West Bend – Mother Nature tried to steal the show, but the West Bend Spirits weren’t about to let a little weather dampen their perfect start to the season.
The Spirits (3-0) defeated the Brookfield Blue Sox (0-2) 12-6 at Carl M. Kuss Memorial Field in a contest that featured an 18-minute lightning delay before the first pitch and a 52-minute rain and lightning delay in the third inning.
Right-handed pitcher Gavin Hinckley was the story of the night for West Bend, dominating opposing hitters with 11 strikeouts over six innings of work.
The ace allowed just one hit and zero runs while walking two batters, improving the Spirits’ record to 3-0 on the young season.
“The weather delays definitely made it challenging to stay warm and loose,” said Hinckley.
“But I was able to keep my focus and attack the strike zone when we got back out there.”
The veteran hurler credited his command for the dominant performance.
“The old saying as a pitcher is win strike one, and that’s what I tried to do all night,” Hinckley said.
“For the first time all season I felt like I could throw all three pitches for strikes.”
West Bend wasted little time getting on the scoreboard. Brandon Niedfeldt worked a nine-pitch at-bat in the bottom of the first inning, ending it with a double that put the Spirits ahead early.
The home team added another run in the second when Colyn Lessila ripped a single down the right field line, extending the lead to 3-0.
The floodgates both literally and figuratively opened in the bottom of the third inning, as West Bend exploded for six runs on three hits. Blake Church delivered the big blow with a ringing bases-clearing double to right center that scored three runs.
Luke Heinkel drew a bases-loaded walk to drive in another run, and Adam Lucas capped the rally with an RBI double.
Mueller praised his team’s ability to handle the challenging conditions.
“It makes things like weather delays a lot of fun, but then a switch can be turned back on when needed and when it stopped raining they were ready to play.”
“Brookfield struggled to solve Hinckley through six innings but finally broke through in the seventh. The Blue Sox tallied five runs on six hits in their final at-bat, with Joel Kraus, Jackson Sadowski, Aidan Clay, and Harrison Phillips all contributing RBI hits.
Sadowski’s double was the biggest hit of the inning, plating two runs.
Dylan Dombrowicki took the loss for Brookfield, lasting just 2⅔ innings while allowing nine runs on five hits. The left-hander struck out two but walked eight batters, struggling with his command throughout the evening.
“Dylan had trouble finding his footing on the mound all night,” said Blue Sox manager Pat Tobiasz.
“The weather delays didn’t help, but we need to execute better in those situations.”
Tobiasz acknowledged his team’s youth and the challenges they face early in the season.
“We’re really young, and still trying to find our identity,” he said.
“It’s tough to find that identity against teams like West Bend and the Brookfield Bulldogs in your first two games.”
Alec Tomkiewicz and Johnny Nieskes provided relief work for the Spirits to close out the victory.
West Bend’s offense was firing on all cylinders, collecting nine hits and drawing an impressive 17 walks. Lessila led the hit parade, going 2-for-5 at the plate. Niedfeldt, Tyler Murray, and Church each drove in two runs for the Spirits.
The Spirits were aggressive on the base paths as well, swiping seven stolen bases for the game. Niedfeldt led the way with two steals, while Caleb Horvath joined Niedfeldt in working three walks each.
Brookfield managed nine hits in the losing effort, with Jackson Sadowski leading the charge from the seven-hole in the batting order. The first baseman went 2-for-5 with two RBIs.
Danny Butler also collected two hits for the Blue Sox, who turned one double play defensively.
The victory keeps West Bend’s perfect record intact as they head into their next contest. The Spirits return to action Sunday at home against the Rome Raiders.
