LAKE IN THE HILLS — After falling behind 2-0 in the top half of the first inning, the Bats tallied 9 runs in the bottom half of the frame then held on for a 17-10 win over the White Soxx on Sunday at Plote Field.  The Bats offensive attack was led by Tom Klauba who went 4-for-4 with 2 doubles and 4 runs scored while Greg Kaczmarek picked up the win on the mound as the Bats evened their record at 4-4.

Kaczmarek opened the game by putting the first two White Soxx batters on with a hit batsman and walk.  Those two free passes came around to score on a double and sacrifice fly to make it 2-0, but the right-hander closed the door with a strikeout and inning-ending pop up.

The Bats 9-run answer to the White Soxx began when leadoff hitter Earl Blankenship reached first on a third strike that went to the backstop.  Klauba followed with a single and the two runners came around to tie the score, 2-2, on John Eisenmenger’s double.  After the next two batters made outs the Bats went on to score 7 more times thanks in part to some favorable bounces on a sun-baked infield and a couple of fielding miscues by the Soxx for a 9-2 Bats lead.

The Bats continued their onslaught in the second inning with 3 more runs to build a 12-2 lead.  The White Soxx refused to roll over and play dead, however, as they scored 3 in the third, 1 in the fourth, 1 in the fifth and 4 in the sixth inning to close the gap to 14-10.  But RBI hits by Harry Mielke, Eisenmenger and Matt Weiss in the bottom of the sixth gave the Bats a more comfortable 17-10 lead heading into the final frame.

Eisenmenger, who had relieved Kaczmarek in the fifth inning, held the White Soxx scoreless in the seventh to secure the win. 

A total team victory would best describe Sunday’s contest as all nine players in the line-up had at least 1 hit, including Klauba with 4, Weiss with 3, and Eisenmenger, Mike Steffy and Mielke with 2 each.  Seven players scored 2 or more runs, including Klauba with 4 and Harry Mielke with 3, and eight players had at least 1 RBI led by Eisenmenger and Mielke with 3 each and Weiss with 2.  Perhaps most telling was the bottom four in the lineup combining for 9 runs scored while the top three combined for the other 8 runs.

With the Marauders (6-1) losing, 10-6, to the Lightning on Sunday the third-place Bats pulled to within 2 ½ games of first place while the White Soxx (5-3) remained in second place, 1 ½ games behind the Marauders.

The Bats next game will be at 10:00 AM on Sunday, June 20 against the Angels at Emricson Park in Woodstock, Ill.

BATS DROPPINGS

Their 4-4 record after 8 games is the Bats best start after 8 games since 2010 when they were also 4-4.  Their best 8-game start came in 2004 when they were 5-3 ….  The Bats scored 11 of their 17 runs with two outs and were held scoreless in only one inning ….  Mike Steffy played in his 31st consecutive game on Sunday tying him for the tenth longest streak in Bats history.  Mike is the 11th Bats player to play in 30 or more consecutive games …  For the second time this season Tom Klauba scored 4 runs in a game .… The Bats have scored 10 or more runs three times this season.  The last time they had at least 10 runs in a game 3 times in a season was 2017.  The most times they have scored 10 or more runs in a game was 2004 when they did it 7 times …. The Bats outfield accounted for 5 putouts in the game, 3 by right fielder Mike Steffy, after combining for only 10 putouts in their first 7 games.