WB East put it all together vs. Port

Port Washington High School baseball coach C.J. Koehler said he felt good heading into July 10’s playoff game at West Bend East.

Port had split its season series with the Suns, 1-1, and had its ace on the mound.

That feeling Koehler had, however, didn’t last long.

The Suns dominated right from the start, scoring four runs in the first inning, one in the second and nine in the fourth on the way to a 14-0 demolition in five innings.

“They came out and they hit the ball hard right away, and they didn’t stop,” Koehler said.

Senior Zach Uselding lasted as long as he could on the mound, going 3-1/3 innings. By the time he left, the Suns had racked up 11 runs on 10 hits. Uselding walked and whiffed one each.

Noah Prom allowed three runs and a walk in 2/3 of an inning. The game was stopped after five innings via the 10-run mercy rule.

Uselding had beaten the Suns, 5-4, on June 12, but it wasn’t going to happen again.

“They sat back and hit his off-speed pitches, jumped on his fastballs early,” Koehler said.

The Pirates managed three hits, one each by Lukas Burke, Nolan Large and Michael Murphy.

The Suns had a freshman on the mound “who did a good job keeping us off balance,” Koehler said.

The Pirates threatened in the third inning, loading the bases with two outs. Large reached on a fielder’s choice, Marcus Schmidt on an error and Murphy on a hit.

“At that point it was just a 5-nothing game so we were hoping to at least get one there, but we weren’t able to get that big two-out hit,” Koehler said.

Port finished the season 6-23 overall and 3-13 and in last place in the North Shore Conference.

“As far as the win-loss goes, it wasn’t what we were looking for,” Koehler said.

“It was a good group. It was a learning experience for the young guys and able to watch the seniors lead and how they went about their business. Hopefully, that will help the young guys coming back.”