Brookfield Central edges No. 22 Tosa East in a narrow pitcher's duel

WAUWATOSA , Wis. – Wauwatosa East’s sophomore southpaw Cal Dobbe and Brookfield Central’s junior right-hander Mitch Mueller were locked in a full-blown pitcher’s duel on Monday afternoon. The two combined to limit both offenses to just three hits and tallied 17 total punch-outs, but a heads-up play on an error in the fifth frame was the difference on the scoreboard, ultimately.

Both Dobbe and Mueller zoomed through the first four innings, allowing just one baserunner each. Dobbe struck out six batters through those four frames and limited Central to just one baserunner on a walk, but in the fifth, he allowed his first and only hit on a sharply hit groundball through the right side of the infield. The Lancers’ Luke Schmidt was responsible for that one-out base hit and he was forced out at second base on a fielder’s choice. With two outs and Sam Kyte at first, he stole second which turned out to be a critical play in the ballgame. Pinch-hitter Connor Shady grounded a ball to third base and an errant throw forced East’s first baseman Parker Esswein to lunge off the bag to make the catch, but Kyte never stopped motoring and he sprinted home on the play and slid in safely to score the game’s first run.

Meanwhile, Mueller continued coasting. Like Dobbe, he found himself in trouble in the fifth frame but he was able to lean on his lively fastball to get out of hot water. He K’d seven batters through the first four frames but in the fifth, he allowed the game’s only extra base hit, a one-out double off the bat of Caden Crawley. A wild pitch and his only walk put runners on first and third, but Mueller reared back and earned two strikeouts to halt East’s threat.

Dobbe pitched over a minor threat in the sixth and set the Lancers down in order in the seventh to give the Red Raiders three outs to rally from the slim 1-0 deficit.

But it wasn’t meant to be on this day. After a quick groundout, Mueller hit a batter but quickly struck out one and, after a lengthy battle with counterpart Dobbe in the batter’s box, earned a lazy fly out to center secure both his team’s win and the complete game shutout.

For the Red Raiders, it’s their fifth loss of the spring and they’re now 13-5, 11-4 inside the Greater Metro Conference trailing Menomonee Falls by two games in the loss column. The conference title might be out of the Lancers’ reach, but they’re still clawing their way to the postseason. Central’s 9-8 overall now and have a busy couple weeks ahead.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

+ RHP Mitch Mueller, Brookfield Central: 7 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 10 K
+ LHP Cal Dobbe, Wauwatosa East: 7 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 R (unearned), 7 K
+ C Caden Crawley, Wauwatosa East: 1-for-3, 2B

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