The Bonduel American Legion baseball team’s 7-6 win Thursday against visiting Iola came down to the only man on the bench and the final hitter.
No. 9 hitter Bennett Gunderson’s bases-loaded, two-out single in the bottom of the seventh brought in Bailey Dingeldein with the winning run.
Wyatt Erb, Bonduel’s only reserve, who came off the bench in the fourth inning to replace Hunter VanDerLinden when he injured his hamstring, scored the tying run and pitched a scoreless seventh inning to pick up the victory.
“I was prepared, and I knew that there was no one behind me,” Erb said. “I was ready to play wherever they put me.
“I knew that when I got on the mound, that I had a good defense behind me, and just throw strikes. I knew that if I got on base, that I would have hitters behind me to get me around to score.”
Erb relieved Connor Rosin, who allowed six runs on 12 hits and struck out three.
“Connor struggled, he got hit pretty hard. It is unusual for him to get hit that hard,” Bonduel coach Kevin Thiel said. “I knew Iola was a good hitting team, but we just battled back and got the job done.”
The win extended Bonduel’s win streak to four games.
Iola posted the first two runs in the top of the second inning. Brady Snyder fielder’s choice scored Kal Fischer, who led off the inning with a double. Jayden Sivertson scored on a fielding error.
Bonduel (4-1, 3-1 Central Wisconsin American Legion League-North) responded with one run in the bottom half, with Trevor Pedersen’s double scoring Dingeldein.
Iola added three runs in the third inning with three consecutive singles to take a 5-1 lead, but Bonduel responded with four runs in the bottom of the third after loading the bases on a single by Colton Dobratz (2 for 3), a Rosin walk and VanDerLinden’s bunt single.
Iola pitcher Nate Korb walked Jordan Richter to score Dobratz, then Travis Wollenberg singled in Rosin. Another walk to Austin Siolka scored VanDerLinden, and Pedersen knocked in Richter on a fielder’s choice, making it 5-5.
Rosin allowed Iola’s final run in the fourth inning on an RBI single by John Prahl, scoring Korb.
Iola held the lead until the seventh, with Gunderson providing the game-winning hit.
“It was a seeing-eye single to right field, and you have to give them credit, they put the bat on the ball,” Iola coach Brian Korb said. “They are a very great team and they showed it.”
Nate Korb took the loss for Iola (3-1, 3-1 CWAL-South), allowing five runs on 10 hits. He walked four and struck out two.
