MIDDLETON,WI – The Thomson Area Merchants men’s fastpitch team brought home a5^th place trophy after an exciting extra inning win over The FarmTavern of Madison, WI, the recently crowned ASA National Champions. For theweekend the Merchants were 3-1 after losing their first game of the tournament.The 5^th place finish was a tie with Albaugh from Elkhart, IA whenthe two teams were unable to play their final game due to bad weather.


     In their first game, the Merchants lost 2-7 to The Barof Appleton. The Bar took a 1-0 lead with a run in the bottom of the first, butThomson answered right back in the top of the second with a lead-off singlefrom Bruce Bielema and then a homerun by Mike House. Kevin Anderson would alsosingle in the inning, but that was the last hit the Merchants could get. TheBar would add three runs in the bottom of the 2^nd, two in the 3^rdand then one more in the 5^th.  Andrew Putnam took the loss forthe Merchants.


     After rain delayed the start of play on Saturday for 5hours, the Merchants faced Dolan & Murphy of Aurora, IL for the fifth timethis season. The game was scoreless until the bottom of the 5^th whenDolan managed to push across one run. The Merchants answered right back puttingup 6 runs in the top of the 6^th. Bielema’s single drove in tworuns to break a 1-1 tie. Jonas Mach went the distance allowing just one hit andstriking out 13. BJ Gulick had 2 hits for Thomson. The final score was 6-2.


     The next game for Thomson was against Blue SpringsMissouri. The Merchants scored 3 runs in the first inning which proved to beenough as they went on to win 3-2. Ray Sharp led off the game by getting hit bya pitch. After Scott Glazier sacrificed him to second, Gulick singled him home.Then Chelo Malatesta walked and Gulick and Malatesa advanced on a wild pitch.Another wild pitch scored Gulick with Malatesta taking third, but as thepitcher took the ball and walked back to the mound Malatesta noticed thecatcher still at the backstop picking up his mask. Malatesta was then able torun home as the plate was wide open for the third run. Sharp and Gulick eachhad two hits in the game. Putnam started the game and allowed two runs before Machcame in to get the final two outs of the game.


     That win advanced the Merchants into the next roundagainst The Farm. The game was scoreless until the bottom of the 4^thwith Mach pitching out of several jams. Glazier led off the bottom of the 4^thwith a walk and one out later Malatesta hit a 2 run homer to right center togive the Merchants the lead. That lead held up until the top of the 6^thwhen The Farm got two singles sandwiched around a double to tie the game at 2.After Mach loaded the bases with back-to-back walks, Putnam came into the gameand got the third out of the inning. Both teams threatened in the 8^thand 9^th innings before Rob Bennett’s one out single scoredGlazier from second base after Glazier led the inning off with a walk.


     The win over The Farm was the biggest win of theseason for the Merchants. The win improved their record to 20-13 heading intothe ISC World Tournament this weekend in Moline, IL. The Merchants open play onFriday night against the Kegel Black Knights form Fargo, ND at 6pm. Detailsabout the ISC World Tournament along with complete results and stats for theThomson season can be found on the team website at www.thomsonfastpitch.com.