Fisk’s high-powered pitching, early offense lead Grafton baseball team to 6-1 win in WIAA regional final
A familiar combination turned the trick for the Grafton baseball team in a WIAA regional title game Tuesday night.
While pitcher Conor Fisk was busy handcuffing opposing batters, his teammates supported him with plenty of early offense, leading the host Black Hawks to a 6-1 win over Port Washington.
Fisk, a senior right-hander, allowed just two hits, struck out 14 and walked two in six innings, and Grafton had little trouble taking control. Port was hitless until the sixth, when Trevor Swartwout doubled to left-center field.
Fisk struck out the first seven batters he faced and had nine strikeouts in the first three innings.
“It was a great to start the tournament,” said Grafton coach Brian Durst, whose team won its first regional title in at least 10 years and will face Brown Deer in a sectional semifinal at 1:30 p.m. Friday at Cedarburg.
“Conor was very strong, and we really got our bats going early.”
The Hawks did all their scoring in the first three innings against Port starter Taylor Devenport, beginning with a two-run outburst in the opening frame.
Ryan Hartwig singled to start the inning and raced to third base on an errant pickoff throw. After Robbie Doring walked, Kevin Scholz’s infield single scored Hartwig. Dylan Mayer’s RBI groundout made it 2-0.
After a run-scoring groundout by Skyler Bohn made it 3-0 in the second inning, Grafton doubled its advantage in the third.
Hartwig stroked a leadoff double and scored on Doring’s triple. After Scholz walked, he stole second base. Nennig struck out on a pitch in the dirt, but when the catcher had to throw to first base to complete the putout, Doring sprinted home with another run. Fisk’s RBI single made it 6-0.
The Pirates were poised to spoil the shutout in the top of the fifth after Swartwout doubled. But when Swartwout tried to score on a single to left field by Devenport, Hartwig threw him out with a perfect throw to the plate.
Port finally broke through in the seventh against Mayer, who relieved Fisk for the final inning. Swartwout reached on an infield single and scored on a double by Devenport.
Doring, Hartwig, Fisk and C.J. Koehler each finished with two hits. Doring was 2-for-2 with a pair of triples and a walk in three plate appearances.
The Pirates, who finished the season 4-25, were led by 2-for-3 efforts from Devenport and Swartwout.
Grafton, the No. 2 sectional seed, will take a 19-9 record into Friday’s sectional semifinals. The Hawks beat No. 6-seeded Brown Deer, 10-0, on May 29, when Fisk pitched a five-inning perfect game.
The winner of the 1:30 p.m. semifinal will face the winner of the Nicolet-Whitefish Bay semifinal at 10:30 a.m. Friday for the sectional title at 4:30 p.m. the same day at Cedarburg.
In other regional finals Tuesday, top-seeded Nicolet defeated Shorewood, 13-4; Whitefish Bay edged Homestead, 6-4; and Cedarburg lost to Brown Deer, 5-3.
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