Ozaukee bows in first round

After dropping a doubleheader three days before a playoff game at the same opponent’s field, Ozaukee High School’s baseball team was hoping for a different result.

The Warriors stayed in the game at New Holstein for five innings before a costly error opened up a five-run sixth that put the game on ice. The Huskies won, 8-0.

Junior starting pitcher Brent Hoffmann kept his team in it as long as he could.

“We played them very hard. Brent pitched very well. His 100 pitches ran him through the sixth inning,” coach Steve Kowalkowski said.

Jotham Higginbotham finished on the mound.

The Huskies scored one run each in the first, third and fifth innings.

“Up until the last point, we were in that game and playing really good. It was probably their best game,” Kowalkowski said.

The five-run inning opened up on an errant throw from the Warriors’ catcher.

“They had runners on base and were pressing to get that last out,” Kowalkowski said.

Offensively, the Warriors struggled to get much going. Simon Bares had a double, one of Ozaukee’s four hits.

For New Holstein, Teddy Schnell went the distance.

The Warriors finished 3-20 on the season, 3-19 in the Big East Conference. They were continuing to rebuild after not having a team two years ago due to lack of players.

“They kept their heads. They were pretty realistic as to what they did,” Kowalkowski said.

“We finished highly competitive all the way through. We beat expectations of what the general public thought.”

Team members had to move to play unnatural positions when players weren’t available, and “they held their own,” Kowalkowski said.

Errors, he said, didn’t lose any games.

Kowalkowski didn’t have a senior on his team this year, but will at least have Hoffmann next season. With the move from summer to spring ball, he also expects to pick up a couple of more players who play on club teams in summer.

The No. 7-seeded Huskies then knocked off No. 2-seeded Random Lake, 4-1; and No. 3-seeded Howards Grove, 6-3; before losing in the sectional final to No. 1-seeded Plymouth, 11-8.