Appleton Post 38 drops Legion regional opener to Kimberly

By Dustin Riese
For AppletonSportsPage.com

KIMBERLY – With the American Legion regular season now complete, it’s time for some playoff baseball as Appleton Post 38 begins their final stretch of the season as the Calls AAA Regional round opened up Tuesday night at Sunset Park.

The double-elimination tournament will be one of seven regionals taking place this week, where the winner will qualify for the state tournament next week in Stevens Point.

Kicking things off against the host team, the Kimberly Cougars, things were looking good for Post 38 early on as they opened up a 4-0 lead after two innings and held that lead until the fourth. That is when things began to go south for Appleton, as it allowed 10 runs over the next two innings, including seven runs in the fifth and led to a 10-4 victory for Kimberly.

On the mound for Post 38 was right-hander Logan Hudson, and despite some well-struck balls in the early innings, he managed to do everything his team needed him to do. Hudson kept the Cougars’ offense in check through three innings, before things began to unravel quickly as he was charged with six runs (four earned) in 4⅓ innings.

Facing off against Jack Anzelmo, it was Post 38 who had the pressure on in the first as two-out Jack Kangas single ignited a late-inning rally that saw Appleton load the bases only to come away empty.

Appleton came alive in the second inning. It all started with a pair of singles from Mason Peterson and Kellen Gilbert as Post 38 had a pair of runners on with no outs. Then came the small ball approach, as back-to-back bunts from Gus Rieckman and Reed Flick led to two runs and put Post 38 in front 2-0. A Levi Watts single kept the line moving, but with two on and two out, it was Hudson helping himself as he connected for a clutch two-run single that pushed the Post 38 lead to 4-0.

It was the fourth inning when things began to change, and it happened after a pair of doubles from Levi Watts and Kangas as a baserunning blunder erased what would’ve been a 5-0 lead and kept it at 4-0. Kimberly used that to its advantage in the bottom of the fourth as Anzelmo helped himself by connecting for the first of his two homers to make this a 4-2 game.

Kimberly managed to add another run as part of a three-run fourth inning as an error opened the door for Ian Meyer to push home a run, and suddenly this was a 4-3 game. Following his rough start to the game, Anzelmo settled in quickly and managed to give the Cougars six innings of four-run four-strikeout baseball, retiring 10 in a row at one point as the Post 38 offense was suddenly looking for answers.

Clinging to their 4-3 lead in the fifth, it was the defense that continued to give the Cougars life as another one-out error helped set things up for the Cougars with Ben Johnston and Connor Olson coming away with singles to tie things up 4-4. That was the end of the road for Hudson, who was lifted in favor of Brayden Campbell on the mound as he was promptly greeted by Anzelmo, who connected for his second homer in as many at-bats to put the Cougars on top for good, 7-4.

That was just the start of what was a seven-run inning for the Cougars as a pair of two-out singles from Carter Erdmann and Meyer kept the inning alive, only to have a fourth error lead to another run that saw Post 38 trailing 8-4. Benny Kieffer put an end to the massive inning with a two-run double as Kimberly was now in front 10-4.

“Overall, I am extremely proud of our effort tonight,” Appleton coach Brian Hudson said. “I thought we did a great job early in the game to put pressure on Kimberly to make plays.

“You have to give Kimberly a ton of credit. They had some huge at-bats in both the fourth and fifth innings to turn the momentum in their favor and put us on our heels.”

Still trailing by that score in the seventh, the Post 38 offense had one last opportunity to make something happen, and with Brennan Otto leading things off with a single, things were looking good for the boys in blue. That single was followed by a pair of walks, and just like that, the bases were loaded with no outs and a chance for Post 38 to strike. Unfortunately, that opportunity went to waste as Ethan Akstulewicz bounced back to strike out the final three hitters to secure the 10-4 win for Kimberly.

With the loss, Post 38 will head into an elimination game with the Kaukauna Angels, who fell earlier Tuesday to Manitowoc 5-0. The winner would then play the loser of the Kimberly Manitowoc game, as it is win or go home from here on out for Post 38. Wednesday’s game starts at 5 p.m.

Kimberly 10, Post 38 4
Appleton   040   000   0   –   4   10   4
Kimberly   000   370   x   –   10   10   2
WP: Jack Anzelmo. LP: Logan Hudson.
SO: L. Hudson (4 1/3 inn.) 3, Brayden Campbell (1/3 inn.) 0, Quinn Mueller (1 1/3 inn.) 0; Anzelmo (6 inn.) 4, Ethan Akstulewicz (1 inn.) 3. BB: L. Hudson 1, Campbell 1, Mueller 0; Anzelmo 3, Akstulewicz 2.
Top hitters: A, Levi Watts 2×3, 2B, run; L. Hudson 2 RBI; Kellen Gilbert 2×3, 2B, run; Jack Kangas 2×4, 2B. K, Benny Kieffer 2×4, 2B, 2 RBI; Ben Johnston 2×4, 2B, run; Olson 2 runs; Braedon Ellefson 2B, run; Anzelmo 2×4, 2 HRs, 2 runs, 5 RBI.
Records: Appleton 10-13; Kimberly 7-9.

Class AAA Legion Baseball Regional
July 22-25, at Sunset Park, Kimberly
Tuesday, July 22
Game 1: Manitowoc 5, Kaukauna 0
Game 2: Kimberly 10, Appleton Post 38 4
Wednesday, July 23
Game 3: Kaukauna vs. Appleton Post 38, 5 p.m.
Game 4: Manitowoc vs. Kimberly, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, July 24
Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 5 p.m.
Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, July 25
Game 7: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6, if necessary, 7 p.m.