For the Tomahawk Leader
TOMAHAWK – The Tomahawk Titans hosted the Rib Lake Osprey in a Dairyland League baseball game at Tyler Kahle Memorial Field on Saturday, May 22, and the home team came away with a solid 5-3 victory in a very well-played game.
After Rib Lake jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning, the Titans countered with a run of their own. Nick Kahle led off with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Justin Jarvensivu’s one-out single to center plated Kahle and tied the game at 1-1.
In the third inning, Tomahawk rallied to take the lead. Once again, Nick Kahle reached base to lead off the inning, this time on a misplayed grounder. After advancing to second on a grounder, Kahle moved to third on Justin Jarvensivu’s line drive single to left. Caleb Armstrong’s bloop single to center scored Kahle to give the Titans a 2-1 lead. Justin Jarvensivu then got a great jump and stole third base, which put him in position to score on Jacob Jarvensivu’s RBI groundout, pushing the lead to 3-1.
Rib Lake picked up a run in the top of the fourth as Scott Hueckman doubled and was driven in on Austin Zondo’s RBI single.
The Titans got that run back in the fifth as Justin Jarvensivu reached base after being hit by a pitch. After stealing second and third base, he scored on Caleb Armstrong’s sacrifice fly to center field pushing the lead to 4-2.
Meanwhile, Eli Wurl was putting together a terrific outing on the mound. He entered the seventh inning having thrown 83 pitches. Although Rib Lake scratched out a run in the seventh, Wurl stranded a runner at second base, preserving the 4-3 lead.
Tomahawk got some insurance in the bottom of the seventh as they loaded the bases with nobody out and got their fifth run as Nick Kahle scored from third on a wild pitch, expanding the lead to 5-3.
From there, lefty Caleb Armstong came on to get the save by pitching two scoreless innings and starting a 1-6-3 double play to end the game.
Eli Wurl got the win for the Titans as he pitched seven strong innings, allowing three earned runs on eight hits while striking out three and walking two. Wurl was aided by a stellar defense, which played errorless baseball.
At the plate, Tomahawk was led by first baseman Justin Jarvensivu, who went 3 for 3 scoring twice while stealing three bases. Nick Kahle went 1 for 4 and scored three runs, while Caleb Armstrong was 1 for 3 with two RBI’s.
The Titans travel to Marshfield to take on the Chapparals next Sunday at Jack Hackman stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 1:30 pm.