GRAFTON 鈥 There may be no player that Grafton would rather have at the plate in a clutch situation than Garrett Bonk, and the senior showed why Saturday when he laced a single to center to plate two runs to give the Black Hawks the lead in the sixth inning.
That proved to be the game-winning hit for the home team as the Black Hawks earned a 9-8 win over Cedarburg in a North Shore Conference baseball game at 9th Ave. Field.
"I figured originally they might have just put me on because I was swinging the bat well today. I was seeing the ball well," the Grafton catcher said. "They threw me a strike, and my approach every single time is line drive up the middle, and I was able to execute it on that one."
Bonk added that he was willing to expand the strike zone a little bit if necessary with Peyton McKinney representing the tying run at third base and Jaeden Tiegs as the go-ahead runner standing at second.
"I was, yeah," he responded when asked about that situation. "I figured they were going to pitch around me, especially after the first pitch. I kind of figured they were going to get me to try to chase something, but then they threw me one that was pretty good, over the corner of the plate, and I just put a good swing on it."
That was the second big hit of the day for Bonk. The first came in the second inning, when he crushed an opposite-field home run that gave Grafton a 6-1 lead. He sent a two-strike pitch to deep right field that kept carrying thanks in part to a stiff wind that helped push the ball over the fence.
"Two strike approach is always middle to right, and he threw me a couple sliders earlier in the at-bat and I figured he was going to try to freeze me with the fastball," he said. "I saw it well and I put a barrel on it pretty good."
Grafton head coach Brian Durst was pleased, but not surprised, to see Bonk have such a big impact on the contest.
"What can you say about Garrett Bonk鈥檚 game? He does it behind the dish for us, he does it as a leader. He had an outstanding game at the plate," the veteran coach said. "It鈥檚 hard to hit a ball that far in this park, with or without wind. He got into the pitch and got his first home run on the board."
That was part of an early surge by the Black Hawks against Cedarburg standout Sam Moses. The Bulldogs plated a run in the opening inning, but Grafton scored four against the right-hander.
Tyler Van Sluys got the rally started with a one-out single, then Bonk and Dylan Bodoh were hit by pitches to load the bases. Grafton evened the score on a balk, then turned to its two-out hitting to take the lead. Tyler Tagliapietra laced a two-run double to right field and Sam Cameranesi followed with a run-scoring single to right.
鈥淥ne of our areas of emphasis was getting first inning runs. We鈥檝e been talking about that and have been really lackadaisical or just not productive the first time through our lineup for a handful of games now, so we were really focusing on that,鈥 Durst said about the importance of an early rally. 鈥淚 challenged the top of our order in practice the other day to produce more in that first inning and set the tone, and we were able to do that.鈥
The top part of the order was at it again in the second inning, as Van Sluys hit a two-out single that set the table for Bonk to hit his round-tripper that made it 6-1.
Durst knew it was critical to score early against a pitcher like Moses, who might not give an opponent many chances to build a lead.
鈥淎ny time you see a top pitcher on the mound, it鈥檚 important to make him work and make him earn everything,鈥 the Grafton coach said, pointing out that the Black Hawks managed no runs on two hits and struck out six times over the next three frames. 鈥淵ou saw it, in those middle innings we weren鈥檛 even putting the ball in play against him. That鈥檚 how good he is.鈥
Cedarburg battled back in those innings. The Bulldogs pulled within 6-3 with a pair of runs in the third inning, as Graeme Nowak singled in Damen Lonstine and Elliot Wells swiped home on the front end of a double steal with Nowak. The visitors then struck for two more runs in the fourth helped by a Grafton error that allowed Moses and Collin Ehlers to score.
鈥淭his group of kids is resilient. They do fight hard, they work hard, they're trying their best,鈥 Cedarburg head coach Kyle Peterson said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e giving it what they鈥檝e got. Today was a perfect example of that, getting down early.鈥
After a scoreless fifth inning, the Bulldogs rallied for three runs in the sixth to grab the lead. Moses started the surge with a triple off the fence in right-center. He scored on a single by Ehlers to even the score. Ehlers came around to score, giving Cedarburg a 7-6 lead, when Wells grounded out to short. Nowak then hit a sharp single to left to drive in Lonstine.
鈥淲e knew that Cedarburg wasn鈥檛 going to go away. They鈥檙e a good team. They can hit the ball, they鈥檙e well coached and they鈥檙e not going to just give up in a game like that,鈥 Durst said. 鈥淐redit to them for continuing to battle and eventually tie it and then take the lead.鈥
While Grafton had fallen behind, the good news is that the rallies in the early innings pushed Moses close to the pitch count limit. Brady Eader reached on an error with one out to get things going for the home team, then McKinney hit a single to right that put two runners on base and forced a pitching change.
鈥淚f he has a little bit more success early in the game, he probably goes a little deeper into this game,鈥 Peterson said. 鈥淭ip of the cap to Grafton, they hit him hard those first couple innings. Sam settled in after about the third inning and looked like Sam Moses does. He鈥檚 a very good pitcher, obviously a very good hitter, too, and he was real close to getting one out of here today.鈥
Nowak came on in relief and Tiegs hit a single that drove in Eader. After Van Sluys grounded out to first, Bonk came up and delivered his go-ahead hit.
鈥淓specially after last year, we lost twice to them, so it was really good to be able to score those two RBIs to put us in the lead,鈥 Bonk said.
Nowak retired the next batter, which forced Durst to make a decision going into the seventh inning.
鈥淭he plan was to go him (Sam Schiller) for three and then (Luke) Michalak for three, then Cameranesi to close it. As soon as we took the lead and Luke was hot already, I knew he鈥檇 come out, especially with the top part of their order (coming up),鈥 the Grafton coach said about his battle plan on the mound.鈥
Ehlers managed a one-out single in the seventh inning, but he was stranded there as Michalak retired the next two batters to preserve the victory.
鈥淟uke Michalak is very cool when it comes to high pressure situations,鈥 Durst said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 an honors student and a really cerebrial pitcher. He鈥檚 well prepared. He knows the situations, he knows his game and there鈥檚 no doubt that we鈥檇 let him throw in that last inning.鈥
Saturday marked the second win of the week for the Black Hawks. Grafton earned a 12-2 victory Monday at Port Washington before dropping an 8-6 decision Wednesday at Homestead.
鈥淥ver the last few weeks I鈥檝e noticed our team trending upward, whether we win or lose the game,鈥 Durst said. 鈥淲e have been playing well and we won this past week. We took two out of three (games) and we know that we鈥檙e capable of playing with anybody in the conference.鈥
Grafton, 5-9 overall and 3-6 in the NSC, travels to Slinger for a game Wednesday at 4:45 p.m.
While Cedarburg ended its day with a loss, the Bulldogs picked up a win in dramatic fashion to start the day. Wells started the game on the mound before finishing the contest in center field, when he recorded an assist to preserve a 6-5 triumph over St. Mary Catholic at Jack Friess Field.
鈥淗e ran out of pitches, too, so we went to Graeme Nowak in the last inning to get the last couple outs,鈥 Peterson said. 鈥淗e actually threw the guy out at home plate and saved the game. It was a pretty incredible ending to that game.鈥
Cedarburg opened the week with an overall record of 6-7, including a mark of 2-7 in the conference. The Bulldogs return to action at 5 p.m. Wednesday, traveling to Regner Park to face West Bend East.