A stellar season for the Tosa West boys baseball team came to end Monday afternoon in a tough 4-2 loss to Pius XI.
After a 23-4 season (13-3 Woodland West), the Trojans fell to conference and division rival Pius, a team West beat in back-to-back games May 28 and 29.
Those games were the season openers for the Popes, but they would lose only one more game all season and would enjoy an 18-game winning streak during it, coming into Monday's game at 23-3 (14-3 Woodland West).
Popes' pitcher Tim Sulik outdueled Tosa's Austin Jones for the sectional win, allowing only four hits in a game played on Brookfield Central's Lancers Field.
Jones pitched some strong innings himself, giving up only five hits, and his teammates on offense spotted him two runs in the top of the first inning. But that was all Tosa would get off of Sulik the rest of the afternoon, and Pius got both runs back in the bottom of the second.
Jones' difficulties multiplied by two in the bottom of the third, when a streak of wildness threatened to set Wauwatosa way back. After walking two and giving up a single, the bases were loaded with two out.
Jones walked in one run and uncorked a wild pitch to plate another before inducing a strikeout to end the inning.
Tosa's bats had gone quiet when Jones came up with one out in the fifth and did his best to help his own cause. He smacked a double off the centerfield fence, but the courtesy runner put in for him stayed stranded there on a short fly out and a groundout to short.
The Trojans found themselves again in danger of seeing the game get far out of hand after left fielder John Syburg lost a fly ball in the bright sun, giving Pius a man standing on third with one out.
After a failed attempt to catch that runner off with a throw to third on a grounder up the middle, there were base runners at first and third – and a stolen base promptly made it second and third.
Jones issued another walk to load the bases, but then settled back in and got a roller for the force at home and a pop-up to end the inning.
But Tosa couldn't put together a rally in the final frame, and the Trojans' great season came to an end while the Popes celebrated.
"We're very proud of our guys," said Tosa West Athletic Director Jeff Gabrielsen. "They played hard all year. It was unfortunate we had a couple mishaps, errors in the field, otherwise it was a pitchers' duel.
"They had a great year, tied for the conference championship, which is the first time in a long time, won both games last week and they played very well today.
"So from the school and athletic department standpoint, we are extremely proud of our guys."
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