Sports

Little League ballplayers and fans have new and improved scoreboards to look up at following a generous donation made by Twig’s Beverage’s Dan and Diane Hartwig.

The four new scoreboards were installed at the Little League diamonds at Memorial Park near the end of June, with the donation amount totaling about $14,000. The Shawano Park and Recreation Department installed the scoreboards with the help of Shawano Municipal Utilities.

Making the donation was an easy choice for the Hartwigs, who jumped at the opportunity to pitch in for their community.

“We just want to see the youth sports continue in this area,” Dan Hartwig said. “Just like when I was young, I played on this field, my kids played on this field and my dad played around the area too. It’s neat just to see it go on. Anything we can do to help out the youth sports, we are always there to help.”

July 13-15

East-West Division

Gresham 19

Shawano 2

Gresham powered its way to a seven-inning win over Shawano to improve to 10-0.

Joe Ejnik posted hits in each of his six at-bats for Gresham while Nate Ejnik tallied four hits, including a home run. Pete Carroll chipped in with two hits for the Gophers while Dan Buettner earned the win on the mound.

Derek Bowman was dealt the loss for Shawano (1-8) while Kurt Boldig launched a homer.

Tigerton 13

Leopolis 0

Tigerton tallied 21 hits during a rout of Leopolis.

Paul Sellner led Tigerton (8-2) with five hits while Brandon Sivertson, Jon Berg, Shawn Much and Haden Harris each had three hits. Sivertson belted a homer while Gunner Kopitzke doubled among his two hits. Much also earned the win for the Tigers.

Jason Kuehl suffered the loss for Leopolis (3-6). Tyler Dillenberg, Justin Reminger, Nate Laude and Brock Hoffman each had one hit.

Neopit 7

This summer seems to be flying by. My daughter Kalispell’s been enjoying several Girl Scout camps so far (Camp Birch Trails in Irma and Camp Winnecomac in Kaukauna) while my wife’s been in overdrive cleaning mode. One of our two garages is the cleanest it’s been since we moved into our house 18 years ago! We’re still planning some short vacation trips, but the school-supplies sales remind us that summer’s slipping away.

I did witness a minor miracle of nature a few days ago while driving on Highway 45 near Oshkosh. A male goldfinch suddenly appeared behind the car in front of me, apparently struck by the car and going through its final roll and death throes. Not wanting to mangle the little guy, I bridged it with my Honda Accord. I looked in my rearview mirror, and could not believe it when I saw not one, but two male goldfinches separate and fly in two directions!

If you grew up in Wisconsin or have been a lifelong fan of sports teams in the state, the success of the Green Bay Packers is probably the source of most of your favorite sports memories.

Teams like the Milwaukee Brewers, Milwaukee Bucks, Wisconsin Badgers and Marquette Golden Eagles have enjoyed spurts of greatness in various sports, but failed to win championships consistently. Even the Packers have fallen short when it appeared the roster had the necessary pieces to win it all.

I’m not saying winning a title in any professional or collegiate sport is a walk in the park, but it would be nice to have a team from the state win the championship now and again.

The recent cool off in the temperature didn’t signal the end of the summer, but it did force me to think about fall and the various high school sports that will soon start up.

For a third straight game, the Bonduel Legion baseball team shut out its opponent.

The Grizzlies eased to a 12-0 win in five innings over Menominee on Tuesday in Bonduel.

Jordan Boldt picked up the win on the mound, allowing just four hits and a walk. He struck out seven batters in five innings.

At the plate, Bonduel (8-5) used an 11-run fourth inning to take control of the game. Bryce Engel cleared the bases with a double while Bryce Weier drove in two runs for the Grizzlies.

Bonduel is scheduled to take on Oconto Falls at 5:30 p.m. Friday in Clintonville, the second matchup of the Class A Clintonville Regional.

The Shawano Ski Sharks will be looking to win a second straight state championship when the team heads to Lake Wazeecha in Wisconsin Rapids over the next four days.

Shawano will send several individuals to the 52nd annual Wisconsin State Water Ski Show Championships on Thursday before team events begin Saturday.

The Ski Sharks claimed the Division 3 title last year after earning 1,129 points. Shawano earned first-place finishes for best comedy act, most creative act, high-scoring barefoot act, high-scoring jump act, best dock crew and best boat crew.

This season, Shawano has dealt with a number of obstacles while preparing for the championship.

“We were faced with some challenges early on this season with having to delay certain acts due to low water levels, we lost a few of our experienced skiers, and unfortunately one of our best skiers on the team was injured a couple weeks ago and is out for the season,” said Cody Siolka, the team’s show director.

A couple of revealing points emerged from the festivities at baseball’s All-Star Game.

The Home Run Derby competition showed that today’s hitters are stronger than ever, to a freakish degree, and that in even the most innocuous of competitions every molehill is a potential mountain.

Washington’s Bryce Harper hit 18 home runs — including a finishing stretch of nine in 10 cuts — en route to a close win over Chicago’s Kyle Schwarber that delighted fans at Nationals Park.

An ensuing mini-controversy bubbled over the rate at which Harper hit his winning taters. The derby was a timed event, with each hitter getting four minutes in which to smash as many over the fence as possible.

The pitchers for each hitter had to wait until each hit ball hit the ground or the seats before throwing the next pitch. Harper’s pitcher was his father, who appeared to have thrown a few too early.

The Bonduel Legion baseball team picked up its second consecutive shutout win on Monday, claiming a 6-0 victory over Marion/Tigerton in Tigerton.

After Wyatt Erb and Isaac Boldt combined to shutout Wittenberg on Saturday, Boldt teamed up with Riley Allen to hold Marion/Tigerton scoreless Monday.

Boldt pitched the first five innings, allowing just four hits and one walk. He struck out three batters and did not allow more than one baserunner in any inning or allow a runner to reach second.

“My curveball wasn’t really working tonight, so he (catcher Garrett Engel) was giving me more fastballs and making me hit my spots on the corner,” Boldt said. “Once I started to hit those spots, I was able to set them down.”

“They were struggling to hit the outside pitches,” Engel said. “They were all standing pretty far away from the plate, so we just kept trying to work the outside corner.”

Bonduel 3

Wittenberg 0

The Bonduel Legion baseball team shut out Wittenberg for the second time this summer behind a strong pitching outing from Wyatt Erb on Saturday afternoon.

The left-handed Erb pitched the first 6 2/3 innings before hitting the pitch count limit. Erb struck out 11 batters while walking just two. Isaac Boldt came on and struck out the next batter with the bases-loaded to seal the victory and pick up a save.

Noah Beilfuss drove in two of the Grizzlies runs while Garrett Engel drove in the other run.

Rhinelander 7

Clintonville 1,

Clintonville 8

Omro 5

The Clintonville Diamond Cats finished off a strong week on the diamond by splitting a doubleheader on Sunday.

Clintonville could not keep up with Rhinelander in its first game of the day but took care of Omro in the second matchup to salvage a split.

The Shawano Speedway was full of treats as the track celebrated Halloween at the Half Mile.

Troy Springborn survived a last lap charge from Brett Swedberg for his first win of the year. Lance Arneson secured his first IMCA Modified win of the year with a last lap pass on Wyatt Block. Trent Nolan raced to his fourth consecutive IMCA Stock Car feature win. Lucas Lamberies notched IMCA Sport Mod win number five after a late race pass of Kyle Raddant. Brad Wedde battled with Lucas Hacker for his first Mighty Four win of the season.

Springborn raced to the lead on lap one of the Late Model feature while Swedberg followed him in second. Lap after lap as Springborn led, Swedberg stayed right on the leader. Nick Anvelink battled past Chris Engels to move to third on lap seven.