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The stakes weren’t as high for the Bay Port baseball team against Sheboygan North on May 19 as they will be in tournament play, but Pirates coach Harvey Knutson got another peek at how his group deals with pressure.
Bay Port, which has clinched the Fox River Classic Conference title in dominant fashion, was down 3-0 after a half inning against a Golden Raiders team it beat by 10 runs last month.
A leadoff double. A single. An RBI double. An error that helped score two more runs.
This did not look like a team that’s one of the favorites to reach the WIAA state tournament and hasn’t lost in a month.
The Pirates flexed enough muscle to come back and win 5-4, thanks to a game-tying two-run homer deep to center by Artie Adams on a 2-1 pitch in the sixth inning and a game-winning homer to right from Eli Hart with one out in the seventh.
A junior and sophomore helped make the Senior Night banquet following the game a lot more enjoyable for their veteran teammates.
“I always joke with the team that I will always take a one-run game where every little spot in the game matters and you have to be on point and playing good competition,” Knutson said. “Pulling out a game like that, I will take that over a blowout any day.
“But, then, I always say, I think you guys know that’s BS. I’d rather just get eight or 10 quick runs and be comfortable through the game. But in the big picture, a game like that, being tested, having to stay in the game, that has been what these boys have done all season. If you get down, and maybe the other team is outplaying you or the ball is not bouncing your way, that you still stay in it and fight and just keep the fire going. Hopefully, something happens. That’s what happened.”
Bay Port enters a game at West De Pere on May 22 putting together one of the best seasons in FRCC history since the league’s first year in 2008.
The Pirates held at least a six-game lead over the other nine teams in the conference with two contests remaining.
There have been only three previous instances in which an FRCC team won conference by five or more games.
Bay Port won by five in 2013 and six in 2015, while Green Bay Preble won by six in 2018.
That Hornets team, along with the Pirates’ 2013 squad, are the only two to go undefeated in league play.
Bay Port was supposed to be good this season, but it’s difficult to predict going 21-2 out of the gate and having the seventh best run differential of any Division 1 team in the state.
The players projected to do well have done so, while many of the unproven but talented ones are playing to their potential.
“I would say I wouldn’t have necessarily expected 21-2, and we haven’t lost a game in conference yet against pretty good teams,” Knutson said. “I guess I didn’t think we’d kind of roll through things the way we have been. … I thought this group was going to be good. They have all responded well. Just kind of really deep and have quite a few players you can plug in there. We are getting the same results from them.”
The Pirates often have some of the top pitchers in the conference.
The rotation featured Cole Bensen and Craig Kabat in 2022. The following season was future LSU left-hander Ethan Plog, before Plog and Kabat were both dominant as seniors in 2024. It had Parker Lawson and Keagan Wheeler last season.
The offense?
That’s been hit and miss in recent years, and often more on the miss side.
Not this year.
Bay Port has scored five or more runs 14 times entering its game against the Phantoms, including 10 or more eight times.
Six regulars in the lineup are hitting .333 or better, including a trio in Ethan Orlando (.433), Cayden Heier (.418) and Hart (.406) who are hitting over .400.
Nobody with more than 50 plate appearances last season hit better than .279.
Bay Port had three home runs in 2025 and hit .237 as a team. It has 24 home runs this season and is hitting .336 with a 1.036 OPS.
Adams leads the Pirates with seven homers and 25 RBI. Carson Hawley has four home runs, 23 RBI and 20 runs scored.
Orlando has four homers, a team-high 1.321 OPS and is tied with Hart with a team-high three triples. Hart leads the team with nine doubles, 27 runs and .558 on-base percentage.
Tommy Berg has a team-high 10 stolen bases.
There is so much explosiveness everywhere in the lineup.
“It’s been that all year,” Knutson said. “We are pretty strong in the pitching department every year, and then when you can put some offense into the game as well, that has a lot to do with our success.
“You can win a lot of baseball games with pitching and defense and finding a way to score a couple runs, but this year we have found ways to score a lot of runs. Whether you need them all to win a game, or just to give you that cushion to make the game go a little smoother and take a lot of pressure off the pitching and defense, is nice.”
Just like the comeback against North, not every game is a blowout.
Bay Port beat Green Bay Notre Dame 3-2 in eight innings and played two-run games against De Pere, West Pere, Fond du Lac and Manitowoc.
But it almost always has found a way to win. Its only loss to a team from the state came in a 13-3 defeat at Kaukauna, although it has responded with a 13-game winning streak.
The pitching also has been good again with Lawson leading the way.
The senior right-hander is 7-1 with a 0.56 earned-run average, striking out 61 in 50 innings.
Quinn Boeckman is 5-1 with a 3.17 ERA in 35⅓ innings and has struck out 37, while Searin Mueller has 27 strikeouts in 19⅔ innings, Hawley 35 strikeouts in 17⅔ innings and Parker Broehm 34 in 17 frames.
The Pirates have gone from No. 14 in the Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association state rankings to start the season to No. 2 behind only Germantown.
Knutson believes Bay Port’s sectional, which features several ranked teams, is the most difficult in the state.
Not only does the bracket have most of the other FRCC teams including No. 12 De Pere, it also has No. 5 Kimberly, No. 13 Hortonville and No. 17 Kaukauna along with an Appleton North squad that only recently fell out of the rankings.
Bay Port is hoping to make state for the 15th time in program history and the first since back-to-back D1 runner-up finishes in 2021 and 2022.
Its 14 trips to the big stage easily are the most by any local school, ahead of the six from Sevastopol and the five each by Preble, De Pere, West De Pere, Denmark, Oconto and Shawano.
“There isn’t any easy game in this sectional,” Knutson said. “I just think there are so many good teams from the top to bottom, not just the few at the top of rankings right now. It’s a tough sectional.”
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Bay Port baseball hopes dominant season leads to tournament success
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Bay Port, which has clinched the Fox River Classic Conference title in dominant fashion, was down 3-0 after a half inning against a Golden Raiders team it beat by 10 runs last month.
A leadoff double. A single. An RBI double. An error that helped score two more runs.
This did not look like a team that’s one of the favorites to reach the WIAA state tournament and hasn’t lost in a month.
The Pirates flexed enough muscle to come back and win 5-4, thanks to a game-tying two-run homer deep to center by Artie Adams on a 2-1 pitch in the sixth inning and a game-winning homer to right from Eli Hart with one out in the seventh.
A junior and sophomore helped make the Senior Night banquet following the game a lot more enjoyable for their veteran teammates.
“I always joke with the team that I will always take a one-run game where every little spot in the game matters and you have to be on point and playing good competition,” Knutson said. “Pulling out a game like that, I will take that over a blowout any day.
“But, then, I always say, I think you guys know that’s BS. I’d rather just get eight or 10 quick runs and be comfortable through the game. But in the big picture, a game like that, being tested, having to stay in the game, that has been what these boys have done all season. If you get down, and maybe the other team is outplaying you or the ball is not bouncing your way, that you still stay in it and fight and just keep the fire going. Hopefully, something happens. That’s what happened.”
Bay Port enters a game at West De Pere on May 22 putting together one of the best seasons in FRCC history since the league’s first year in 2008.
The Pirates held at least a six-game lead over the other nine teams in the conference with two contests remaining.
There have been only three previous instances in which an FRCC team won conference by five or more games.
Bay Port won by five in 2013 and six in 2015, while Green Bay Preble won by six in 2018.
That Hornets team, along with the Pirates’ 2013 squad, are the only two to go undefeated in league play.
Bay Port was supposed to be good this season, but it’s difficult to predict going 21-2 out of the gate and having the seventh best run differential of any Division 1 team in the state.
The players projected to do well have done so, while many of the unproven but talented ones are playing to their potential.
“I would say I wouldn’t have necessarily expected 21-2, and we haven’t lost a game in conference yet against pretty good teams,” Knutson said. “I guess I didn’t think we’d kind of roll through things the way we have been. … I thought this group was going to be good. They have all responded well. Just kind of really deep and have quite a few players you can plug in there. We are getting the same results from them.”
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Bay Port’s offense breaks out in 2026
The Pirates often have some of the top pitchers in the conference.
The rotation featured Cole Bensen and Craig Kabat in 2022. The following season was future LSU left-hander Ethan Plog, before Plog and Kabat were both dominant as seniors in 2024. It had Parker Lawson and Keagan Wheeler last season.
The offense?
That’s been hit and miss in recent years, and often more on the miss side.
Not this year.
Bay Port has scored five or more runs 14 times entering its game against the Phantoms, including 10 or more eight times.
Six regulars in the lineup are hitting .333 or better, including a trio in Ethan Orlando (.433), Cayden Heier (.418) and Hart (.406) who are hitting over .400.
Nobody with more than 50 plate appearances last season hit better than .279.
Bay Port had three home runs in 2025 and hit .237 as a team. It has 24 home runs this season and is hitting .336 with a 1.036 OPS.
Adams leads the Pirates with seven homers and 25 RBI. Carson Hawley has four home runs, 23 RBI and 20 runs scored.
Orlando has four homers, a team-high 1.321 OPS and is tied with Hart with a team-high three triples. Hart leads the team with nine doubles, 27 runs and .558 on-base percentage.
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Tommy Berg has a team-high 10 stolen bases.
There is so much explosiveness everywhere in the lineup.
“It’s been that all year,” Knutson said. “We are pretty strong in the pitching department every year, and then when you can put some offense into the game as well, that has a lot to do with our success.
“You can win a lot of baseball games with pitching and defense and finding a way to score a couple runs, but this year we have found ways to score a lot of runs. Whether you need them all to win a game, or just to give you that cushion to make the game go a little smoother and take a lot of pressure off the pitching and defense, is nice.”
Just like the comeback against North, not every game is a blowout.
Bay Port beat Green Bay Notre Dame 3-2 in eight innings and played two-run games against De Pere, West Pere, Fond du Lac and Manitowoc.
But it almost always has found a way to win. Its only loss to a team from the state came in a 13-3 defeat at Kaukauna, although it has responded with a 13-game winning streak.
The pitching also has been good again with Lawson leading the way.
The senior right-hander is 7-1 with a 0.56 earned-run average, striking out 61 in 50 innings.
Quinn Boeckman is 5-1 with a 3.17 ERA in 35⅓ innings and has struck out 37, while Searin Mueller has 27 strikeouts in 19⅔ innings, Hawley 35 strikeouts in 17⅔ innings and Parker Broehm 34 in 17 frames.
Bay Port hoping for run through sectionals
The Pirates have gone from No. 14 in the Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association state rankings to start the season to No. 2 behind only Germantown.
Knutson believes Bay Port’s sectional, which features several ranked teams, is the most difficult in the state.
Not only does the bracket have most of the other FRCC teams including No. 12 De Pere, it also has No. 5 Kimberly, No. 13 Hortonville and No. 17 Kaukauna along with an Appleton North squad that only recently fell out of the rankings.
Bay Port is hoping to make state for the 15th time in program history and the first since back-to-back D1 runner-up finishes in 2021 and 2022.
Its 14 trips to the big stage easily are the most by any local school, ahead of the six from Sevastopol and the five each by Preble, De Pere, West De Pere, Denmark, Oconto and Shawano.
“There isn’t any easy game in this sectional,” Knutson said. “I just think there are so many good teams from the top to bottom, not just the few at the top of rankings right now. It’s a tough sectional.”
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Bay Port baseball hopes dominant season leads to tournament success
Continue reading...
