Twins down Evansville in Final 4 opener

After executing an inning-ending double play in the top of the eighth inning Sunday, Sauk Prairie shortstop Alex Mayer let out a roar and came bounding into the dugout with one thought on his mind. “Let’s get it done,” said Mayer, whose love of baseball knows no bounds. “One of my roles is being the energy guy as far as leadership goes. I don’t know if it’s over the top or what, but I know my team loves it when I bring that kind of energy. I know old Twins love when I bring that kind of energy. That’s my role and I’ve got to live and die by it.” Mayer’s sensational late inning play on defense then helped keep the Twins’ bid for their first Home Talent League Final Four championship since 1966 on track. Right-hander Connor Leister allowed just two hits over seven innings and struck out seven to spark Northern Section champion Sauk Prairie to a 3-1 victory over Southeast Section champion Evansville at Chuck Hall Memorial Field. “He really settled in,” Sauk Prairie player/manager Lucas Koenig said of Leister, who threw 101 pitches. “Coming in, this was a team that I thought Connor would really be able to attack with his fastball. He kind of cranked it up a little bit and pounded the zone on them.”  Host Verona defeated Sun Prairie, 10-1, in the other opening round matchup. Sauk Prairie (15-1) will travel to Marshall to face host Sun Prairie (9-6) in the second round of the HTL round robin playoffs on Sunday at 1 p.m. The team with the best record after three weeks of round robin play is crowned the HTL champion. Left fielder Tyler Prime and second baseman Dylan Slotty each delivered RBI singles to extend the Twins’ winning streak to nine games in Sunday League play. “It’s great any time you can play solid ball all around,” Leister said. “We played great defense the whole time.” Evansville right-hander Jameson Lavery put a dagger in the hopes of Sauk Prairie winning the HTL Final Four championship five years ago when he tossed a four-hit shutout against the Twins in the Jays’ 2-0 victory. But it was a different outcome when the teams met for the first time since that heartbreaking loss. This time it was Sauk Prairie that prevailed and crept within two wins from clinching the HTL championship. Lavery scattered nine hits and struck out two with just one walk in tossing a complete game. But Sauk Prairie scratched out two runs in the fourth inning and added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth inning, which proved to be just enough to get the job done. “We lost there in 2019. It was about the same as this game, just reversed a little bit,” Lucas Koenig said. “Jameson threw a little harder back then.” Evansville manager Jon Frey said the Twins simply made a few more plays than the Jays did.  “Jameson Lavery did a good job today,” Frey said. “We just couldn’t find the gaps (on offense). But the guys battled. I’m proud of them.”  Sauk Prairie’s offense provided all the support that Leister needed in the fourth inning. Lucas Koenig led off with a single to center field after an eight-pitch at bat to get the ball rolling. Koenig then moved to second on designated hitter Ty Brisky’s single to left field. After Koenig advanced to third on right fielder Spencer Alisch’s fly ball to right, veteran left fielder Tyler Prime ripped a single to right field to score Koenig. While Brisky advanced to third base on the play, he then scored when right fielder Aaron Anderson’s throw skipped past third baseman Devin Frydenlund. “It was tough to give up a run like that,” Frey said. “They’re a good team, they find ways to win.” Prime said with runners at the corners, he thought Brisky was going to attempt to steal second base. “I didn’t know what was going to happen, but if they went with it, it would be a hit and run basically,” Prime said. “(Lavery) was dotting the corners the whole time. He was throwing pitcher’s pitches, so all I had to do was go with it (to right field) especially in that situation.” Prime said Brisky scoring on the play to give the Twins a 2-0 lead was a turning point in the game. “That was huge,” Prime said with a chuckle. “For having his bachelor party the night before, I was surprised Ty was able to make it from first to home. But he was in pretty good shape. When I saw that ball kick off, and he got up, I thought ‘perfect.’ ” Meanwhile, Leister was doing what comes naturally, pitching himself and the Twins out of jams in the second, third, fourth and sixth innings, when Evansville stranded four runners in scoring position. In the second inning, shortstop Carson Syse hit a shot that ricocheted off Leister for an infield single. Syse then stole second and moved to third base on first baseman Luke Schultz’s sacrifice. But Leister retired Lavery on a foul popup to first baseman Mike Jordahl and then struck out Anderson to end the threat. “It seems like my whole career, I pitch better when I’m in trouble,” Leister said with a smile. “I just reach back and throw harder.”  Alisch provided Sauk Prairie with its first scoring opportunity when he rocketed a double to deep right-center field in the bottom of the second. But Lavery struck out Prime to end the inning. In the top of the fourth inning, after Schultz reached second base on an infield error with two outs for the Jays, Leister walked Lavery. Leister responded, though, by striking out Anderson for the second time to end the threat. “He’s a bulldog. He has no expressions, no matter what is going on,” Prime said of Leister. “You wouldn’t know if he’s got 10 runs on him or if he is throwing a no-hitter. He always has the same attitude. It’s easy to play defense behind him.” Leister allowed a one-out single to center fielder Ryan Borchardt in the fifth inning. But Twins’ catcher Lucas Koenig fired a strike to second base to Mayer, who applied the tag for the second out.  Jordahl then snared a line drive down the first base line off the bat of catcher Bennett Keller for the third out. “My fastball was working. It didn’t seem like I had to mix in many curveballs,” Leister said. “I was able to locate well.” Lucas Koenig added that Leister normally gets stronger as the game moves on. “He was throwing mostly fastballs and able to move them around,” Lucas Koenig said. “I was watching the Brewers the other day, and he’s a lot like Freddy Peralta. His fastball just gets on hitters. “It’s not always the hardest. Like Freddy Peralta can get on hitters at 93 miles per hour. But it just makes batters uncomfortable. When Connor gets in around 80 miles an hour, which he was probably today, there is just something about him that makes hitters uncomfortable with that fastball.” Evansville seemed poised to finally get on the scoreboard in the top of the sixth when Frydenlund drew a leadoff walk and stole second. After Leister struck out left fielder Anthony Nolden for the first out, Frydenlund moved to third base when Syse grounded out. Leister then induced Schultz to ground out to second baseman Quinn Baier for the third out. “I never like walking the first guy and have to get three outs, but I did,” Leister said. “It is what it is.” That’s when Mayer put on a defensive clinic at shortstop for the Twins. “He made the plays when he needed to and started a double play on his own,” Frey said of Mayer. “He made a nice play in the hole. That’s what you need from your veteran guys. It’s like ‘Let’s go, you can get on my shoulders. Let’s win this one.’ ” Mayer ranged behind third base to catch Lavery’s popup for the first out of the seventh inning and then made a sliding catch and throw to Jordahl at first base to retire Anderson for the second out. Mayer then retired the last batter Leister would face, designated hitter Stephan Kopecky, on a ground ball to finish the inning with a putout and two assists. “I’ll need to buy him a few beers for that,” Leister said with a laugh. Right-hander Sam Koenig then took over for Leister after starting the game at third base and was the recipient of two more flashy plays from Mayer in the eighth inning, including an inning-ending double play after Keller had delivered a one-out single to right field. Lucas Koenig said nothing Mayer does surprises him. “I’ve coached Alex a long time, and he loves playing baseball,” Lucas Koenig said. “He had a lot of opportunities today.  “In baseball, sometimes in the field you can stand out there the whole game and not get any plays. Today was a day he was getting all kinds of fun ones. A popup over third base, the sliding one at short he caught, the double play. He had great energy and made plays, which was appreciated.” Prime, who had the pleasure of watching Mayer’s mastery in the field from his left field position, agreed. “It’s tough because we’ve come to expect it,” Prime said. “But we’re getting a little older. You can’t expect that out of a 30-year-old to be as good as he was when he was 22. “But the defense was incredible today. He made some great plays that we kind of take for granted because we’ve seen it for so long. It was vintage Mayer.” Sauk Prairie added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth inning after Sam Koenig reached base on lead-off single on a popup that Syse at shortstop lost in the sun. After Lucas Koenig followed with a sacrifice, Mayer drew a walk and Slotty followed with a single to left field to score pinch runner Grant Sorg. “Dylan’s the man, I really wanted that for him,” Mayer said. “He didn’t get an at bat last week, but in batting practice, he was swinging good, and I said, ‘stay tight man, your at bat’s coming today. He delivered.” Evansville ended the Twins’ bid for a shutout with a run in the ninth inning. Nolden drew a leadoff walk, stole second and third and scored on Lavery’s infield out. Sam Koenig retired Kopecky on a fly ball to right field, though, to end the game. Mayer said it was fun earning the first victory in the Twins’ drive to unseat two-time defending HTL Final Four champion Verona, which Sauk Prairie is scheduled to face in round three. “Where else am I going to be on a Sunday afternoon?” Mayer said with a grin. “This is the most wonderful time of the year when you can make the Final Four. This is what I play ball for, to be with my guys late in the season.  “There’s no better feeling, and then to hang out with them afterwards, too. It’s a lot of fun. It’s just the best.”     Aug. 18 Sauk Prairie 3, Evansville 1 Evansville .. 000 000 001 – 1 3 2 Sauk .....…. 000 000 00x – 3 9 1 Pitchers (ip-h-er-so-bb) – E: Jameson Lavery (L: 8-9-3-2-2-1). SP: Connor Leister (W: 7-2-0-0-7-3), Sam Koenig (S: 2-1-1-1-0-2). Leading hitters – SP: Spencer (2B).