Oconomowoc dealt Neosho a little bit of their own medicine with a 5-4 walk off win on Friday night. And this time it was for money. The Five Os advanced to the SWABA championship game Friday night on the left arm and keen eye of Matt Schref. They were matched up against Neosho, who they played nine days earlier in Tri County action and lost in extra innings. In that game, Oconomowoc scored 2 runs in the top of the 12th only to have Neosho score 4 runs in the bottom of the inning and take the win on a home run to left field.
In the bottom of the 9th inning (the game was a 7 inning game and went 2 extra innings), the bottom of the Five Os order rallied with 2 outs to score the winning run. Fresh out of retirement, Kevin Raasch stood on first base with two down. The ageless wonder Jeff Ranta then lined a single to left to put runners on first and second. Next up stepped Gunnar Kroseberg who was greeted to the plate with the first pitch in the back of his shoulder. This loaded the bases up for the pitcher Matt Schref. Matt beautifully worked a 3-1 count and then took a strike right down the middle. With a full count and the winning run on third with bases loaded, Neosho's pitcher could not find the zone and threw Matt ball four. The winning run was walked in and Schref had the complete game win and game winning RBI. "Going into extra innings, I didn't want to go with anyone else on the mound." Five Os manager Jeff Rhoads stated. "Matt was throwing good out there and changing pitchers would have taken a lot of guys out of their position on defense." After holding Neosho scoreless in the 9th, that was all Matt needed. "I was going to go the whole game, no matter how many innings it went. It doesn't matter what my pitch count would be." Schref said. The comment did not sit well with Matt's father/agent, but he was glad to see the win none the less.
The win advances Oconomowoc to the championship game which will be held next Friday at 8:30 pm in Hustisford against Brookfield. Brookfield beat Hustisford in their game to advance to the finals. Oconomowoc last won SWABA in 2003. Unlike all other SWABA games, the championship game will be 9 innings with no time limit. Champo baseballs will still be used.
The Os are now 21-7 overall and square up against Sussex in a key LOL match up on Saturday and then face North Lake on Sunday.
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