Posted: July 24, 2010 |(0) Comments

Brookfield Central senior pitcher Mike Mierow sat on the ground by the mound with his head in his hands as the Menomonee Falls team piled on senior Ryan Romens between first and second base, celebrating their 1-0 WIAA sectional semifinal win over the Lancers in the bottom of the seventh Saturday.

Just minutes earlier, Mierow had struck out the first two Indians batters and it looked like the scoreless game would go into extra innings.

But Falls' designated hitter A.D. Gonzales hit a high fastball down the right-field line for a double and then leadoff hitter Romens hit a ball down the left-field line that sliced away from Central's Jack Lawton and allowed Gonzales to score the game-winning run.

"The ball was kind of skewed off the handle of the left-handed hitter," Central coach Jeff Bigler said. "With the wind going that way and the ball obviously tailing that way off a left-handed stick, it just kept riding away from Lawton and fell a couple feet in fair ground."

Longtime rivalry

The hit ended an outstanding pitcher's duel between Mierow and Falls' ace Adam Rubatt, two athletes who have been battling each other since they were 10 years old.

"When we were at the Brookfield Bulldogs, every big game, every semifinal or championship, we would face each other," Mierow recalled. "We probably split the series in the end. It's a lot of fun to play against those guys."

Rubatt knew there wouldn't be a lot of hitting when the two pitchers hooked up.

"It was scary the whole time," he said. "I had pitched against him since I was 10. We've been playing together (for a long time, so) I knew it was going to be close. He pitched a really good game and we ended up coming out with the win."

Rubatt allowed five hits and two walks, and fanned 10, while Mierow allowed six hits and didn't walk a man, while fanning six hitters.

"Adam has been clutch for us throughout (the season)," Falls coach Pat Hansen said. "(In) the conference tournament he had two wins and a save in the three games, and now he comes out here and does the same thing. He's a senior. He's been there, done it."

Bigler knew that it was not going to be a good day for the hitters.

"It was a battle. The winds were gusting in about 15-20 miles per hour and you knew it wasn't going to be easy with those guys," he said. "They didn't give the hitters anything. They really battled. It was a good baseball game."

In 'til the end

Mierow did not plan on being taken out of the game and the coaching staff agreed with him.

"I did not want to come out of there, even if we were going to go extras," he said. "I wanted that ball in my hands. I've never been past this point (sectional semifinals)."

Bigler agreed with him.

"I told the other coaches before the seventh inning, he's going 10, if we need him," he said.

Mierow had to work out of four jams, but came out untouched until the final inning.

Cole Myhra's leadoff double in the second was the Indians' first threat. After a sacrifice moved him to third, shortstop Danny Barwick made two excellence defensive plays to leave Myhra stranded.

Drew Menne led off the next inning with a grounder that hit the third-base bag, but a 6-4 fielder's choice and two groundouts to first baseman Zach Teuscher ended the inning.

In the fourth, Rubatt singled to right field and Myhra grounded out to second baseman Billy Calawerts, but his high throw to Barwick covering second allowed Rubatt to reach.

After both runners were sacrificed up, Mierow fanned the next two hitters to get out of the inning.

Third baseman Aaron Cain's throwing error put on a Falls' leadoff hitter for the fourth straight inning in the fifth. After a sacrifice, Mierow got out of the inning with a groundout and a strikeout.

Central helped Rubatt out of two jams in the first and seventh innings when they put runners on with no outs and each time Rubatt picked off the runners, who were retired at second on good throws by first baseman Joe Sanicola to shortstop Ryan Furrer.

The Lancers also lost with two outs and nobody on base to Brookfield East last season in the sectional semifinal and Bigler recalled the moment when he walked off toward the bus afterward.

"I'm sick and tired walking off the field in the bottom of the seventh when you have two outs and no one on two years in a row," he said.

→ See photos from the game on Page 29.