Port is at home for playoffs

Spring baseball — and wet spring weather — has brought about scheduling challenges, but the Port Washington High School team is reaping one benefit.

With all the state’s teams playing in one season, schools are put into divisions by enrollment as in other sports.

As a result, Port and its 8-18 record (4-14 in the North Shore Conference) earned a No. 3 seed in the Division 2 playoffs and hosts Brown Deer at 5 p.m. Thursday.

“We’d love to have a nice crowd there,” coach C.J. Koehler said.

Coming into the postseason, the Pirates posted a 6-2 victory over a quality opponent in Plymouth (12-12) and avenged a 3-1 defeat on May 13.

Brayden Thompson started and threw 3-1/3 shutout innings. He allowed two hits and two walks and struck out one in the third time pitching in eight days.

Rob Ross went the final 3-2/3 innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits, walking two and whiffing one.

“Plymouth has a solid program. You know they’re going to have good at-bats. They’re fundamental. They’re well coached,” coach Koehler said.

“Brayden just pounds the zone. Rob throws a little bit harder, and he was mixing speeds the best he’s mixed all year.”

Port took a two-run lead in the first inning without the ball leaving the infield. Leadoff hitter Patrick Lippe reached on an error, and Marcus Schmit had a single. George Klassen reached on an error and took second as Lippe scored.

Klassen stole third and scored on a wild pitch.

The Pirates added four runs in the third inning. Lippe walked, Schmit singled and Klassen got hit by a pitch. Nolan Mueller worked an 8-pitch walk for an RBI. With one out, Beau Fleischmann knocked in two runs with a single. Mueller later scored on a wild pitch.

“We had runners on every inning. I thought today we had good approaches and good at-bats,” Koehler said.

The Pirates lost at West Bend East, 10-0, last Friday. They were short on pitching in their fifth game in five days and eighth game in the past week.

Three walks and a grand slam in the first inning set the tone.

“We knew going in that was going to be a tough game,” Koehler said.

Port lost to Waukesha South, 17-1, on May 15. Each team had five hits but Port walked 14 batters and hit two more.

The game was sandwiched by two classic extra-inning battles against rival Cedarburg.

On May 14, Port won, 3-2, in eight innings on a walk-off RBI single by Ross.

In the bottom of the eighth, Klassen hit a one-out single and stole second. He was heading to third on Ross’ grounder in between third base and the shortstop and kept running.

“We were able to come away with some big hits late in the game,” Koehler said.

Klassen started and went five shutout innings. He allowed one hit, whiffed 11 and walked four.

“He’s able to get out of jams with strikeouts,” Koehler said.

Adam Baierl went 1/3 of an inning and got into some trouble. Ross finished the final 2-1/3 innings, allowing one run on three hits while walking two.

In the fourth inning, Klassen hit a leadoff triple to left field.

“If we had a fence or at any other place that ball is over the fence,” Koehler said.

Mueller scored him on a sacrifice fly.

In the sixth, Klassen got a one-out walk and stole second. Ross followed with an RBI single before doing the same two innings later to win the game.

“That’s two clucth at-bats by Rob after no hits in his first two at-bats,” Koehler said.

Last Thursday, the Bulldogs exacted a little revenge in a 2-1 eight-inning victory that could have easily gone the Pirates’ way.

“We had the bases loaded three times and didn’t score,” Koehler said, adding twice they had no outs and once had one out.

Joe Yandry had the best start “probably of his career,” Koehler said, in allowing one unearned run and three hits in five innings. He whiffed three and walked one.

“His curve ball is as good as we’ve seen it,” Koehler said.

Schmit went the final 2-1/3 innings, allowing one unearned run and one hit, striking out two and walking none.

The Pirates’ run came in the second inning. Xavier Deal led off with a single, took second on passed ball, third on a ground out and scored on another passed ball.

The Bulldogs won the game on a wild pitch that hit the dirt and skipped away.

Koehler said his team will enjoy a couple of days off before Klassen, a junior who has committed to pitch at Purdue, will take the mound for the Pirates against Brown Deer.

The winner plays the winner of No. 2-seeded University School of Milwaukee vs. No. 7-seeded Milwaukee Vincent.

Grafton wins final two before playoffs

Grafton won two non-conference games heading into the postseason.

The Black Hawks, 9-9 in the NSC and 13-9 overall, earned a No. 1 seed and a bye in the Division 2 playoffs. They host the winner of No. 5-seeded Milwaukee Lutheran at No. 4-seeded Kettle Moraine Lutheran on Tuesday, May 28.

The Hawks beat Living Word Lutheran, 9-4, on Monday, after beating Kewaskum, 7-5, on the road last Friday.

That followed two tight games against NSC champion Whitefish Bay (15-2) last week.

On May 14, the Hawks lost, 3-2 in eight innings at Bay, and last Thursday lost 4-2 at home.

In the first loss, the Blue Dukes scored one run in the seventh inning to tie the game and another in the eighth to win it.

Grafton scored its two runs in the fifth inning. Adam Schnell had a hit and an RBI.

Against Kewaskum, Jake Garncarz had three hits, including a double, and Zack Merkle had a double.

Other stats weren’t available.