Baseball: Wausau West bats come alive in win at Wittenberg-Birnamwood.

After a 17-0 loss to Wisconsin Rapids on Thursday, the Wausau West baseball team was ready to turn the page and turn the calendar to May when they travelled to Wittenberg-Birnamwood on Friday to face the D-3 7th ranked Chargers. Turn the page the Warriors did as West started fast and finished early with an 11-1 win in 5 innings in a game that was broadcast live on the Wausau Area Sports YouTube channel.

West did all of their damage in the first three innings with 2 runs in the 1st, 4 more in the 2nd and a 5 run 3rd inning. The big sequence in the game came in the top of the 2nd when West got three straight two-out hits that drove in 4 runs and pushed the lead to 6-0. Ty Teske started that rush with a 2 run single. That was followed by an RBI double by Marshal Helke and an RBI single by Rohen Robbins. West sent 9 batters to the plate in the 2nd inning.

After Wittenberg-Birnamwood scored a run in the bottom of the 2nd on an RBI groundout by Eddie Nowinsky, West sent 10 batters to the plate in the 3rd and scored 5 more runs. Miles Waldvogel drilled a triple to the fence in right center to drive in 2 runs and make it 8-1. Teske then drove in his third run of the game on a double and it was 9-1. Helke then slammed a double of his own to drive in another run with Will Stengl finishing the scoring on an RBI single to finish the inning with an 11-1 Warrior lead.

Marshal Helke would make sure the 10 run rule went into effect by shutting down the usually hot hitting Chargers the rest of the way. Helke pitched the 5 inning complete game allowing just the 1 run on 5 hits with 3 strikeouts and just 1 walk. Helke also was the offensive standout in a game with many for West, going 3 for 3 with 3 doubles and 2 RBI. Teske was 2 for 2 with a walk and 3 RBI for the Warriors, who improve to 3-9 overall. The Chargers lost for only the third time in 15 games this season.

Wausau West returns to action on Tuesday at home vs. D.C. Everest. That game will again air live on the Wausau Area Sports YouTube channel starting with the pregame at 4:45 pm and first pitch set for 5 pm.