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Hartland — The Beavers arrived in Hartland riding the momentum of their first league victory of the season, a 13-4 win over Merton the previous Sunday. The Oilers entered the afternoon with plenty of confidence as well, carrying a 4-2 record and a two-game winning streak of their own. Fortunately, the rain stayed away and Nixon Park played host to a beautiful afternoon of Father's Day baseball.
Milwaukee wasted no time getting on the scoreboard. Three walks, a hit batter, and a Hartland error helped set the table in the first inning. Joel Grunert delivered a sacrifice fly and Scott Savage added an RBI single as the Beavers jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead.
Derek Hall made his second consecutive start on the mound for Milwaukee and picked up right where he left off, striking out two in a scoreless first inning. The Beavers added to their lead in the second when Grunert lined a two-out single up the middle to score a pair and extend the advantage to 5-0.
Hartland got on the board in the bottom half of the inning, but Milwaukee answered with three more two-out runs in the fourth. Justin Barkhurst delivered an RBI single before Phil Reed ripped a two-run double to push the lead to 8-1.
The Beavers continued to capitalize on Hartland miscues in the fifth, taking advantage of several Oilers errors to build a commanding 12-1 lead.
Hall cruised through five innings before Hartland mounted a rally in the sixth. A two-run homer and several timely hits quickly brought the Oilers back to life. Manager Kyle Knaust turned to veteran Josh Smith out of the bullpen to stop the momentum. Hartland scratched across a few more runs, trimming the deficit to 12-7 and suddenly making things interesting.
Smith settled things down with a clean seventh inning, helped by a slick unassisted double play from shortstop Brady Schulze. The Beavers then put the game away in the eighth, erupting for five runs to stretch the lead back to double digits.
Smith closed the door in the bottom half as Milwaukee secured a 17-7 run-rule victory.
The offense was firing on all cylinders. Six Beavers collected multiple hits, while the top four spots in the lineup each crossed the plate at least three times. Batting fifth, Grunert drove in five runs. Jalani Hudnall finished 2-for-4 with four runs scored, while Savage went 2-for-5 and also scored four times.
Hall and Smith combined to strike out seven and walk just two over eight innings of work.
Next up is a big Friday night showdown in West Bend. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Carl Kuss Field in a game that serves as both a key division matchup and the opening game of the annual Wisconsin Amateur Baseball Classic.
The Beavers will then head to Sheboygan on Saturday to face the Milwaukee Tropics at 1:30 p.m. before taking on the Sheboygan A's at Wildwood Park.
