Current Articles

CURRENT WEEKS ARTICLES FROM

THE DODGEVILLE CHRONICLE

HOME

ABOUT US

RIDGEWAY TAKES ON BLANCHARDVILLE

June 14, 2007

The Ridgeway Cardinals traveled twice this week to Blanchardville to take on the Bullets but only one game was played.

Thursday Night League was literally cancelled at the last minute – both teams were there and ready to play and five minutes before the game was to start the bottom fell out. It poured!!! To make things even more frustrating on the drive home we had to go through Hollandale to get back to Ridgeway and they were playing – Not a drop of rain!! Well, that’s the way Wisconsin springtime goes. This game has been rescheduled for Friday, June 15^th at 7:30 pm in Blanchardville.

The second game was our Sunday League game – and it was absolutely beautiful; not just the weather but the game too.

Tyler Peterson started the game off for the Cardinals with a base hit and got all the way to third – but was stranded. In the bottom of the inning the Bullets were shut down.

In the second, third and fourth innings the Cardinals put up one run in each. In the second Trevor Christianson led off with a walk, advanced on a sac bunt by Dusty Alfred and scored on a base hit by Justin Athey (we’re glad he’s home). In the third Adam Halverson got on after getting hit by a wild pitch from ex-Cardinal Josh Hathaway, stole second, advanced on a passed ball and scored when big brother Sam got a double. In the fourth; with two outs on the board, Aaron Calvert reached on a walk, stole second, and scored on a base hit by Tyler Peterson.

In the sixth inning the Cardinals added one more to the board when Dusty Alfred took a walk to get on, advanced on a passed ball, again on a fielder’s choice and scored on a Miles Rolli base hit. In the seventh the Cardinals posted two more to seal the deal – the final score was 6 – 0.

For the Bullets, the day did not go so well. The only innings in which they saw more than three batters at the plate were in the sixth, seventh and eighth – they closest they came to scoring was second base. With the youth on their team; however, I think that give them a year or two together and they could be tough.

The Bullets had four hits – Beau Dobson, Theron Theobald, Cody Olson and Aaron Gifford (all really young players). They committed one error. Starting on the mound for the Bullets was ex-Cardinals Josh Hathaway, who went five innings, giving up four hits for three runs, walking four and fanning six. Josh was replaced on the mound by Kory Sutter who finished the game giving up three hits for three runs, walking one and fanning six.

On the mound for the Cardinals was Zak Arneson – Zak went the distance facing thirty-one batters giving up four hits for no runs, walking one and fanning ten. The Cardinals had seven hits – Tyler Peterson was 2x5, Sam Halverson was 2x5 with a double, Dusty Alfred was 1x2, Justin Athey was 1x4, and Miles Rolli was 1x2.

This week is going to a long week for the Cardinals as they take on Platteville at home in Ridgeway on Thursday, June 14^th. On Friday, June 15^th, they travel to Blanchardville for the make-up of last weeks rained out game. And on Sunday, June 17^th, Father’s Day, the Verona Wildcats come to town. Also that day at the Park the Ridgeway Advancement will be running a fundraiser to support the youth programs here in Ridgeway,. There will be a Chicken BBQ, meat paddles and other fun and games during the Home Talent Game – come out and support your local team and the Village of Ridgeway.

SECOND LONG WEEKEND FOR THE CARDINALS

July 21, 2007

It was a long, hot weekend for the Ridgeway Cardinals. The weekend started with the Cardinals seeing the Platteville Woodchucks on Thursday night, Friday night they traveled to Blanchardville to play the make-up of the rained out Thursday night game from last week and ended on Sunday when the Verona Wildcats came to town.

Thursday night’s game was a pretty even match-up between the Cardinals and the Woodchucks.

In the top of the first, with two outs on the board, the Woodchucks third batter got a home run to put them on the board first. The fourth batter took a walk and advanced on a Cardinal error that put two runners on the bases. Both of these runners would put more runs on the board and they threatened to add more as the next three batters got base hits before the Cardinals could get the third out – the Woodchucks stranded three runners.

In answer to the three runs for the Woodchucks the Cardinals didn’t go down without a fight. Dusty Alfred led off for the Cardinals with a double, advanced with the #2 batter; Zak Arneson, at the plate and then scored off a Justin Athey single. Aaron Calvert got a base hit and was followed by a base hit with an RBI from Trevor Chirstianson. Jake Athey then got a base hit to score Aaron and the Cardinals had tied it up.

The second inning was another tied inning as both teams added one run a piece.

The third inning saw the Cardinal defense kick it up a notch and hold the Woodchucks from scoring. They took the lead in the bottom of the third – a lead that would grow and hold for the rest of the game.

In the fourth and fifth innings the Cardinals continued to hold the Woodchucks scoreless. In the fourth the Woodchucks threatened but were held by the Cardinals defense. One play during that inning was definitely a play to remember – the first Woodchuck to the plate hit a deep shot to right field where Miles Rolli made a beautiful running catch to keep the batter from getting on, their second batter of the inning got on with a base hit but was eventually stranded at third. In the fifth the Woodchucks threatened again when they got bases loaded but again the Cardinal defense held them.

The Cardinals were able to add one run in each of the third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings and that would be enough for them to walk away with a win. The Woodchucks did manage a run in the sixth and another in the seventh but the Cardinal defense would not allow more. Final score Cardinals 8 – Woodchucks 6.

Trevor Christianson went the distance on the mound for the Cardinals; giving up eleven hits, walking eight and fanning four. The Cardinals had fourteen hits and two errors. Hitters for the Cardinals were Dusty Alfred 2x3, Zak Arneson 1x3, Justin Athey 1x1, Aaron Calvert 2x4, Trevor Christianson 2x3, Jake Athey 1x3, Jared Murphy 1x3, Miles Rolli 1x3, Sam Halverson 2x3, and Jared McVay 1x1.

The Woodchucks used two pitchers for the game: Tim Amore and Chris Chyco – together they gave up fourteen hits, walked three and fanned two. They had eleven hits which included on home run and had three errors. Their top hitters were Jessy Baker and Travis Knautz who each had two hits.

On Friday night the Cardinals went back to Blanchardville for the third time in eight days to make up the rained out game from last week.

Blanchardville actually got on the board first with a run in the bottom of the first; Aaron Gifford took a walk as the lead off hitter for Blanchardville, advanced on a sac bunt by Steven Nelson and scored on a long base hit by Jeff Kurschner. The Bullets would not score again until the bottom of the fifth when they posted two more runs and then they added their fourth run in the bottom of the sixth.

In the top of the second the Cardinals took a commanding lead off the Bullets starting pitcher; a very young starting pitcher, Milton Kurschner, who will be a junior at Pecatonica High School in the fall. Milton did well in the first inning and his defense backed him up well, but in the second it was a different story. Milton was struggling and the Cardinals took advantage and put up five runs before the Bullet defense could get out of the inning.

In the third, fourth and fifth innings Tim McKeon – who replaced Milton on the mound to start the third - and the Bullet defense kept the Cardinals from adding to the score.

In the sixth inning both teams posted one run a piece and in the seventh neither team scored. Final score Ridgeway 6 – Blanchardville 4.

Milton Kurschner started on the mound for the Bullets and went two innings giving up three hits, two walks and five runs. Tim McKeon came on in the third and completed the game giving up three hits and one walk for one run.

Tyler Peterson started on the mound for the Cardinals and went two innings giving up two hits and walking three for one run while fanning two. Adam Halverson then took a turn on the mound going two and two-thirds innings giving up three hits and three walks for two runs while fanning two. Dusty Alfred closed on the mound going two and one-thirds innings giving up two hits and a walk for one run and fanning four.

The Bullets had seven hits – Jeff Kurschner went 2x2 while the rest of the hits came from Steven Nelson, Jon Pleimling, Theron Theobald, Tim McKeon and Beau Dobson.

The Cardinals had six hits – Tyler Peterson went 2x4 and Tim Hewitt went 2x2 and Adam Halverson and Jake Athey each had one hit.

The final game of the weekend saw the Verona Wildcats come to Ridgeway for a Sunday League game. It was a hard fought game but the Wildcats were just too much for the Cardinals.

In the top of the second inning Verona jumped out to a six run lead and things went downhill from there.

The Cardinals were able to post four runs in the bottom of the third but the Wildcats came right back in the top of the fourth with four runs to keep the six run lead.

In the bottom of the fourth the Cardinals managed to cut the lead to five runs but that would be the closest they would come to this dominating Verona Wildcat team. The Wildcats lead by a score of 10 -5.

In the sixth the Wildcats posted another run and the Cardinals posted another run – this would be the last of the scoring for both teams. Final score Verona 11 – Ridgeway 6.

Sam Halverson started the day for the Cardinals on the mound and went one and one-third innings giving up five hits and two walks for six runs. Zak Arneson then took over for Sam and completed the game going eight and two-thirds innings giving up nine hits and four walks for five runs while fanning four.

Matt Niffenegger went six innings on the mound for the Wildcats giving up eight hits and four walks for all six Cardinal runs while fanning seven. Lance Taylor took the last two innings giving up one hit, no walks, no runs and fanning two.

Hitters for the Cardinals were Adam Halverson 2x3, Kevin Oimoen 2x4 (one double and one single shot homerun), Sam Halverson 2x4, and the other three hits were by Tyler Peterson, Jared McVay and Aaron Calvert.

Hitters for the Wildcats were their usual – Derek Burgenske was 3x5 with two homeruns and a double and he is credited with five of the runs, AJ Stoffels was 2x4 with a double and one RBI, James Doyle was 4x4. The other five hits came from David Burgenske (double), Matt Peetz (two run homerun), Derek Prochaska, Zach Spencer, and Nick Krohn.

Coming up for the Cardinals is another full weekend of ball games. Thursday night the Cardinals travel to Hollandale for Thursday night league action, Saturday they travel to Plain for a Sunday League game and then on Sunday the Cardinals are at home against Hollandale. The Thursday night game is scheduled for a 7:30 start while both Saturday and Sunday are 1 pm starts.

ANOTHER CRAZY WEEKEND FOR THE CARDINALS

June 28, 2007

Last week the Cardinals started their weekend in Hollandale with a Thursday night league game. This game seemed to be doubtful from the start – the weather looked bad and there was definitely rain on the way. It rained a little bit before the game but it was decided to try to play it anyway. The teams managed to get three and a half innings in before giving up because the rain had not stopped and seemed to be getting heavier. So with three and a half innings in and a score of Hollandale 5 – Ridgeway 4 the game was called and plans were made to finish it on Sunday after the two teams met up for their Sunday League game.

Saturday the Cardinals traveled to Plain to take on the Athletics (A’s) for Sunday League action. At first it seemed that this might be a different A’s team that the Cardinals were facing – they seemed to have pulled together as a team.

In the third inning the Cardinals were the first to get on the board even though they had threatened in the first in second. In the top of the third the Cardinals posted two runs and didn’t stop there. In the top of the eighth they put two more runs up and added a fifth run in the ninth. The most frustrating part for the Cardinals was that they had the opportunity several other times to score but left runners stranded in scoring position. The A’s defense seemed to be clicking; more than the Cardinals had ever seen. The final score was Ridgeway 5 – Plain 0.

Dusty Alfred went the distance for the Cardinals – he faced thirty batters, gave up four hits, one walk and fanned nine. The Cardinals had nine hits: Tyler Peterson 2x5, Adam Halverson 2x4, Kevin Oimoen 2x3, Zak Arneson 2x4 and Trevor Christianson got a hit.

Joe Gorman started on the mound for Plain and was replaced after seven innings by James James – together they faced forty-one batters, gave up nine hits, walked six fanned five for a total of five runs. The A’s only had four hits; one each from James James, Simon Liegel, Nick Stittleburg, and Derek Klang.

On Sunday the Hollandale Rockies came to Ridgeway for the second match-up of the season. (And to finish the Thursday night game.)

The Cardinals were able to post a run in the bottom of the first inning but even though they threatened in the second, third, fifth, and sixth they were unable to post more until the bottom of the ninth. At this point it was too late – the Rockies had the lead (which they had held since the sixth) and weren’t about to give it up.

In the top of the second the Rockies tied the game up at one and took the lead in the sixth. In the sixth Todd Paradis led off with a long homerun and was followed with three more Rockies getting on base with hits – Tom Arneson, Nick Zimple and Scott Garthwaite – with the last one resulting in the third run posting for the Rockies. Nick and Scott would both post runs before the Cardinals could get out of this disastrous inning. The damage was done – Hollandale held the lead of 5 – 1 and the Cardinals were having a hard time stopping them after that.

In the top of the seventh the Rockies added two more runs and in the eighth and ninth innings they added one more in each. In the ninth the big surprise was a Scott Garthwaite lead off homerun – for the old guy it was a good hit (just picking, Spiff).

The final score for this game was Hollandale 9 – Ridgeway 2.

Zak Arneson started on the mound for the Cardinals going seven innings, giving up eight hits (one double and two homeruns), walking three and fanning four. Justin Athey took the mound to relieve Zak but could only manage to go one-third of the inning giving up one hit for one run and walking two. Trevor Christianson came in to relieve Justin and closed the game facing six batters giving up one hit, walking none and fanning two for one run.

The Cardinals managed six hits: one each from Tyler Peterson, Adam Halverson, Justin Athey, Aaron Calvert, Jared Murphy and Miles Rolli.

Scott Norton went the distance for the Rockies; facing thirty-seven batters, giving up six hits, two walks and fanning twelve for the two runs the Cardinals posted.

The Rockies had ten hits: Todd Paradis, and Scott Garthwaite each had two (with each having a homerun), Nick Zimple had three hits (one being a homerun, and the other hits were from Brandon Ihm, Tom Arneson,and Tyler Sullivan.

After the completion of the Sunday League game the two teams took a brief break and came back to finish the Thursday league game. And of course; if you have followed these two teams at all, it had to go into extra innings. There is a history between these two teams that any time they play a “double-header” it MUST go into extra innings – I don’t know who made up the rule but it seems to always happen – this time was no exception.

We picked up the Thursday night game with a score of 5-4 in favor of the Rockies – the game was going into the bottom of the fourth. The bottom of the fourth was uneventful as the Rockies only managed to get one runner on due to a walk and the next three batters went down 1-2-3.

In the top of the fifth the Cardinals tied the game up at five when Tyler Peterson led off with a homerun. Tied would be where the game would stand until the tenth inning (by the way keep in mind that this was supposed to be a seven inning game) where the Cardinals would post a run after getting a runner on due to an error – and they threatened with another one that inning but it just didn’t happen before the third out.

The answer to this run was a Rockies run the bottom of the inning – keeping things tied; so the game continued.

Finally in the top of the twelfth inning the Cardinals were able to post two runs with two outs on the board to take the lead they needed. The Rockies were unable to answer back in the bottom of the inning. So ….. after seventeen and a half innings the Rockies had won one and the Cardinals had won one. The final score of the Thursday night league game was Cardinals 8 – Rockies 6.

Sam Halverson started on the mound for the Cardinals (in Hollandale on Thursday night) and went three innings giving up three hits, eight walks and fanning three for five runs. Trevor Christianson had just taken the mound when the game was called. Trevor took his place on Sunday and went five innings giving up two hits, two walks and fanning one for no runs. Kevin Oimoen came onto the mound in the ninth inning and gaive up one hit walking four, and fanned one for one run. Adam Halverson completed the game for the Cardinals going the last two innings, walking two with no hits, no strikeouts and no runs.

Justin Doyle had started on the mound for the Rockies (in Hollandale) and on Sunday Tom Arneson took his spot and went the distance. Justin went four innings, giving up seven hits, walking three and fanning three for four runs. Tom went eight innings giving up five hits, three walks and fanning three for four runs.

Hitters for Hollandale were: Scott Garthwaite 2x4 while the other four hits were divided between Justin Doyle, Scott Kleppe, Ryan Clerkin, and Quinn Schultz.

Hitters for Ridgeway were: Tyler Peterson 3x4, Adam Halverson 2x3, and Miles Rolli 2x4 with the rest of the hits were from Dusty Alfred, Sam Halverson, Kevin Oimoen, Aaron Calvert, and Adam Hubbard.

This week sees the Cardinals facing Wiota on Thursday night here in Ridgeway (this game may be changed to Wiota due to conflicts – for more information visit our website: www.ridgeway.hometalent.org), and Sunday July 1^st in Dodgeville.

The 4^th of July will see the Cardinals playing at home against the New Glarus Tourist at 1 pm to be followed by music and fireworks at dusk. The Ridgeway Advancement is putting on the music and fireworks as well as a chicken BBQ during the home talent game. Come out and enjoy a fun day at the Ridgeway Ball Park.