 Homedale scored first in the first inning making the game 1-0.  In the bottom of the first inning, Weiser matched the point with von Brethorst walking, then stealing a base, and Burke moving him over but recording a ground out. Spencer was hit by a pitch and von Brethorst stole home on an error by Homedale. Shirts would walk, Jarret Mink hit a single and scored Spencer. Weiser recorded a strikeout for the second out and then a fly out to left field ended the inning.  
 In the second inning, Shirts held Homedale to just a walk and three outs, allowing no runs to score.  
 In the bottom of the second inning, Koda Coers hit a line drive to left field to start the Wolverines off. Weiser would record two strikeouts and start a two-out rally for the team.
 Burke went to first after being hit by a pitch and Coers was on third at this point after stealing second and advancing to third on a wild pitch. Spencer would single on a nicely executed bunt, scoring Coers and advancing Burke’s speed up-runner Eric Torres, to second. Shirts moved everyone one base on a single to left field but errors plagued Homedale scoring Torres and Spencer and advancing Shirt to third base.  
 Mink would add another single and score speed up-runner, Dayton Turrentine.  Weiser would then ground out to end the inning 6-1.  
 In the top of the third inning Shirts would strike out one and Homedale would add two runs due to Wolverine errors and a double by Homedale. In the bottom of the third inning, Albertson would get on base for the Wolverines running out a dropped third strike. Weiser would add a couple more strikeouts and try again on a two-out rally.  
 Von Brethorst scored Albertson on a double to left field and then was caught in a pickle advancing to third base although there was no tag on the play. At the end of the third inning, the score was 7-3 Weiser.
 During the top of the fourth inning, Shirts started out recording two strikeouts to start the team off. A Homedale batter would walk followed by a single to put two runners on base.  A Homedale batter hit a shot that was foul but was indicated by the home plate umpire to be a home run scoring a controversial three runs for Homedale.  The crowd became restless at this erroneous call and would take some time to quiet down. That was all that Homedale could muster in the fourth inning.  
 The last of the scoring was added at the bottom of the fourth inning. Spencer would walk, and Shirts would also reach first by error. Weiser would record a strikeout, but Spencer would reach third, and Turrentine would run for Shirts. Spencer and Turrentine would both advance on a wild pitch, scoring Spencer, and the inning would end with another controversial call of a pick-off at second base.  
 In the fifth inning neither Homedale nor Weiser could get much offense going with a single by Coers as Weiser’s only hit. Shields would pitch well for the Wolverines and would hold Homedale to the final score of 8-6.  
 “This was a game of momentum breaking and it happened to us and we caused it,” Head Coach Bowe von Brethorst said.  “We responded well after some adversity and I am proud of that accomplishment,” von Brethorst added.  
 Offensive leaders for Weiser were Mink with two of three hits and two RBI’s, along with Coers who also had two of three hits. Weiser had just four RBI’s total and scored eight runs on seven hits.  Weiser also stole bases well against Homedale with six recorded.
Weiser vs. Nampa
Christian
 Weiser also travelled to Nampa Christian for a non-conference game and held on until the sixth inning when Nampa Christian took the lead and left them with a final of 11-5.  
 Weiser out hit Nampa Christian and tallied nine hits. Burke, von Brethorst and Coers all had multiple hits with Burke leading the way with three of four at bat.  
 Weiser had a battery of pitchers with Calley going for two innings, Coers with three and Shields coming in for the last inning.  
Weiser vs. Buhl
 Weiser hosted Buhl in a double-header on Saturday. The first game Weiser won 9-1.
 Mink took the mound first in the double-header and went two and two-thirds innings giving up three hits and just one run, while von Brethorst came in for relief and went four and a third innings and gave up one hit and no runs.  Mink struck out four batters and von Brethorst struck out three.
 Some solid defense was played by the Wolverines during the game as well.  
 On the offensive side, Spencer and von Brethorst both went three for four at the plate with Spencer taking the ball yard and scoring a home run for the Wolverines. Turrentine was also a bright spot for the Wolverines with two hits out of three at bats.  Weiser also had eight RBIs with Spencer recording five of them.  
 The second game  was a bit tighter, but Coers pitching was something to see.  Coers went all seven innings allowing just three hits and two runs with a final score of 7-2 in Weiser’s favor.  
 Leading the Wolverines in hitting was Torres who went three for three with solid hits, followed by Shields going three for four and driving in a home run for Weiser.  
 “This was a long week of baseball,” Coach Bowe von Brethorst commented.  “In each game we had some bright spots and some leaders that took center stage.  It was a fun time in Weiser baseball and I enjoyed the play this week.  Even with Nampa Christian, we stayed in it until the end and I am proud of the teamwork that these young men have shown,” von Brethorst added.  
 Weiser will be back in action hosting McCall on Monday due to their field not being playable and then traveling to Payette on Wednesday, and hosting New Plymouth on Thursday.  Come out and support Weiser baseball.