4/30/08 - LaCrosse Central L 2 - 12

Central had 13 hits to the Spartans 4 to pullaway in the 6th inning.

Rescheduled Games

Varsity - Central at Home - 4/29/08 - 4:30 start

V/VR - Wisconsin Rapids Home - 5/3/08 - DH 9:00 am start

Logan - VR - At Logan DH - 5/22

Logan - JV - Home DH - 5/22

V - Logan 4/27/08 L 1 - 3

Brrr! A cold Saturday at Copeland didn't have an affect on the Spartans as they played a great game against Logan. Jared C. and Brandon A. pitched great holding the Rangers to 6 hits. Between the two of them they only walked one batter. Jared C. had two hits in the game while Jake A. put a first pitch fastball over the right field fence for the only Spartan run of the game. "The last two games our intensity has been up along with our ability to stay focused for all 7 innings. Our pitchers are throwing more strikes and walking less batters. We still need to work on getting clutch hits when needed. We had bases loaded Saturday and couldn't get a run in. Overall the boys have made great strides this past week and I hope it continues the second half of the year." - Coach Dodge

Aquinas 4/21/08

Rescheduled Game(s)

Varsity - Central moved to Monday 4/28/08 - 4:30 start - Home

VR - Central on 5/19 starting at 4pm - Double header - Home

JV - 5/19 at Central starting at 4pm - Double header

VR and JV Logan games stay the same for this Monday
(VR Home on City Field) (JV at Logan)

VR 4/21 Aquinas L 2 - 6

A beautiful night for baseball was rewarded with a well played baseball game by both teams. Aquinas took advantage of their 9 hits by scoring 6 times. Sparta had 6 hits but were able to post only 2 runs. "As a team we hit the ball well...but couldn't come up with some hits in crucial points in the game. The kids played very hard tonight and gave maximum effort. I was very proud of the effort that was shown by the Spartans tonight" - Coach Sands

4/17 VR Onalaska L 5 - 12

A rain soaked evening of baseball saw the Spartans fall for the third in a week. Multiple errors and passed ball/wild pitch combinations ruined good pitching by Craig M. and Jon F. Onalaska took advantage of these mistakes and with the aid of 7 hits, the Hilltoppers posted 12 runs. Casey O. was 1-1 at the plate before being lifted for soreness in the throwing arm. Jake B. went 2-4 and scored 2 runs, Bryant M. went 1 -1 with a double and scored a run. Jon F. also had a good night at the plate going 1-3 with an rbi and a run scored. "We had some mental lapses in the rain, 7 hits should not lead to 12 runs. We will continue to work on the positive mental approach that is needed for tough situations" - Coach Sands

4/15 VR Tomah L 5 - 12

A well played ball game by both teams was broken open in the 6th by the Timberwolves. Timely hitting by the Timberwolves and a crucial error committed by Sparta lead to a large inning. "We played well for 5 innings, but we lost our focus and attention to detail in the 6th. Ben S. pitch a great start to the game, he had good control of his pitches. We are still trying to improve our mental focus in tough game situations" - Coach Sands

4/14 VR Holmen L 6 - 18

A quick start did not last for the Spartans. After 2 innings of play the Spartans were up 4- 0, but many walks and errors lead to many runs by the Holmen Vikings. Some offensive highlights from the game were: Jake B. scored 3 runs, Taylor H. scored 2 runs, and Jordan L. scored once and drove in 2 rbis. "Whenever you give a team more than 3 outs to work with it's going to lead to multiply runs. We will continue to work on the fundamentals needed to prevent the big inning." - Coach Sands

4/21/08 - Aquinas L 1 - 6

Andrew S. pitched a great 5 2/3 innings before giving up a single and home run that led to a four run rally for Aquinas. Aquinas only had four hits on the game, but came through with some big hits. Sparta was led by Jake A. who was 2 for 3 with an RBI. “Great teams find a way to win and Aquinas capitalized on walks and errors. Defensively it was our best game and we did a good job of swinging at good pitches. The boys played seven strong innings of ball tonight.” – Coach Dodge

Holmen 4/14/08 - Varsity W 5 -2

Jared C. and Josh N. combined for 7 innings on Monday to hold the Vikings to two runs in the game. Kevin S. had a game turning double in the 5th inning to give the Spartans a 4 -2 lead. Kevin scored later in the inning on Josh K.'s second hit of the game. "The boys did a great job at the plate with 7 very timely hits. Defense had some tough plays, but did a good job of recovering later in the game. It was a good win." - Coach Dodge

Tomah 4/15/08 - Varsity L 9 -15

Bombs away! Down 7-2 we made a run with back to back homers by Josh N. and Jake A. in the 3rd inning. Josh N. scored later on off a Jared C. single and Josh K. put two more on the board in the 5th inning with his first home run of the year scoring Jake H. who singled earlier in the inning. Jake H. pitched 5 good innings while Brandon A. finished the sixth. "With 22 hits in the game, 11 from each squad it was a fun game to watch. We were ahead 9-8 going into the fifth and Tomah started to hit the ball. We played well, but couldn't catch up to the last inning surge by Tomah." - Coach Dodge

Viroqua Game To Be Rescheduled

The Viroqua varsity and varsity reserve game has been rescheduled to May 6th starting at 4:30 in Viroqua.

Sparta vs. Wisconsin Dells 4/04 W 14 - 9

The Spartans struck first with 2 runs in the top of the 1st. After two strike outs, the Dells erupted for 7 runs (4 earned) in the bottom of the first. Ben S. battled through some control issues after starting the inning with two strikeouts. The Dells continued to plate runners in the second inning, pushing the lead to 9 - 2. In the top of the 3rd, the Spartans started the come back with 3 runs. Jake B. played a well rounded game at the plate and on the the mound. He didn't allow a run in 6 innings of relief and scored 3 runs offensively. Bryant M. and Craig M. also scored 3 runs each. Taylor H. continued to swing a hot bat, he went 3-3 with 2 RBI. "The team showed great heart by not giving up. We had to be patient at the plate and then take advantage of some positive situations in the ball game. The team kept picking each other up all night after some mistakes early caused us to get behind." - Coach Sands

VR - Sparta vs. Westby

Matt B. and Jordan L. pitched well and got support from a solid defense in the team's season opener. At the plate the Spartans took advantage of 6 hits and few errors by Westby to post an 8 - 2 victory. Jake B. scored twice, Jordan L. went 2 for 3 and Taylor H. drove in 2 runs. "A great overall team effort... the play of the guys on the field... and the support of the bench was tremendous. A great start to the season." - Coach Sands

4/04/08 Wisconsin Dells - W 10 -2

Three runs in the first inning sealed the deal for the Spartans on Friday against Wisconsin Dells. Jake A. led the Spartans with three hits while Andrew S. and Brandon A. had two hits a piece. Jared C. went yard in the third inning to give the Spartans a 5 -1 lead. Jake H. pitched 5 1/3 innings striking out 6. Josh N. was in relief to finish the game. "Offensively the guys had twelve hits and zero strikeouts for the game. With those kind of numbers it makes it difficult for the other team to stay in the game. Defensively we had a great catch by Nate C. and later in the game Josh K. gunned a runner at the plate to end a fourth inning surge Wisconsin Dells." - Coach Dodge

Alumni game 04/05/08

We had a beautiful day to clean up our field, eat some brats and watch the alumni try to keep up with the high school youth. Highlights of the day included fixing the JV field (still plenty to do), the home run contest, the trying out and breaking of a home made woodbat, the alumni (who coaches at Aquinas) get his cleat caught in the fence and twist his knee, and one of the Sparta coaches going yard on the first pitch he has seen in 6 years. A big thank you to the alumni that came early to help clean-up and to all the parents and high school players that stuck around to be part of the day.

Westby Game 4/03/08 L 6-13

Sparta opened up against Westby on Thursday evening here at Sparta. Sparta rallied from a 6-1 deficit to tie the score at 6 when Josh N. hit a two run homerun. Jared C. threw a good game for 4 innings before being relieved by Josh K. Walks in the fifth inning cost the Spartans 7 runs while making it difficult to get back in the game. The Spartans swung the bat well with 9 hits in the game. “We have a few bugs to get out on defense while working on our consistency to throw strikes when we need too. Overall, we hit the ball well and fought back from an early deficit.” – Coach Dodge

Up Coming Games

As of right now this is the game schedule for the week. This will be day to day depending how well our fields dry out.

Thursday at home against Westby is still on. (V and VR)

Thursday at Westby: Cancelled (JV)

Friday at Wisconsin Dells is still on. (V and VR)

Hopefully the warm weather dries out the fields and loosens up those old bones of the alumni before Saturday.

Varsity is ready to go and looking forward to getting started on the year.