Beyer goes the distance as Northwoods edges Antigo in regional opener

The Northwoods Wisconsin American Legion baseball team edged Antigo 9-8 in the opening round of the AA Wisconsin American Legion baseball regionals yesterday in Minocqua, as starting pitcher Griffin Beyer went the distance and pitched a complete game in the win. 

Northwoods advanced to the winners' side of the bracket with the win and will face Rhinelander this evening, Friday, July 25, at 5 p.m. at the Minocqua Sports Park. 

“I was really happy with Griffin’s approach on the mound to consistently throw strikes and let them put it in play,” said Northwoods Manager Dustin Hoeft after the victory. “We were a little shaky on defense, but when it mattered the most, our defense came through.” 

Antigo struck first right out of the gate with two outs in the top of the first. A two-out hit by Jordan Pregler gave Antigo the 1-0 lead. Northwoods threw a counter in the bottom half of the inning, which produced three runs. Beyer, Jonah Will and Jonathan Miller each got on base to open the frame. Each came in to score, including one on a sac-fly from third baseman Landyn Hoeft. 

Northwoods doubled up Antigo in the second, taking a 4-2 lead after Sam Koshuta rounded the bases to score. 

The Eagle River squad tacked on another tally in the bottom of the third with an Ethan Miller sac-fly to left field. 

“I liked our approach the guys had at the plate. They made contact with the ball when it mattered most,” explained Hoeft on the offensive performance. 

It wasn’t until the late innings that Antigo showed some life, scoring six of its eight runs in the fifth and sixth innings. A pair of runners crossed home plate in the top of the fifth to make it a 5-4 game, before Northwoods countered with a near-knockout blow in the bottom of the inning. Hoeft (Landyn) sparked the inning with an RBI triple that later led to three other runs scoring to extend the lead back to five, 9-4. Antigo strung some hits together and scored two quick runs in the sixth and still had runners on the corners with just one out. After getting the bases jammed and two more runs given up later, Beyer got out of the sixth in what became a tight 9-8 game. 

A dull bottom of the sixth for Northwoods saw two flyouts and a groundout, as Beyer trotted back out for the seventh. After a tough inning prior, Beyer forgot about it and breezed through Antigo’s order in the seventh to close the game. Davis Beyer highlighted the inning defensively with a diving catch at first base to save a hit. 

“Davis had some outstanding plays at first for us to secure the win,” stated Hoeft. 

Based on tonight’s result, a win would put Northwoods in a game with Merrill or Medford at 2 p.m. tomorrow. A loss tonight would put them in a game tomorrow at 11 a.m. against either Minocqua or Antigo again.

The team has the opportunity to win tonight and tomorrow at 2 p.m. to advance straight to the regional final on Sunday morning, but a loss either tonight or at some point tomorrow morning or afternoon would mean the team would play again at 5 p.m. tomorrow (Saturday) evening for a chance to play for a regional title Sunday.