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The one word that best describes the Home Talent Baseball Western Section opening round of post season playoffs is "Upsets."
The two top seeded teams had their hopes for a championship series berth thwarted by lower seeds when Oregon shocked Verona 6-2 and Hollandale did the same to Argyle 9-8. That meant #8 seed beat #1 and #7 seed did likewise to #2.
In a milder version of the term "upset," #5 Dodgeville turned back #4 Wiota 9-5.
The final game of the post-season series had #3 Mount Horeb/Pine Bluff topping #6 Ridgeway 8-1.
That scenario scrambled the seeding for this week, giving MHPB and Dodgeville the top two seeds. MHPB entertains Oregon Sunday while Dodgeville hosts Hollandale.
The Knights-Rockies game will be the rubber match. The Knights won the first meeting of the two teams 1-0 while the Rockies prevailed 4-1 the second time the two teams faced each other.
Last Sunday Kyle Thompson went the distance in a 10-strikeout complete game for the Rockies win. He also was 2x5 at the plate.
Alex Schauff was 3x5 for the Rockies while Logan Benish was 2x4 and Michael Nolden 2x5.
At Wiota the Knights got the pitching they needed from Nic Pierick and Kyle Nelson and survived a Wiota rally to take control and pick up the win.
Pierick worked 5 2/3 and left with the game tied at five but Nelson ended the three run sixth with a strikeout and went on to pitch shutout ball the rest of the way to earn the win.
Pierick fanned seven, walked two and gave up six hits. Two of the five runs he surrendered were earned.
Nelson struck out four, walked one and gave up one hit in his 3 1/3 innings.
Kellen Murphy led off the game for the Knights with a double, took third on Mark Ludwig's bunt and scored on a double to the gap by Ian Streeter.
Wiota tied it in the second when Rooney Janecke singled, took second on a passed ball and scored on a ground out by Jay Haldiman.
The Knights went up 4-1 in the third. Tony DeMuth singled to open the frame and Murphy coaxed a walk. Ludwig gained life on an error which scored a run then Streeter singled for a run before Jay Lindner bunted towards first to score Ludwig.
The Knights added a run in the fourth when DeMuth reached on an error and scored after Ludwig singled to move him into scoring position and Streeter followed with an rbi single.
Wiota got a run back in the fourth when Brad Schliem walked and scored on a single by Casey Schroeder.
They tied it in the sixth after a Knights error opened the frame. The runs scored on a ground out, a double by Schroeder and a single by Jay Haldiman.
While Nelson was closing the door the Knights got the lead back with a run in the seventh then added three more in the eighth to nail down the win.
Lindner walked to open the seventh, Tanner Solberg advanced him with a bunt and Kristian Haag scored him with a double, his second of the game.
With one out in the eighth Ludwig singled, Streeter walked and Lindner came through with an rbi single. Solberg then greeted his cousin, Jeff, who was on the mound in relief, with a single up the middle to send in courtesy runner Bobby Noland and Lindner, making it 9-5.
Nelson then ended it in the bottom of the ninth with two strikeouts, a walk and a fielders choice.
Streeter was 3x4 for the Knights while Haag had two doubles in four trips. Designated hitter Brandon Weier and Ludwig were both 2x5. Murphy had a double while Lindner, Solberg and DeMuth all had a single.
Sunday's semi-final games have a 1 p.m. start.