Port baseball gets first win in marquee matchup

Port Washington High School’s baseball team had enough of losing close games.

After starting 0-3 and dropping two one-run contests, the Pirates pulled out a 4-2 win over one of the best teams in Division 4 on the road on Saturday, and they got the final out on one of the area’s best players.

With two runners on and two outs, coach Zach Perkins chose to pitch to Cedar Grove-Belgium’s Ira Hilbelink, who had sent a ball over the left-field fence and trees for a solo homer in his prior at-bat.

Sophomore Thomas Ward threw Hilbelink an outside pitch. Hilbelink popped up behind first base, and Dawson Dinkel made a catch in foul territory to end the game.

“Coach comes up to me, ‘You know who’s at bat. He’s going to try to win it here,’” Ward said. “I’m trying to give him something outside the plate. I just give him all I got. He pops it up, and the first baseman makes a great play.”

“I saw that fast ball and just got a bad swing on it,” Hilbelink said. “It’s just God humbling me.”

Perkins was pleased with the execution after choosing to attack rather than walk Hilbelink.

“We just wanted to make sure we didn’t do what we did with him last at-bat. You make any mistake with him, he’s going to capitalize on it,” he said.

Port had been hurt by errors in its first few games, but this time didn’t commit any and took advantage of a few Rockets’ mistakes. Two errant pickoff throws to first sent runners to third, and on one of those plays an errant throw to third allowed a run to score.

Ward allowed two runs, two hits and five walks while whiffing six in five innings of relief.

Max Webb, named to the North Shore Conference first team last season as a freshman, started and pitched two hitless innings, whiffing four and walking two.

For the Rockets, Hilbelink started and allowed two runs, four hits and two walks while whiffing eight in five innings.

Port scored two runs in the third inning and one each in the sixth and seventh innings.

Port’s O’Neil Wright, named to the NSC second team last year, went 2-for-3 with a triple and scored two runs. Webb went 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored. Jack Bunyan and Austin Johnson each had a hit.

“We knew that we were going to get some velo (velocity) with Ira. I know the kid. I trained with him in winter,” Wright said. “Coach emphasized us going up to the plate feeling confident, and I think that’s what we did today and just drove the ball.”

For Cedar Grove-Belgium, Griffin Knight had the Rockets other hit. Connor Waters had an RBI sacrifice fly.

The win gave Port confidence it needed after a rough week.

Port lost at home to West Bend West, 7-0, on April 6, then 3-2 at West on April 7. Bunyan allowed three runs (two earned), four hits and three walks while whiffing four in the second game.

Port lost at Cedarburg, 2-1, on April 8. Sam Thompson allowed one run, six hits and two walks while whiffing seven in five innings. Wright walked three batters in one inning and allowed a run. He hit two doubles and had an RBI.

Those missed opportunities made Saturday’s win all the more important.

“Hats off to our guys. They showed a lot of resiliency,” Perkins said.

Webb is the Pirates’ ace after going 6-1 last season with an earned-run average of 0.47. He loves crunch time.

“I’m having a lot of fun, especially in these close games. It’s a lot of pressure but it’s a lot of fun when you come out on top,” he said.

Bunyan, Ward and Thompson will pitch, and Wright and Dawson Dinkel can throw, Perkins said.

“We have a lot of pitching depth,” he said.

Port lost Sam Hoeft, who is pitching at Xavier University, to graduation.

Jackson Bergin is back at catcher after hitting .327 with nine RBIs last year. Jackson Dickson is at third base.

Bunyan will play shortstop when he’s not pitching, and he made some impressive plays on Saturday. He hit .295 with 14 RBIs as a freshman.

Johnson is at second base, where senior Didier, who will attend West Point next year, can also play.

Dinkel is at first base, but he can also play shortstop and second base.

“Depending on our lineup, Dawson’s able to play a lot of positions for us in the infield,” Perkins said.

Wright is back in center field after hitting .378 with 17 RBIs and 23 runs scored last year.

Webb and senior Grant Eslinger can play outfield, as can Ward and senior Dylan Crain.

Other seniors contributing include Jimmy Ward at first base and in the outfield, Ben Volke in the outfield and star swimmer Charlie Prince, who was a pinch runner on Saturday.

Wright will bat leadoff. Bunyan and Webb will switch between batting No. 2 and No. 5.

Bergin hits third, followed by Dinkel, Dickson, Johnson and Carson Hill, a strong sophomore who plays football.

Perkins said one of the team’s goals is to win the new Glacier Trails Conference.

“Most importantly, we just want to take it day by day and continue to believe in ourselves, believe we can play with anybody, compete in every game and just play winning baseball,” he said.

Port went 7-11 in the NSC last year and  11-16 overall, one of its best seasons in years.

Port plays at West Bend East on Thursday, April 16, and at Whitefish Bay on Friday, April 17. It hosts Ozaukee on Saturday, April 18, and Kettle Moraine Lutheran on Tuesday, April 21.