Tosa West gets big week off to good start

With the Woodland Conference season coming to an end, Wauwatosa West could be staring at a championship before the week is over.

The Trojans, Greendale and New Berlin Eisenhower were each 9-4 going into the week, with Whitnall (9-5) a half-game behind.

Tosa West is 1-1 against Eisenhower, they beat Greendale, 10-1, on Monday to start the week and they haven't played New Berlin West (13-1) or St. Thomas More (8-8) of the Blue Division yet.

The Trojans were scheduled to play a day-night doubleheader on Tuesday, playing at New Berlin West in the afternoon and then traveling to Greendale on Tuesday night.

The Trojans close out the week with a split doubleheader on July 6, playing non-conference games at Cedarburg at noon and at Mukwonago at 5 p.m. They then play St. Thomas More at 11 a.m. July 7 at Breitlow Field.

The Trojans will then open the WIAA postseason tournament at Breitlow Field at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday against Marquette.

Greendale

Monday's game saw Greendale freshman Zach Miller take the mound against junior Austin Jones, the Trojans' top hurler, and it turned into a pitchers's duel with Tosa West leading, 2-1, going into the bottom of the eighth inning.

The Trojans then exploded for eight runs off Miller and Justin Povlick as the Trojans sent 12 men to the plate.

Tyler Gross' bases-loaded double keyed the inning, while Jones and Mickey Morgan had RBI singles and the Panthers chipped in two errors and two walks.

"I felt great," Jones said. "I haven't pitched in a while so my arm felt really fresh. So when we had a lead like that all I had to do was throw strikes."

Jones was brilliant, as he allowed four hits, walked three and struck out nine.

Two-out singles by Ben Zachman, Gross and Jones got the Trojans on top, 1-0, in the third inning. They then added a run in the fourth on a walk to Jacob Boudreau, a hit by Wille Bellknapp, a beautiful sacrifice bunt by Nick Orlowski set up John Syburg's groundout RBI to third.

The Trojans have had the ability to bounce back this year and Monday night it was on display once again. Greendale cut the lead to 2-1 in the fifth and then Tosa West exploded for eight runs in the bottom of the inning.

"This was a big game for us," Gross said. "We needed to answer back. This whole season has been like that."

The Trojans bunt well and hit and run well - in fact hits by Zachman, Gross and Jones in the fifth were hit-and-run shots to right field.

"We play a lot of small ball," Gross said. "We bunt and hit and run a lot at practice and have become pretty good at that."

Hudson shines

Travis Hudson, who is splitting his time this summer between attending exclusive volleyball camps and playing for the Trojans, made his presence felt on June 28 with an impressive complete game effort in a 6-0 win over Shorewood.

Hudson allowed the Greyhounds only three hits while not walking a man and striking out five in pitching his shutout.

He was also the hitting star, going 3-for-4 with two doubles. Morgan went 2-for-2 with a double and Gross went 2-for-3 with a double.

The Trojans scored three in the second inning and then scored two in the fifth and one in the sixth to coast to the win with Hudson in control.