East baseball grabs two quick wins to open 2012 season

The Wauwatosa East baseball season started unceremoniously but didn't take long to rebound.

The Red Raiders fell to Milwaukee Pius on May 23, 10-1, with Bryce Kratzer's two hits in three attempts leading the way. But wins over Brookfield Central (4-0) and Milwaukee Marquette (5-1) showed that Tosa East could hold its own with the traditional powers in the Greater Metro Conference.

Ben Carpenter threw seven shutout innings against Central, allowing just three hits with two strikeouts and one walk. He also led off the game with a single, stole second and scored on Jonah Meidl's RBI. Colin Trautschold hit a two-run single in the sixth to pad the lead, bringing in Bobby Russ and Ben Plaisted.

"We came out much more relaxed and loose," coach Brian Karas said. "We played an all-around consistent game with hitting, fielding and pitching."

That carried over into the May 25 win over Marquette. Kratzer threw a complete game, allowing six hits, and Carpenter again reached to lead off the game before scoring on a Meidl hit. Derek Wulff walked with the bases loaded and added an RBI double in the fifth, scoring Jacob Martin. Riley Poe's two-run single down the third base line in the sixth padded the advantage.

Marquette loaded the bases with one out in the seventh, but East got out of the jam with a pair of fly balls.