The Verona baseball team is looking to play its way into Big Eight title contention late in the season.
Verona split two games with Madison Memorial in a pair of Big Eight Conference clashes last week. The Wildcats beat the Spartans 5-1 on Tuesday, May 6, at Mansfield Field. Verona then rallied from a six-run deficit in the bottom of the seventh inning before coming up short in a 7-5 loss to Memorial on Thursday, May 8, at Stampfl Field.
“We are a very competitive and scrappy team,” Verona second baseman Ben Erdman said.
The Wildcats were then swept by Elkhorn in a nonconference doubleheader 7-5 and 8-4 on Saturday, May 10, at Stampfl Field. Verona clipped DeForest 2-1 on Monday, May 12, at DeForest High School. With the win, the Wildcats snapped a three-game skid and improved to 11-7, 8-4 Big Eight.
It’s jumbled atop the Big Eight Conference. Verona trails both Sun Prairie East and Madison Memorial by two games in the race for the conference championship.
“When we come and compete we can beat anybody,” Erdman said. “We just have to finish the season strong and hope for the best.”
Memorial coach Nick Krohn is a 1997 Verona graduate, who was on Verona coach Brad D’Orazio’s staff as an assistant coach from 2017-2021, before he took the Memorial head coaching job. D’Orazio at Middleton and Krohn at Verona played against each other in high school. Krohn is also a former player and manager for the Verona Cavaliers Home Talent League baseball team.
“We have known each other forever and they have a nice team,” D’Orazio said. “I thought we had two good games against them and it was fun to go against them. The kids know each other and it’s a good rivalry game.”
Verona 2, DeForest 1
Senior Brady Patten went 2-for-3 and led the Wildcats by the Norskies.
Verona’s Landon Lassahn went six innings and gave up one earned run on six hits to earn the victory. He struck out eight and walked two. Wes Willenburg tossed one shutout inning in relief for the save.
Elkhorn 7, Verona 5
Elkhorn 8, Verona 4
Junior Peyton DiMaggio went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, but the Elks scored two runs in the top of the seventh to clip the Wildcats in the first game of a doubleheader.
DiMaggio had a two-run single in the bottom of the third to tie the game at 2. Grady Miller followed with a go-ahead RBI single to give the Wildcats a 3-2 lead.
Elkhorn’s Abe Herchenbach had a two-run single and the Elks scored another run on an error to take a 5-3 lead.
Jace Christensen had a two-run single to center in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game at 5. Miller went 2-for-3.
Sean Hornberger started on the mound and gave up four earned runs on five hits. He struck out seven and walked four. Nolan Witkowski tossed 4 ⅔ innings in relief and gave up two runs on six hits and struck out seven.
In the second game of the twinbill, Verona senior Levi Fey went 2-for-3 with one RBI. Hornberger also finished 2-for-3 at the plate. Ben Erdman scored two runs.
Patten pitched three innings and gave up four runs, but only one earned on three hits. He struck out six and walked one. The Wildcats committed four errors.
Madison Memorial 7, Verona 5
The Wildcats rallied from a six-run deficit in the bottom of the seventh before falling to the Spartans.
“We just really put some barrels on the ball in the last inning and made the pitcher work,” Erdman said. “When we do that we can really have success.”
Verona’s Campbell Kopplin makes a pitch against Vel Phillips Memorial on Thursday, May 8, at Stampfl Field. Kopplin pitched four innings and gave up five runs and struck out five.
Photo by Mark Nesbitt
Verona’s Ben Yoss had a pinch-hit single to left. DiMaggio was hit by a pitch by Memorial relief pitcher Cam Krohn and Erdman singled to right to load the bases. Hornberger delivered an RBI single to right. Will Neuroth grounded to second base, but an umpire ruled that Memorial pulled their foot on attempted force out. Martin knocked in a run on a fielder’s choice and scored on a wild pickoff throw to slice the Spartans’ lead to 7-5.
Erdman went 2-for-3 with a run scored. Memorial’s Brayden Banyai pitched six innings and gave up one earned run on three hits. He struck out eight and walked two.
“He can mix pitches really well,” Erdman said of Banyai. “He has some velocity on his fastball and can blow it by us. He competes early in the count, gets us to dig deep and gets us to work.”
Memorial scored four runs in the top of the seventh to take a 7-1 lead. Memorial’s Simon Sellwood went 3-for-3 with three bases. Memorial’s Ezra Liggon knocked in two runs.
“We did a nice job offensively,” D’Orazio said. “It’;s nothing to hang your head about.”
Verona 5, Madison Memorial 1
Patten went 3-for-4 and drove in two runs to lead Verona past Memorial.
Patten hit a two-run home run to left in the top of the first inning. He was a triple shy of hitting for the cycle.
Hornberger went 2-for-2. Sawyer Martin finished 2-for-4 at the plate with two runs scored.
Lassahn started on the mound and gave up one earned run on two hits to earn the win. He struck out eight and walked three. Patten tossed three no-hit innings in relief and struck out four.