Posted: July 28, 2010 |(0) Comments

Nicolet — A major league draft choice of the Milwaukee Brewers and possessor of an 87-mile-an-hour fastball, Grafton pitcher Conor Fisk is obviously an athlete of some proportion.

And he demonstrated that on two occasions in the late innings of the Blackhawks' 1-0 WIAA sectional final upset of top-seeded Nicolet on Saturday in Cedarburg.

The first came in the bottom of the sixth, when Grafton was trying desperately to hold onto its lead. The Knights (25-12) loaded the bases with one out on an error, an infield single and a walk, but Fisk, who didn't allow the hard-hitting Nicolet squad an extra base hit all day, induced a hard chopper, which he leaped to field.

He immediately turned and fired to his catcher who quickly stepped on the plate for the force and then whipped the ball over to first for an electrifying inning-ending double play.

"In that situation, all I was trying to do was get out of that mess allowing one run or hopefully less," Fisk said. "I knew I had to get the job done. I was focused on strikeouts, but once I got that ball (on the chopper), I knew what to do with it."

And then he demonstrated his athleticism and stamina in a far more traditional way in the seventh, as already well north of 100 pitches on a hot and steamy day with just three days rest, he looked to close out the Knights quickly.

Fisk got two strikeouts to get a fast start on that idea, but then Nicolet's Joel Sharon caromed a hard hit ball off the Grafton shortstop's glove for a single and then Fisk hit leadoff hitter Brandon Zall with a pitch. Zall got on base three times this game for the Knights and stole two bases.

The Nicolet faithful at Cedarburg stirred as they smelled a rally and a berth in the state tournament.

But it was not to be, as Fisk battled back to strike out Rob Mayer looking for the final out as the Blackhawks (21-9) earned their first state tournament berth since 1983.

Nicolet coach Dick Sykes, whose team was looking for its first state slot since 2006, knew it would be a tough battle this day ever since Grafton coach Brian Durst rolled the dice and won Friday when he chose to start No. 2 two pitcher Dylan Mayer and not Fisk in the Blackhawks' 4-2 semifinal win over Brown Deer.

"All credit to them for that," Sykes said. "They're a whole different team when Fisk pitches. He limited our opportunities and made the big plays when we got men on base. All it would have taken is one guy and one hit to make it a whole different game, but he didn't allow it."

Or, as coach Ernie Millard of Nicolet rival Homestead said, "I wasn't sure about Conor Fisk going into this season, but he made a believer out of me."

Fisk finished with nine strikeouts, three walks and one hit batsmen. Nicolet had beaten Grafton twice during the regular season but had not faced Fisk. In the previous three years combined, Sykes said that the Knights had beaten him in four out of five games.

The hard-throwing right-hander entered the state tournament with a 10-1 record with 150 strikeouts and just 27 walks with an 0.87 ERA.

Grafton played state tournament favorite and North Shore Conference champion West Bend West (30-2) in a WIAA state quarterfinal at Bukolt Park in Stevens Point on Wednesday.

Fisk got the run he needed against Nicolet in the fourth on a short flare single by sophomore Robbie Doring, a sacrifice and a cue-ball of an infield single by C.J. Koehler that skittered off the glove of a Knights infielder and into short left. Doring had slid into third on the play but when he saw the ball go into the outfield, he quickly got up and raced home.

Nicolet actually outhit the Blackhawks, 4-3, as Knights pitcher Max Kramsky had arguably one of his best outings of the season with four strikeouts, four walks and one hit batsmen. He allowed only two harmless base runners in the final three innings.

The Knights also stymied Grafton twice in the early innings as second baseman Tyler Crass and the shortstop Zall combined on two pretty double plays.

"In a game like this, there's usually a lot of emotion," said Sykes. "We got a nice job out of our pitcher, but it just wasn't enough. ... I'm really happy for Brian (Durst). I know how many lumps he's taken over the last several years (with poor teams), but it's great that he now has this opportunity (state)."

Nicolet 11, Whitefish Bay 1

Though a large chunk of its school was still flooded, the Nicolet baseball team kept its eyes on the prize in the rain-delayed WIAA sectional at Cedarburg on Friday, as the Knights used Sam Kohnke's strong pitching and clutch two-run homer to overpower the Blue Dukes in a five-inning semifinal contest.

With the win, the Knights (25-11) advanced to the sectional final against Grafton.

Nicolet didn't have to display a lot of power in beating Bay on a humid, warm and blessedly sunny day, which was a huge relief to all the water-logged residents of the area, including those in Glendale. Nicolet High School was heavily flooded by the torrential rains July 22 and major damage is reported to the boys locker room and to the gym floor.

Despite that distraction, Nicolet took advantage of what Bay gave it, which meant six walks in a three-run second to make it 3-1 Nicolet and then two critical errors at the start of the third. Those miscues immediately preceded three, two-run singles in the next four at-bats for the Knights, as Joel Sharon, Rob Mayer and Brian Huntsinger all plated two runs apiece to make it 9-1 Nicolet.

That was all the Kohnke really needed, as he had a very good curveball working. He finished with nine strikeouts and three walks and allowed only three hits.

Kohnke then put the 10-run "mercy" rule into effect in the bottom of the fifth, when he launched a two-run homer to left. That dinger made up for an otherwise frustrating day at the plate for the senior, as he stranded six runners on base in three previous at-bats.

"They were talking about taking me out (of the game), so that's why I hit the homer," he laughed afterwards.

The win had big symbolic meaning to the Knights seniors as it got a bit of a monkey off their backs from last year, where they again entered sectional as the top seed, but lost to eventual state tournament participant Homestead in the semifinals.

"We were pointing to this (sectional), all year," Kohnke said. "Last year was bad news, so we were eager to get here and get the work done. Get all of this off our chest."

Sykes was appreciative of the Knights' smart approach at the plate.

"We could see that they (the three Blue Dukes pitchers) were having a hard time throwing strikes, so that gave us an opportunity to sit on a pitch," he said. "Something like that puts a lot of pressure on a young staff like theirs. And we have a good hitting lineup top-to-bottom. We really don't give you any relief."

Still, Blue Dukes coach Jay Wojcinski didn't want to use that as an excuse.

"When you walk guys, don't make the plays in the field and can't hit, it's a recipe for disaster," he said. 'We've done that off and on all season. Give credit to Nicolet though. Kohnke threw a good game and they otherwise did everything they needed to do to win today."

Bay had taken a short-lived second-inning lead, when Mike Leckie, who had singled, scored on a fielder's choice.