Royals enter postseason with ten wins in last eleven games
Second baseman Dawson Davidson makes a play on a bouncing ground ball in the infield. (Derick Kelly/Courier Press)
Damien Hall came on in relief for Seneca to pitch the sixth and final inning of their 11-1 win over Wauzeka-Steuben. (Derick Kelly/Courier Press)
Hunter Hagensick saunters home to score a run on a fifth inning double by Dawson Davidson. (Derick Kelly/Courier Press)
Owen Oppriecht takes a good sized lead off first base. (Derick Kelly/Courier Press)
Kaden Roberts earned the win on the mound after allowing just one run on one hit and one walk in four innings. (Derick Kelly/Courier Press)
By Derick Kelly
The Seneca Royals baseball team entered the final full week of the 2024 regular season looking to cement a second place finish in the Ridge & Valley Conference.
The Royals welcomed Wauzeka-Steuben to town on Monday, May 13 and came away with a stunning 21-0 victory in five innings.
Seneca jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning before erupting in the second inning for 10 runs. The Royals added one in the third and six more in the fourth to claim the win.
Jack Gallagher started on the mound and got the win thanks to zero runs on two hits, two walks and one strikeout in four innings pitched. Damien Hall pitched the fifth inning in relief of Gallagher, striking one out.
The Royals offense collected 15 hits in the game, including getting multiple hits from Reggie George (3-for-3 with three runs scored, three RBIs and one walk), Dawson Davidson (2-for-3 with three runs scored, one RBI and one walk), Briar Wall (2-for-4 with a double, two runs scored, two RBIs and one walk), Jacob Payne (2-for-2 with two runs scored, four RBIs and one walk), Owen Oppriecht (2-for-3 with one run scored and three RBIs) and Kaden Roberts (2-for-3 with three runs scored, two RBIs and one walk). Damien Hall also added a double for the Royals.
Seneca traveled to Viroqua the following night for a non-conference showdown with the eleventh ranked team in D3 in the Blackhawks and came away with a 7-5 victory.
Tied 2-2 going into the fifth inning, the Royals scored four runs to take a 6-2 lead before the Blackhawks responded with two runs in the bottom of the fifth and one in the sixth to make it a one run game before the Royals added an insurance run in the top of the seventh inning for the 7-5 win.
Davidson (four runs allowed on six hits and three walks with three strikeouts in five innings pitched) started on the mound before Roberts came on in relief (one run on four hits and one walk and four strikeouts in two innings pitched) to earn the save.
The Royals got 12 hits from their offense, including multiple hits from Davidson (2-for-4 with two runs scored), Briar Wall (3-for-4 with a double, one run scored and two RBIs), Gage Wall (3-for-4 with a double, three runs scored and one RBI) and Payne (2-for-4 with a double and four RBIs). Hunter Hagensick added a double for the Royals.
Seneca concluded their conference schedule two nights later when they traveled to Wauzeka for a rematch with the Hornets.
The Royals grabbed an early 4-0 lead in the first inning before adding four more runs in the third inning and three more in the fifth inning to earn a 11-1 victory. Seneca out hit the Hornets 11-1 in the game.
Davidson (2-for-3 with a double, two runs scored, one walk and one RBI), Oppriecht (2-for-2 with two runs scored, one walk and one RBI), Roberts (2-for-3 with a double, one run scored and two RBIs) and Gallagher (2-for-3 with one run scored and two RBIs) combined for eight of the Royals 11 hits in the game.
Roberts (one run allowed on one hit and one walk with six strikeouts in four innings pitched) got the win with Damian Hall (one walk and one strikout) coming on in relief to pitch the final inning.
Seneca returned home two days later to host Boscobel and came away with a 10-0 win in six innings over the Bulldogs.
Despite the final score, the game was scoreless for the first four and a half innings before the Royals broke the tie with four runs in the fifth and six in the sixth (including a three-run home run by Gage Wall) for the victory.
Briar (3-for-4 with two doubles and two runs scored) and Gage Wall (2-for-4 with a home run, two runs and four RBIs) combined for five of the team’s nine hits in the game. Hagensick added a triple in the win.
Briar Wall pitched a complete game shutout with only five hits and one walk allowed with four strikeouts to earn the win.
The Royals welcomed Westby to town this past Monday night looking to build off their ten-game winning streak.
The Norsemen had other plans though as they scored four runs to start the game to take a 4-0 lead. Westby would hold onto that lead until the bottom of the sixth inning when the Royals scored three runs to make the scored 4-3 which would stand as the final score.
Gage Wall (2-for-4 with one run and one RBI) and Payne (1-for-4) combined for all three Royal hits in the game.
Gallagher (four runs on six hits and two walks with four strikeouts in five innings) took the loss with Payne (zero runs on zero hits and two walks with four strikeouts) pitching the final two innings in relief.
The Royals planned regular season finale against Riverdale last night was cancelled due to weather. Seneca finished the regular season with an overall record of 15-5 and in second place in the Ridge & Valley Conference with a 11-3 record.
Seneca earned the third seed in their D4 sectional grouping and will host fourteenth seed North Crawford in a regional quarterfinal game on Thursday, May 23 with the winner facing the winner of the Wauzeka-Steuben/New Lisbon game in the regional semifinal round on Tuesday, May 28.
