Last year, JWP baseball hosted Cromwell-Wright Cardinals. This was because the Cardinals were unable to hold practice outside, let alone play any of their games.
This season, they hosted them again, but this time, they also hosted another team from six hours north of Janesville: International Falls.
How it got set up, the Journal doesn’t know. What we do know is that JWP won both games against their visitors, starting with a 10-0 victory in five innings against International Falls on Friday, April 19. Although Cromwell-Wright gave them more of a fight on Saturday, the Bulldogs found a way to take a decisive 15-5 win.
Bulldogs 10, Broncos 0
It was a silent first inning as JWP and International Falls opened up the weekend triangular this past Friday. However, the Bulldogs were able to crack through International Falls’s defense for a quick 2-0 lead after two innings. It didn’t take long for the Bulldogs to take advantage of the Broncos’ two errors. After two more runs in the bottom of the third, JWP poured it on with a six-run campaign after the bottom of the fourth.
After International Falls blanked out, JWP took the 10-0 victory off of ten hits and the Broncos’ two errors. Gerdts went 2-4 with a double and two RBIs. Caleb Quast was a perfect 2-2, walked once, and had two runs. Seth Dahlberg also earned his first varsity hit and RBI.
Senior Ty Melchior pitched all five innings, going errorless and allowing only three hits while striking out three.
Broncos 16, Cardinals 15
International Falls faced Cromwell-Wright at 11 a.m. on Saturday. It was a total barnburner of a matchup which went an extra inning.
Although the Broncos held a 15-11 lead into the seventh, Cromwell-Wright made a comeback to tie it 15-15. They were inches from taking the win from International Falls, but the Broncos’ catcher was there to tag him just half a second before the Cardinals got home for what would have been the game-winning run.
Instead, the game went into eight innings, and the first to score a run won the game. International Falls was put into a two-out situation. But a well-timed hit into the outfield allowed them to take the victory 16-15.
Bulldogs 16, Cardinals 5
JWP opened the scoring first in their matchup against Cromwell-Wright later in the day. But after three runs in the bottom of the first for the Bulldogs, Cromwell-Wright responded with five runs at the top of the second; it ended up being their only offensive success of the game.
The Bulldogs tied things up in the bottom of the fourth 5-5, taking the lead with another two-run score at the bottom of the fifth
Although it looked like there would be a full game, the Bulldogs ended things early with a nine-run scoring spree at the bottom of the sixth for an over-ten-run mercy rule. Four errors by Cromwell-Wright aided JWP’s offensive success.
The team also had 20 hits in the game, with Nolan Morsching and Ty Melchior 4-4 with two runs each; Morsching had an RBI while Melchior stole three bases. Cole Blomstrom was 2-3 with a triple, while Caleb Quast went 3-4 with an RBI, double, and triple. Chase Gerdts hit a home run and had four RBIs off two hits.
Seniors Austin Carda and Cole Gartner split the pitching duties in the game. Carda began the game and pitched 4.2 innings with seven hits, five errors, five walks, and eight strikeouts. Gartner debuted as a pitcher and, in 1.1 innings, allowed zero hits and struck out one.
JWP was undefeated in the triangular, with International Falls narrowly taking a 1-1 record and Cromwell-Wright denied a win.
Before International Falls left Janesville, they joined JWP and Cromwell-Wright in getting a group picture. Although the Broncos and Cardinals are much closer to each other than to JWP, they are in different conferences and sections (International Falls is Class AA, and Cromwell-Wright is Class A).
Before returning home, International Falls had one last game in southern Minnesota against JWP conference rival Kenyon-Wanamingo. They lost 10-3.
