The Blacksox traveled to Rubicon on Sunday to play an elimination game and came out on the wrong end of a 5-1 final score.

The Redsox jumped on top right away in the bottom of the first inning, scoring 3 runs on 4 hits and a Blacksox error. The Tavern would strike back in the 3^rd inning scoring a run when Scott Dybevik led off the inning with a single, stole a base and Casey Powell eventually drove him in with a 2 out hit.

Rubicon would answer in the bottom of the inning adding another run to go up 4-1. Matt Krueger relieved starter Chris Simonson in the bottom of the sixth after Rubicon added their 5^th run of the game. Krueger provided the Tavern with solid relief, pitching 2-2/3 scoreless innings and striking out 5, but the offense was not able produce.

The Blacksox did threaten in the top of the 8th with two outs but after Bill Schmelzer’s singled and Mike Flood’s double, the rally would end on an inning ending pop-up.

The Tavern would end up with 7 hits on the afternoon with Andy Elskamp leading the way going 2x4.

The loss brought an end to the Blacksox 2006 season, as they finished with a combined record of 29-17.

The Blacksox continued second round play in the playoffs with a rematch at Brownsville on Saturday afternoon. The Tavern was handed their first loss 3-0 and fell to 2-1 in the double elimination tournament. Brownsville’s starting pitcher Tyler Witkowski, limited the offense to only 3 hits on the afternoon while striking out 5.

The Blacksox did threaten in the 3^rd inning with a runner on third with one out but Scott Dybevik was thrown out at the plate from right field to end the inning.

Starting pitcher Casey Powell allowed only 5 hits over 6 innings but gave up 4 of them in one inning as Brownsville jumped out to a 2-0 lead. Brownsville turned double plays in the 7sup>th and 9sup>th innings to prevent any comeback by the Blacksox.

The Blacksox capped off a successful weekend by upending #2 seed Brownsville , 5-2 at MATC on Sunday. Chris Simonson took the victory in a complete game performance giving up 6 hits, striking out 5 and walking none on the afternoon.

After trailing 1-0 the Laurel would in the bottom of the second, the Laurel would tie score 1-1 on a balk by Brownsville starting pitcher Josh Stoffel. Again trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the 4^th, Alan Myrold hit an RBI two out double to bring LT back to even at 2-2.

The Blacksox would then take the lead in the bottom of 5^th after Myrold drove in another RBI on a single, and a fielding error by Brownsville's second baseman allowed the 4^th run to come in.  Andy Elskamp drove in an insurance run in the bottom of the 7^th increasing the score to 5-2. 

Simonson would retire the last 9 hitters in order to preserve the win and put the Laurel Tavern at 2-0 in the double elimination tournament.

The Blacksox will travel to Brownsville this Saturday 1:30pm to play them in a second round battle.  They will then travel to Rubicon on Sunday game time at 1:30pm.

The Laurel Tavern traveled to Rubicon to play the #1 seed in the North Division , and came away with a 2-1 victory in a pitchers duel on a rainy afternoon.

Starter Matt Krueger allowed only one hit in 4-1/3 innings before getting knocked out of the game by a line drive. Rick Wuebben came in and scattered 4 hits the rest of the day and giving up the only run by Rubicon.

Andy Elskamp got the Tavern on the board first with a lead off HR in the 2^nd. Bill Schmelzer scored in the 8^th inning on a 2 out error by Rubicon's shortstop, increasing the Blacksox lead to 2-0. Rubicon would answer in the bottom of the 8^th on a sacrifice fly cutting the lead in half. Rick Wubben would retire the top three hitters for Rubicon in the bottom of the 9^th to seal the victory.

Each team ended with 5 hits apiece and made outstanding plays on defense. The Laurel was led by Schmelzer who was 2x4 with a double.

The Blacksox squared off against the Madison Senators with the rights to the 4^th seed in the weekends Rock Playoffs.

The Tavern took adominating 11-1 win victory behind the strong pitching of starter Casey Powell and reliever Matt Krueger. The two pitchers combined to allow only 4 hits on the evening. The offense broke out with 20 hits and tallying 6 runs in the first 3 innings.

Mike Flood led all hitters by going 5x5 and Scott Dybevik also chipped in with 4 hits and 3 runs. Andy Elskamp was 2x3 with a 2 run HR. The Tavern will face Rubicon on Saturday and Home against Brownsville on Sunday in the first round.

The Blacksox took a big playoff hit on Sunday losing to Ashippun 7-4. A victory by the Tavern would of automatically put them into the playoffs on Aug. 26 and 27^th.

After leading 3-1 in the bottom of the 5^th the Mudcats rallied to score 5 runs and take the lead. The Blacksox were only able to muster one more run on the afternoon despite ending up with 13 hits compared to Ashippuns' 8 total hits.

The Blacksox will be playing a playoff game against the Madison Senators on Tuesday night Aug. 22 @ MATC with the first pitch starting at 7:30 pm. The winner of the game will be the 4^th seed in the South Division for the upcoming Rock River playoffs. The winner will play at Rubicon on Saturday and will host Brownsville on the following day. Both games will start at 1:30.

The Blacksox took a 3-2 victory over cross town rivals Madison Shoebox in a hot afternoon game.

The Shoebox tallied one run in the top of the first on a 2 out RBI single by Jon Niebuhr. After trailing 2-0, the Blacksox rallied in the bottom of the fourth by scoring 3 unearned runs off Shoebox starter Mark Belcastro.With two outs, Bill Ellingson came around to score form second on a throwing error by the Shoebox shortstop.

Following a walk, Shawn Killebrew and Paul Patten had consecutive RBI hits to give the Tavern the lead and eventually final score. Starter Rick Wuebben, who would end up with the win, and Chris Simonson combined to only allow one hit after the 4^th while striking out a total of 9 batters and scattering 6 total hits. The offense only mustered together a total of six hits on the afternoon.

The Laurel Tavern will travel to Watertown this Saturday 8-5-06 for a 1:30 make-up game from the May 14 rainout.

The Blacksox got back in the win column with a 4-2 victory over the visiting Johnson Creek Pioneers at MATC on Sunday.

Creek jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a 2 out hit in the first inning by Dan Corrie. After extending their lead to 2-0, the Blacksox cut the lead in half with a RBI single by Casey Powell in the bottom of the 5^th. The score would remain that way until the bottom of the 8^th when the Blacksox started of the inning by loading the bases with three consecutive hits. A run scoring single by Shawn Killebrew, followed up with a walk by Andy Elskamp and a sacrifice fly by Scott Dybevik put the Tavern out ahead for good.

Matt Kruger, who relieved starter Chris Simonson in the 7^th, pitched a scoreless 9^th inning for the victory. Simonson ended up with 6 strikeouts on the afternoon while surrendering no walks and giving up 5 hits.

The top five hitters for the Laurel combined for 9 of their 12 hits and shortstop Paul Patten also chipped in with 2 hits on the afternoon.

The Blacksox continued Rock River play on Sunday as they fell 6-5 in 12 innings against visiting Juneau on a hot afternoon.

Juneau jumped out ahead in the first scoring 4 runs on 2 hits. The inning was helped out by 2 errors, a flagrant bean-ball by Laurel starter Rick Wuebben and a 2RBI double by Juneau's Troy Osmus. Wuebben pitched a solid game they rest of the way only scattering 5 more hits and giving up one more run in the sixth and eventually coming out with one out in the 9th.

The Blacksox would chip away in the game scoring runs in the 2^nd, 4^th and eventually tying the game in the 5^th on a perfectly executed suicide squeeze by Paul Patten. After trading runs in the 6^th the scored remained tied going into extra innings.

The Tavern had a chance in the bottom of the 10^th with runners on first and second and one out, Mike Flood hit a scorching liner up the box which was somehow picked by the pitcher who then doubled off the runner on second base. In the top of the 12^th, Juneau catcher Kevin Schultz hit a lead off homerun off reliever Casey Powell which would prove to be the winning run.

The offense pounded out 13 hits and were lead by Eric Bennett who was 4x6, Andy Elskamp (2x5) and Bill Schmelzer (3x6). Powell and Wubeen both ended up with 5 strikeouts on the afternoon and the defense ended up with 4 errors.

The Tavern took on the Menasha Macs in the 1^st round of the NBC Tournament @ Middleton and came up empty with a 3-0 loss in a 7 inning game.

The Macs jumped ahead in the first by scoring three runs on four hits off starter Matt Krueger. All of the runs were scored after 2 outs in the inning capped off by Matt Andrews 2 RBI triple. Kruger settled down after the first inning shut down the Macs the rest of the afternoon, by striking out 10 and giving up only 3 more hits.

The offense was kept in check by Menasha starter Cal Stanke, managing only four hits on the afternoon, two of them by Bill Ellingson.

The Laurel Tavern took on Neosho Sunday and came away with an 8-3 victory to end a two game losing streak in the Rock.

Matt Krueger pitched a complete game victory giving up 5 hits, striking out 15 and allowing only one earned run in a dominate outing. The Laurel jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first by getting an RBI double from Flood and an RBI single from Killebrew. The Tavern would score 3 more in the 2^nd and 2 in the 3^rd to go up 7-2. After closing the gap to 7-3 after four innings, Neosho would get no closer as Krueger and the defense locked up Neosho for the rest of the game. The Tavern ended up with 10 hits on the afternoon paced by Shawn Killebrew who was 2x4 including a solo HR in the third.

Ellingson, Flood and Andy Elskamp also had two hits apiece.

The Tavern dropped their second straight game on Sunday falling to Watertown at home 9-6 in 11 innings.

After trailing 3-1, the Cardinals rallied to take a 6-3 lead by knocking 5 consecutive hits and getting one fielding error but the Tavern. After knocking starter Rick Wuebben out the game, Kevin Mathews pitched 2 solid innings of relief to keep the Blacksox in the game. The Tavern rallied to score 3 runs in the bottom of the 9^th inning to send it into extra innings.

After getting consecutive singles by Powell and Ellingson, and a run scoring error by Watertown, Jim Wilson drove in two runs on an infield hit to tie the game at 6-6. With Casey Powell pitching in relief in the top of the 11^th, Watertown had runners on 2^nd and 3^rd with two outs. After two consecutive errors by the Blacksox defense, followed up by another run scoring single, the Cardinals were able to push across 3 runs to go up 9-6 and eventually finish with that score.

The Blacksox offense pounded out 14 hits on the afternoon and was lead by Wilson and Powell who each had 3 apiece. Watertown ended up with 15 hits.

The Tavern lost to in town rivals Madison Senators on Saturday falling 2-1 in Utica.

Matt Krueger pitched a complete game in the loss, throwing a 5 hitter and surrendering only 1 earned run. After falling behind 2-0 in the bottom of the 4^th, the Blacksox were able to push across one run in the 8^th on a sacrifice fly by Tyler Yapp.

Senator's pitcher Mike Finnegan limited the squad to 8 hits while striking out 8 in a complete game effort. Shawn Killebrew, Yapp and Bill Schmelzer each had 2 hits a piece on the day.

The Laurel bounced back on Saturday with a 1-0 win in a Rock River League game in Madison.

Rick Wuebben pitched 9 strong shutout innings, giving up only 3 hits and striking out 7. The Blacksox didn't allow a runner to reach second base. The offense was sluggish on the afternoon, stranding 11 base runners including two in the first and three in both the 6^th and the 7^th innings. The winning run came in the bottom of the 9^th as Jim Wilson drove in Bryan Zimmer with an rbi single with two outs.

Casey Powell lead the offense with 3 base hits and Eric Bennett and Alan Myrold also chipped in 2 hits a piece. Pardeeville's starting pitcher, Jason Nelson took the loss after throwing a complete game and striking out 10.

The Tavern lost a first round battle in the SWABA tourney on Friday night dropping a 11-8 extra inning decision to rival Clyman in Hustiford.

Starting pitcher Chris Simonson took a 6-4 lead into the top of the 7^th inning and left with two runners on and nobody out. Reliever Casey Powell came in to close out the game but after a costly error, a walk and two singles the Canners were able to push across 4 runs to take a 8-6 lead.

The Blacksox battled back in the bottom of the inning, after loading the bases with one out, Mike Flood drove in two runs with a base hit down the line to push the game to extra frames. Clyman scored 3 runs in the top of the 9^th aided by a couple of walks, an error and a couple of singles.

The Tavern was unable to mount a comeback again in the bottom of the inning. The Blacksox offensive attack was lead by Powell who was 4x5 on the day with 2 doubles and Mike Flood who was 2x4 with 5 RBIs. Scott Dybevik added a solo homerun in the bottom of the second inning to tie the game at 3-3.

The Tavern squared off with the Clyman Canners on Saturday with first place in the Rock on the line, and came out on the wrong side of a 12-5 score.

Clyman jumped out on top in the first with 2 runs and would never trail the rest of the day. Mike Flood did cut the lead to 2-1 in the top of the 2^nd with a solo homerun, but that as close as the Blacksox would get. Clyman pounded out a total of 17 hits, while the Tavern did not help their chances by committing 5 errors.

The Blacksox end up with 10 hits, lead by Flood who was 3x4 with 2 doubles and Casey Powell who was 2x5.  The Tavern ended up with a total of 7 extra basehits.

The Tavern remained undefeated in Rock play as they blanked the Ashippun Mudcats 3-0 on Friday night.

Chris Simonson pitched a complete game shutout, surrendering only 2 hits, striking out 13 and walking none. The offense combined for 10 hits led by Bill Schmelzer and Tyler Yapp who had two hits a piece. Mike Zuehlke drove in the first run of the game in the bottom of the second with a two out single, scoring Schmelzer. The Tavern then added two more to their total in the seventh with consecutive extra base hits by Shawn Killebrew, Mike Flood and Yapp all with two outs.

The Tavern remained undefeated in Rock play as they blanked the Ashippun Mudcats 3-0 on Friday night.

The Tavern edged home town rivals Madison Senators, 1-0 on Sunday afternoon to stay undefeated in league play.

In a pitching duel, Rick Wuebben and Chris Simonson combined to scatter 4 hits with no walks in the shutout. They allowed only two runners to get to second base. The offense only managed to get 6 hits in the win, but a clutch hit is all they would eventually need.

Bill Schmelzer had a two out rbi single in the bottom of the sixth inning driving in Casey Powell for the eventual winning run.

The Tavern remained undefeated in the Rock River play with a 9-3 win over the Madison Shoebox on Sunday afternoon.

Matt Krueger pitched 7 solid innings of 1 hit ball allowing just 2 runs. The offense pounded out 14 hits, including a pair of two run homers, one each from Shawn Killebrew and Paul Patten. Eric Bennett lead the attack by going 3 for 4 and knocking in 2 RBIs. Bill Schmelzer and Bill Ellingson added 2 hits.

The Blacksox escaped Johnson Creek with a win.

On a scalding summer day, the Blacksox were forced to comeback and score 2 runs with 2 outs in the top of the ninth to hang on for a much needed win on the road at Johnson Creek.

An effective performance on the mound by Rick Wuebben and some impressive ninth inning heroics by Shawn Killebrew and Brian Zimmer helped the Blacksox come out on top.

Blacksox blank Juneau 6-0.

Despite leaving 14 runners stranded the Blacksox did manage to knock in 6, much more than they needed behind the strong defense and great pitching performance of Chris Simonson.

Mike Flood and Eric Bennett each had 3 hits for the Blacksox.

The Laurel Tavern was downed by the Middleton HTL team 6-4 in an exhibition game held at Middleton High School.

The Tavern moved to 2-0 in the Rock with a 6-0 win against Neosho in Verona Sunday.

Bill Ellingson started the scoring in the third inning by driving in Paul Patten after his lead off double. That was all the Laurel would end up needing as Rick Wuebben, Chris Simonson and Kevin Mathews combined on the shutout. No walks were issued by the Laurel pitchers.

Shawn Killebrew and Scott Dybevik led the 10 hit attack with 2 hits apiece while Mike Flood knocked in 2 runs.

The game against Watertown was rained out. No reschedule date has been set.

Blacksox 3, Braves 2

The Blacksox opened the 2006 Rock River season with a 10 inning win over Pardeeville on Sunday. The squad pounded out 12 hits in the low scoring affair. The go ahead run came in the top of the 10^th inning when Bryan Zimmer's sacrifice fly to left drove in Eric Bennett.

Rick Wuebben collected the victory on 5 shutout innings of relief, striking out 8 batters and walking none. Eric Bennett had 3 hits for the Blacksox while Shawn Killebrew and Mike Zuehlke added two apiece.

The defense was ripe out of grade school early as a total of 5 errors were made by the sox.

Blacksox defeat Benders 7-1

Strong pitching by Rick Wuebben carried the Blacksox to the first win of the year in the 2006 Juneau Baseball Tournament held in the metropolis of Juneau, WI.

Blacksox lose season opener. No game details were submitted to the Webmaster.