FRIDAY NIGHT -  BEAVERS 6 BLUE SOX 3

Lannon, WI - The Beavers were the host for 3 games in under 24 hours last weekend at historic Joecks Memorial Field. Friday night's game was the first season matchup vs cross-town division rivals Brookfield Blue Sox. Veteran Josh Smith took the ball and it was clear he had his good stuff from the get-go.

The Beavers jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first when Evan Barbian drew a 1-out, bases-loaded walk but 2 subsequent K's ended the rally.  Blue Sox vet/manager Pat Tobiaz ripped a solo shot in the 2nd to tie it but the Beavs responded with two of their own in the bottom half of the 2nd. Playing in his first game as a Beaver, LF Jerome Pawlak (Germantown HS '22) scored on a passed ball and Phil Reed singled home Jordan Bloch who reached on a HBP to take the 3-1 lead.  

Pitching and defense dominated the next 4 innings until another Blue Sox solo shot made it 3-2 in the 7th. Milwaukee responded again though with 2 of their own in the bottom half after a Bloch single and Barkhurst HBP, Barbian and Reed knocked them both in to go ahead 5-2. 

Brookfield wasn't going away as they put runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs vs Smith in the 8th. Kyle Knaust was called in for duty and induced a ground ball to 3rd where Nick Siebenlist dove and tagged the runner out, helping squash a big rally while only giving up one run. Mike Schroeder led off the Beaver 8th with a pinch-hit single, Aiden Thomas (also Germantown HS '22 and Beaver debut) pinch-ran, advanced to 3rd and Pawlak knocked him in with his first Beaver single & big insurance RBI. Knaust finished the 9th with ease to complete the 6-out save and a 6-3 Milwaukee win. Smith went 7+, giving up 3 runs and struck out 7. Bloch had 2 hits and 2 runs scored and Reed was 2-4 with 2 RBI's. 

SATURDAY (1) -  BEAVERS 3 WATERFORD 7

Lannon, WI - Saturday consisted of two 7-inning games, the first one vs the hard-hitting Waterford Rivermen. The Beavs turned to long-time hurler Matt Burke who moved back to town and pitched his first game since a playoff win back in 2019. There was some rust to shake off after giving up a first pitch HR and hitting the next batter, but he settled in nicely after that. Waterford scored 2 in the inning and an unearned run in the 2nd but Burke looked back to form with 2 clean innings after that. 

Eric Freyman pitched a scoreless 5th but after a quick two outs, the Rivermen rallied for 4 runs to go up 7-0 in the 6th. The Beaver offense was stymied by a hard-throwing southpaw but the bats did come alive in the 7th with 3 runs. Matt Magni led off the inning with his first HR of the year and Aiden Thomas ripped a pinch-hit RBI double down the RF line in his first Beaver at-bat. 

SATURDAY (2) -  BEAVERS 9 EAST TROY 1

Aiden Thomas got his first look on the mound as a Beaver and didn't dissappoint vs the Express of East Troy. It helped that with after two outs in the bottom of the first, Milwaukee rallied for 5 runs on just one hit by Eric Freymen. Pawlak nailed a solo shot in the 2nd to make it 6-1. Thomas struck out 9 in 6 innings surrendering just one unearned run in the 3rd to earn his 1st Beaver victory. Freyman finished 2-3 with 2 RBI's. Pawlaw and Barbian scored twice in the victory to pull the Beavs overall record to 4-4.  

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