Twins stay atop Northern Section

Sauk Prairie’s Home Talent League team swept a pair of games last weekend and stayed atop the Northern Section. The Twins defeated Mazomanie, 6-3, on Saturday, then edged Black Earth, 5-4, on Sunday. Sauk Prairie improved to 8-1 and leads second place Ashton (7-2) by one game. Those two teams meet in a make-up game Saturday at 1 p.m. in Ashton. Middleton (7-3) and Reedsburg (6-3) are in third and fourth place, respectively. The top eight finishers in the 11-team league qualify for the playoffs with the top four teams hosting opening round games. “We played two tough games where we had to come from behind,” Twins manager Lucas Koenig said. “We did a nice job maintaining our composure in order to complete the comebacks.  We also were able to see a lot of guys contribute to those wins.” Here’s a recap of the Twins’ weekend: • Sauk Prairie 5, Black Earth 4 — Alex Mayer drove home the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Twins rallied past the Bombers Sunday. Mayer went 3-for-5 with two RBIs to lead a 12-hit Sauk Prairie attack. Lucas Koenig also homered and had two RBIs for the Twins, while Sam Koenig, Ben Lenerz and Quinn Baier all had two hits for Sauk Prairie. Shane Moyer, Bryce Barsness, and Toni Caminiti each drove in one run for Bombers. Black Earth took a 2-0 lead in the first inning, but the Twins rallied back with a single run in the second and a solo home run from Lucas Koenig in the seventh to tie the game, 2-2. An error gave Bombers a 3-2 lead in the top of the eighth. The Twins then struck for a pair of runs in the eighth thanks to RBI singles from Mayer and Lenerz. Caminiti’s RBI double in the top of the ninth plated Barsness and tied the game, 4-4. Then in the bottom of the ninth, Mayer’s two-out single scored Baier from second base with the game-winning run. Spencer Alisch earned the win for Sauk Prairie after giving up a run in the ninth. Connor Leister threw the first seven innings for Sauk Prairie, allowing six hits and two earned runs. Bryce Hopwood took the loss for the Bombers. • Sauk Prairie 6, Mazomanie 3 — Mike Jordahl ripped a three-run home run in the top of the ninth to give the Twins a win over the host Mustangs last Saturday. Grant Sorg reached on an error to open the inning, then Alex Mayer singled. Jordahl followed with his game-winning home run to right field. Austin Pagel threw the final three innings in relief to earn the win for the Twins. Pagel gave up three hits and no runs. The host Mustangs struck for three runs in the third inning to grab a 3-0 lead and led throughout. The Twins scored once in the fifth and added two more in the eighth when Chucky Schara was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, and Tyler Prime followed with a bases loaded walk to tie the game, 3-3. Jordahl then played hero one inning later. Noah Frey started for Sauk Prairie and allowed three runs in six innings. Frey gave up four hits, struck out seven and walked three. Jeff Schaefer took the loss for Mazomanie. The left-hander went 1 2/3 innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on two hits, striking out two and walking one.  • On deck: Sauk Prairie is at Ashton Saturday at 1 p.m., then hosts Waunakee (5-4) Sunday at 1 p.m. • Middleton 6, Black Earth 0 — Middleton’s Brady Schmitt tossed a one-hit, complete game shutout as the host 29ers blanked the Bombers in a Sunday League game last Saturday.  Schmitt struck out 10 and walked just two batters. “Brady really pitched awesome,” Middleton player/manager Jacob Ross said of Schmitt, who only allowed a two-out single to Shane Moyer in the second inning. “He was really in control the whole game. I’m really, proud of him.”  The 29ers scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning and never looked back. Connor Manthey, who hit a home run, Stephen Paulsen and Easton Zempel each finished with two hits for Middleton.