Injuries, West Bend West just too tough to overcome for Shorewood

Shorewood - With injuries limiting the Shorewood baseball team at two key positions, the odds of the Greyhounds pulling an upset against third-seeded host West Bend West in a WIAA regional semifinal game weren't good to begin with on July 10.

Still, the Greyhounds put in a good effort before falling and ending their season by an 8-1 count.

"The kids did play hard the whole game," said Shorewood co-coach Jason Calvert. "We had to try and overcome a few key injuries, but it would have been hard for us anyway, because West is a very good, very well-coached team."

Shorewood, which ended its season at 4-19, still had the bat of catcher Cooper Lang (two hits), but not his defensive skills behind the plate, as he was still resting his arm from his yeoman work on the mound in helping the Greyhounds upset rival Whitefish Bay, 5-4, July 6. As a result, he was limited to designated hitter's duties.

Further, Greyhound ace Ian Roudebush (one walk and two strikeouts) tried to take the mound for the first time in a few weeks since injuring a hip flexor, but he had to come out after just two innings because the hip was still bothering him.

Oscar Bjornstad did a solid job in replacing Roudebush, said Calvert.

The Spartans (20-11), who wound up falling in a minor upset to Cedarburg in the regional final on July 13, scored three times in the second and twice each in the third and the fourth to put the game away.

Shorewood, which had five hits on the night and committed three errors, pushed across its only run in the fifth as Alex McMurtry, who filled in for Lang behind the dish, also had two hits.

"We had a couple of good chances where we put two men on base, but we just couldn't get the big hit," said Calvert, "but that will happen against a good team like that."