Local baseball

Kiwanis' defense shines again

Thursday, June 7, 2007 2:16 AM CDT

Journal Times staff

Racine Kiwanis coach Jack Schiestle knows it won't last forever, but he would love it if his team's defense could keep this up.

The Kiwanis went errorless for the second straight game and parlayed eight singles and three West Allis White Sox errors into five runs in Racine's 5-4 victory over the White Sox Tuesday night at Horlick Field in its Langsdorf League opener.

The Kiwanis (2-0) scored all five of their runs in the first five innings and held off a White Sox rally.

One of the keys to the game was defense. The infield of first baseman Johann Andes, second baseman Eric Lehner, shortstop Mikole Pierce and third baseman Michael Pena played flawlessly again.

"The kids are really playing exceptional baseball," Schiestle said. "The White Sox won the (Land O' Lakes League) championship and they're a very good team."

Andes and Michael Anchondo each had two hits for the Kiwanis.

Mike Jacobson (1-0) started on the mound and gave way to James Ricchio after six innings.

RAPTORS: Jake Lueneburg hit a two-run triple in the seventh and Aaron Cikel went 3-for-5, including a two-run single in the first inning Tuesday to lead the Racine Raptors to a 12-2 victory over the Wind Lake Monsters in a Junior Legion game at Wind Lake.

It was the season opener for the U16 Raptors, who are part of the Racine Baseball Cooperative.

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