Shawano and Seymour played a nine-inning thriller on Tuesday, which the Hawks won on a game-winning, RBI single by Alex Hoffman to score Dylan Sumnicht.
This afternoon, the two teams will square off once more, only this time they’ll be playing at Fox Cities Stadium in Appleton. Shawano coach Rob Wolff is hopeful Tuesday’s win is a sign of things to come, but he knows beating a team like Seymour again won’t be easy.
“Now we’re going to have their number one [pitcher] going against our number one [pitcher],” Wolff said after Tuesday’s win. “I guarantee it’s going to be a low scoring game and it’s probably going to come down right to the end, who gets the big hit, who makes the mistake, and who doesn’t make the mistake. It’s going to come right down to that.”
Seymour’s loss dropped the Thunder from first place in the Bay Conference, but the standings are a bit of a log jam. Seymour joins Xavier a game behind conference leaders West De Pere and Menasha, and only 3.5 games separate the leaders from last place Shawano. The Thunder are ready to turn the page from Tuesday’s game and while head coach Curt Jefson says they’re looking forward to playing in the special venue, they still have to play Seymour baseball.
“We have a lot of respect for Shawano and we’re looking forward to playing them at Fox Cities Stadium,” said Jefson. “A lot of the kids that we’re bringing with us, they haven’t been there, so as coach you can kind of talk about how fast the infield is, the outfield, the size of the park, but they still have to play. It’s our senior recognition game, so it’s always a nice moment for them.”