Port’s Perkins beats alma mater at special venue

The six-game losing streak is gone, and now the Port Washington High School baseball team has won two straight, including a memorable match at a unique field.

Port topped Cedarburg, 4-0, at Kapco Park on April 30 at the Concordia University Wisconsin campus in Mequon.

Freshman Max Webb allowed three hits and five walks while striking out eight in six innings before approaching his 100-pitch limit.

Senior Carson Page allowed one hit and whiffed two in the seventh inning.

“It was a great game from the freshman,” coach Zachary Perkins said. “Carson Page shut the door at the end.”

Senior Kyle Uselding had three hits and a run scored. Senior Sam Hoeft had two hits and an RBI. Austin Johnson had a hit, RBI and run scored. J.J. Bergin had an RBI single and Bayer White had a hit and run scored.

Port scored one run in the first and fifth innings and plated two in the sixth.

Perkins, a Cedarburg alumnus, faced his former team for the first time as coach.

“It was definitely unique playing Cedarburg. It felt great to come out on top,” he said.

Playing at Kapco Park was another plus.

“I’m thankful to coach (Eddy) Morgan at Concordia. It’s a pretty awesome field. Not everyone gets to play at that field,” Perkins said.

Last Friday, Port kept it going with a 5-3 win at West Bend East.

O’Neal Wright allowed three runs (one earned), no hits and six walks while whiffing eight in 4-2/3 innings. Page allowed two hits but no runs and struck out one in the final 2-1/3 innings, throwing just 18 pitches.

Port came through in the fourth inning with three runs to take a 4-1 lead. With runners on second and third and two outs, sophomore Kiya Sullivan bounced a chopper to the hole between first and second base.

“It was a foot race to the bag. Kiya, with his speed, beat it out. Both runs scored. That was a really big moment for us. Those two runs proved to be pretty beneficial,” Perkins said.

Webb, Wright and Hoeft each had a hit and an RBI. Uselding and Jack Bunyan each had a hit and a run scored.

“We moved Kyle to leadoff. He’s been hot and doing a great job for us,” Perkins said.

Port, 3-6 in the North Shore Conference and 6-9 overall, was to play at Slinger on Tuesday, May 6, and host Whitefish Bay on Wednesday, May 7. Port hosts Nicolet on Friday, May 9, plays at Kiel on Saturday, May 10, hosts West Bend West on Monday, May 12, and plays at Hartford on Wednesday, May 14.

Grafton’s win streak stops at four

After facing two of the top pitchers in the state in Hartford’s Carter Kutz and Port’s Hoeft, the Black Hawks got their bats back on track on April 30 in a six-inning, 11-1 home win over Homestead.

Sam Cameranesi, Peyton McKinney, Jack Schmanski and Hudson Miller each had two hits and two RBIs. Cameranesi had a double. Will Heinz had three hits.

Elijah Banaag allowed two hits, one earned run and three walks while whiffing three in six innings.

The Hawks jumped out to an 8-0 lead after two innings.

“I’m just trying to throw it in the zone. I really trust my defense,” Banaag said. “It’s nice having run support right off the bat.”

“Banaag threw an outstanding game for us  and kept hitters off balance, and our defense made plays behind him,” coach Brian Durst said.

McKinney ended the game via the 10-run mercy rule with an RBI single with the bases loaded.

“See ball, hit ball. Anything in play will do the job. We had less than two outs there,” he said.

The Hawks didn’t have a letdown after a classic, 4-0, win over Port on April 28 in which ace Luke Michalak pitched 6-2/3 of no-hit ball and Cameranesi closed it. Hoeft whiffed 15 for Port.

“We had a focused practice last night and the guys did a nice job of coming out and executing what we worked on,” Durst said.

Grafton 6, Cedarburg 5 (nine innings)

Last Friday at Cedarburg, the Hawks scored two runs in the top of the seventh to force extra innings and scored one in the ninth to win.

In the ninth inning, Dylan Bodoh led off with a hit and Schmanski followed with a sacrifice bunt. After a groundout, Zach Plier smacked a two-out RBI single.

Cameranesi put down the Bulldogs in order in the bottom of the ninth to get the win. He allowed three hits, two runs (one earned) and two walks while whiffing three in four innings.

Brady Eader started and allowed six hits, three runs (two earned) and a walk while whiffing four in five innings.

Eader also had the clutch hit to tie the game in the seventh, a two-RBI double to the left-center gap.

“That’s one of the situations that we practice every night. When it happens, we’re prepared for it. It still takes the effort,” Durst said.

All the Hawks’ runs, he said, were scored with two outs.

Grafton 6, Kettle Moraine Lutheran 3

The Hawks scored four runs in the second inning and stopped the Chargers’ seventh-inning rally at three runs to earn a road win on Saturday.

Plier had two hits and two RBIs. Eader had two hits and one RBI. McKinney and Nick Schiller each had a hit, RBI and run scored. Kevin Quello had two hits.

Schmanski allowed six hits, three unearned runs and a walk while whiffing five before hitting the 100-pitch limit in 6-2/3 innings. Luke Michalak got the game’s final out against the Chargers’ top hitter.

“It was a matter of jumping out to a 4-0 lead in a four-run second inning,” Durst said.

“The rest of the way was really all Jack Schmanski on the mound. He tossed a great game for us.”

West Bend East 11, Grafton 3

The Hawks slipped on Monday in a blowout at West Bend East.

Grafton stranded 12 runners and couldn’t take advantage of eight walks, Durst said.

“We did not show up to play,” he said.

Heinz had two hits and an RBI, and Schmanski had a double.

Grafton, 5-4 in the NSC and 10-5 overall, was to host Slinger on Wednesday, May 7. The Hawks play at Whitefish Bay on Friday, May 9, in a Campbellsport tournament on Saturday, May 10, and at Nicolet on Monday, May 12.