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Yankees celebrate 80 years in style

Deutz’s six shutout innings lead Milroy past Sacred Heart on HOF Day

Photos by Jake McNeill: Milroy pitcher Nathan Deutz throws from the mound during a Corn Belt League game against Sacred Heart on Saturday in Milroy. Deutz threw six shutout innings as the Yankees defeated the Saints 10-0 in seven innings.

MILROY — Nathan Deutz made Milroy veterans proud with six shutout innings on the mound when the Yankees hosted the Sacred Heart Saints for the Yankees’ home finale and 80-year anniversary celebration on Saturday afternoon. Braden Flock and the Milroy bats rewarded Deutz’s pitching performance with 16 hits to claim a 10-0 mercy-rule win in seven innings.

“Things are really starting to click, I’d say, the last eight-to-10 games, and our bats have really come along,” Milroy first baseman Aaron Mathiowetz said. “Being able to throw it back with Nathan, really just getting amped up with the crowd with it being the 80th [anniversary], he looked 10 years younger out there… It’s great to see everyone kind of gelling, and we’re excited for the playoffs next week.”

Deutz struck out eight of the first nine batters he faced and was perfect, giving up a weak-contact ground out from the only batter to put the ball in play, and was perfect through 3 1/3 innings. 

“It’s really each pitch at a time, I don’t really relish in what I’ve done in the past,” Deutz said of his mentality through three perfect innings. “I’m thinking forward as to what my next pitch is going to be.”

He added that he talked with catcher Alex Schuh about attacking the corners and outside of the plate on the day, as well as getting ahead in the count early before mixing in offspeed pitches. The pitcher-catcher duo effectively executed the plan, and Deutz struck out 12 batters over six shutout innings. He limited the Saints to three walks and a pair of hits on an efficient 88 pitches. 

After scoring a run in the first to take the lead, Milroy started to pull away with a four-run third inning. 

Brandon Flock walked and Alex Schuh was hit by a pitch to put two runners on base, and David Schmidt started the scoring with an RBI single. Brock Schultz followed up with a two-run single and Brian Dolan grounded into a fielder’s choice to score Schultz for a 5-0 Yankee lead.

Flock also scored the game’s first run when he led off the first with a single, advanced to third when the Saints committed an error on a Schuh bunt and scored on a Mathiowetz single to put the Yankees on the board.

Mathiowetz and Schultz finished with a game-high three RBIs each for the Yankees, coming on four singles for Mathiowetz and three for Schultz. Andy Schmidt and Flock each also tallied three hits on the day, including a double for Flock.

Rallies continued to start with Flock in the bottom of the fourth. He singled into right field with one out and advanced to second when Schuh again reached base on a Sacred Heart error. 

The Saints got a fly out to put two away and hold the runners on first and second, but an RBI single from Mathiowetz and a two-run single from Schultz brought the score to 8-0 in favor of the Yankees. Schultz tried to stretch his hit into a double when the Saints misplayed the ball in center field, but he was tagged out at second to end the inning.

Sacred Heart rallied with one out in the sixth to load the bases. An Ayden Gustafson single and walks to Isaac Stromner and Jack Howard put the Saints in a position to capitalize, but Milroy second baseman Eli Weedman caught a line drive and flipped it over to shortstop David Schmidt at second base for the inning-ending double play.

Prior to the sixth, the only Saints runner to advance past second base was Kayden Dehmlow in the third, who walked before stealing second and getting within 90 feet of a run on a ground out. Yet, a strikeout left him stranded on third and kept the shutout intact.

Flock led off the bottom of the sixth with a double to center field and scored when Schuh hit a deep single to make the score 9-0. Schuh advanced into scoring position on the late throw home before being replaced on base by courtesy runner JR Vierstraete, and Vierstraete ran home to put them mercy rule in play when Mathiowetz laced a single over the head of the shortstop. 

Logan Phillippe took over for Deutz in the top of the seventh. After battling his way to an eight-pitch strikeout against the first batter he faced, Phillippe closed out a scoreless clinching inning with another strikeout and one hit allowed. 

Photo by Jake McNeill: Milroy catcher Alex Schuh slides into third base during a Corn Belt League game against Sacred Heart on Saturday in Milroy.

Yankees’ shining

moments

The Yankees inducted Eric Dolan and Matt Bauer into the team’s Hall of Fame prior to first pitch. Justin Schlemmer was also honored as a charter member of the Corn Belt Hall of Fame, along with Granite Falls’ Tim Knapper, Raymond’s Harlan Steen and Kyle Knott, and Bird Island’s Mike Nagel.

The Yankee Hall of Fame isn’t just about on-field play, designated hitter and Yankee veteran Brian Dolan said, it’s about the effort and energy the individuals put in around the ballpark. 

Brian said that Eric is a guy who’s done everything from playing for the team, working the concession stands, and working at meetings for the team. Brian went on to describe Bauer as “probably one of the best left-handed hitters I’ve ever seen,” as well as a great leader and a versatile piece for the Yankees defensively.

“Just to have a crowd like this, I mean, these are guys we played with or grew up watching,” Mathiowetz said. “Just watching them come out here and just being able to put on a show, just showing them that the tradition is still going.”

Aging like fine wine

At 41 years old, Deutz hasn’t been able to get on the mound as regularly as he used to due to his other life commitments, such as his family and serving as vice president for the Marshall Area Youth Baseball Association. While he felt like he took longer to get in pitching shape than previous seasons, he felt good on Saturday.

“I told the guys [that] I might go two innings, I might go seven, just how I felt. I was going to take it until I couldn’t,” Deutz said. 

Heading into the game, Deutz had talked with catcher Alex Schuh about attacking the corners and working the outside of the plate, Deutz said, adding that he wanted to get up in the count with his fastball before mixing in offspeed pitches.

Deutz was nearly pulled after getting into a jam late in the game, but ended up staying on the mound to keep the Yankees in a position to win through six.

“I told him to go away,” Deutz said with a laugh when the Yankees nearly pulled him. “No, I was getting tired. He wasn’t wrong, but I just said I’m good. I felt good, so I may never do that again, and that means the world to me.”

Finishing strong

After getting off to a slow start by dropping four of their first five league games, the Yankees stepped up down the stretch. They went 5-4 in their final nine league games to end the regular season at 8-10 overall, including a non-league loss to Hadley on Sunday, and earn the No. 2 seed out of the Corn Belt in the Region 2C tournament.

Up next

The Yankees will head to Springfield for their postseason opener on Saturday at 7 p.m. against Tomahawk East No. 8 seed Stark. With a win, the Yankees would play either Corn Belt No. 5 Sacred Heart or Tomahawk No. 4 Lamberton in the winner’s bracket quarterfinals on Sunday at 7 p.m. in Springfield. With a loss, the Yankees would play the loser of the two teams in the elimination bracket in Sleepy Eye on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.

Photo by Jake McNeill: Milroy Yankees shortstop David Schmidt rounds third base to score a run during a Corn Belt League baseball game against the Sacred Heart Saints on Saturday at Yankee Field in Milroy.

BOX SCORE

MILROY

Batting

B. Flock: 3-3 (2B), BB; A. Schuh: 1-2 (2B), RBI, HBP; D. Schmidt: 1-4; A. Mathiowetz: 4-4, 3 RBI, SB; B. Schultz: 3-4, 3 RBI; A. Aschmidt: 3-4; B. Dolan: 1-3, RBI.

Pitching

N. Deutz: W, 6 IP, 2 H, 3 BB, 12 SO; L. Phillippe: IP, H, 2 SO.

SACRED HEART

Batting

A. Gustafson: 1-3, SB; I. Stromner: 1-2, BB, SB; J. Howard: 0-2, BB; K. Dehmlow: 0-2, BB, SB; W. Fussy: 1-3.

Pitching

J. Howard: L, 6 IP, 16 H, 10 R, 7 ER, BB, 2 SO.

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