Bay City Bombers eliminated from playoff contention

By Reagan Hoverman

The Prescott Pirates have been on a heater throughout the last two weeks, as they tallied their fourth consecutive win in a 9-1 blowout victory over the Bay City Bombers.

The other three foes in the four-game streak include wins against Spring Valley, Osceola and New Richmond. The Sunday afternoon, July 24 game at home against Bay City proved to be one of the best starting pitching performances of the year for the Pirates.

Veteran pitcher Kevin Woebke took to the mound and had all of his pitches working against the Bombers. In total, Woebke allowed six hits, struck out nine Bay City batters and allowed only one earned run.

Woebke’s excellence on the mound helped lead the Pirates to a comfortable victory that kept Prescott’s hope for a St. Croix Valley Baseball League championship alive. The clutch pitching performance is something that veteran player Michael Lytle has come to expect from Woebke.

“He’s one of the top guys in our rotation and he has been solid for us all season,” Lytle said. “He’s pitching really well right now and that is what we expect from him. He did a great job today.”

After going on a losing skid near the end of June and the opening week of July, it appeared as if Prescott was out of the race for a SCVBL championship. During that time, the River Falls Fighting Fish continued to roll through other teams in the league. However, Prescott bounced back and the four-game win streak has kept their hopes for a league title alive.

“We’re on a little winning streak right here with four in a row,” Lytle said. “We’re hitting the ball well. Our defense was a little sloppy today, but all in all, we’re feeling pretty good.”

While the chase for a league championship for the 2022 season is still alive, River Falls controls its destiny. If the Fighting Fish win the remaining three league games on their schedule, they will win the league title.

“River Falls is in control of their own destiny,” Lytle said. “We need to take care of business and win our games. For us to catch them, they have to slip up. We play (against River Falls) soon and we just need to keep playing solid baseball.”

As of Monday, July 25, the Prescott Pirates have a 14-6 overall record that includes a 12-4 record in SCVBL games. River Falls holds a 25-6 record overall and a 13-2 record in league play. The final two games of the season for Prescott include a Saturday, July 30 game against Elmwood and a Sunday, July 31 game on the road against Prescott.

If River Falls wins two of its remaining three games – or simply defeats Prescott in the contest on Sunday afternoon – the Fighting Fish will be league champions. The Pirates will need help from other teams in the league if they want a shot at the crown.

Bay City eliminated from contention

While Prescott is still calculating how to catch River Falls, the Bay City Bombers have acknowledged that their hope for a postseason berth is gone. The Bombers have a 3-14 record, which is well below the .500 record that is typically required to get into the playoffs.

During that Sunday afternoon game on the road against Prescott, Bay City struggled in the field and at one point in the seventh inning had more errors than hits in the game. The young, inexperienced squad has struggled throughout the stiff competition in the SCVBL. After the game, manager Jordan Eggenberger spoke about the struggles.

“We had so many errors. They have had one earned run and we didn’t help our pitcher out at all,” Eggenberger said. “It’s tough to win games when you have five or six errors. It just wasn’t our day today. We played yesterday and beat Spring Valley 7-2 with no errors and great defense. We just didn’t play well today.”

Part of the struggle throughout the 2022 season for Bay City has been leaving the bases loaded and not being able to drive multiple runners in. In the top of the fourth inning against Prescott, Bay City had the bases loaded with only one out. The Bombers’ RBI single to right field scored their only run of the game and left multiple men on base.

“Bases loaded one time (against Prescott) and that has kind of killed us all year – leaving bases loaded,” Eggenberger said. “It’s probably happened six or seven times to us this year. We just can’t get that clutch hit.”

Since Bay City has been officially eliminated from playoff contention, Eggenberger and the rest of the Bombers roster are already thinking about next season and the promising young players who are on the roster that just need more experience in amateur baseball.

“We’re getting some younger pitchers going and I think that is going to help us out in the future,” Eggenberger said. “We have a couple of guys playing college ball like Logan Vogel who just pitched yesterday (against Spring Valley). He is playing down at Rochester and is getting better which will help us out here.”

Vogel has been a bright spot for Bay City during a season that didn’t have too many positive results. In his one year with the college team, Vogel has added five miles per hour of velocity to his pitches, according to Eggenberger.

Vogel’s flashes of dominance were on dis play during the Friday, July 15 road game against the River Falls Fighting Fish in which he pitched eight innings and gave up only one run. Vogel was blowing fastballs by some of the best hitters in the league.

“He has really stood out this year with his one year of college down there,” Eggenberger said. “He has probably added five or six miles per hour to his pitches. He’s a good young kid and we hope to continue to improve with him.”

Prescott native Noah Matzek, who pitched for the Bay City Bombers last year, has spent most of the 2022 season on the injured list. Last season, Matzek accounted for nearly a half dozen wins when he pitched for the Bombers. His loss severely hampered the 2022 season but will look to be back for the 2023 campaign.

While the Bombers look to rebuild for next year, Prescott continues to chase a league title. The next game on the calendar for the Pirates is on Saturday, July 30, on the road against Elmwood. That game is slated to begin at 1 p.m.

Kevin Woebke of the Prescott Pirates delivers a pitch during his outing against the Bay City Bombers on Sunday, July 24. Woebke pitched a complete game and allowed only one earned run during his nine innings on the mound. Photo by Reagan Hoverman

Cole Kuesel of the Bay City Bombers takes a pitch that is high and outside during the game on the road against Prescott on Sunday, July 24. Kuesel and the Bombers tallied eight hits in the game but scored only one run in the 9-1 loss against the Pirates. Photo by Reagan Hoverman