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Truffle Butter On A Roll After Taking 2/3 From Magic
ELKHART- On Sunday, the (6-0) Maple City Magic traveled to Elkhart to take on the unbeaten (6-0) South Bend Truffle Butter in the Wiffleball News, ORWBL Week 3 Matchup of the Week. Many already pegged this matchup as a potential American League Championship Series preview.
Maple City has won a record six consecutive American League pennants while the Truffle Butter hope to be the team to end that run. South Bend put together a fantastic offseason as they added Brandon Terry, Walter Griffin III, and Josh Trim to a team that went 15-15 in their first season in the league.
With the wind blowing out at Payton’s Yard, both teams knew that it was going to take a lot of runs to come out on top. South Bend set the tone early as Maple City struggled out of the gates. After battling back during the middle innings, Maple City was able to take an 8-7 lead. The Truffle Butter answered right back with 2 of their own in the bottom of the 4th to retake a 9-8 lead as that would be the final run scored in the ballgame.
Maple City’s Jared Jonkman and South Bend’s Ryan Galiher exchanged zero’s in the 5th before the Truffle Butter defense closed the door on the Magic in the opener. Galiher held the Magic scoreless over the final two innings while holding the Magic to three scoreless innings in Game 1.
In Game 2, the momentum quickly shifted in Maple City’s direction as the Magic jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. Maple City’s Caleb Jonkman bounced back from a slow Game 1 by going 6-8 with 6 HR as he helped lead the Magic to a 19-12 victory to even up the series at one game apiece.
Although Maple City had momentum heading into the rubber match, both teams knew the importance of this early season game as it could decide playoff seeding in the case of a tie. South Bend quickly returned to Game 1 form as they jumped out to an early lead over Maple City.
After starting Walter Griffin III in Game 2, the Truffle Butter went back to Ryan Galiher for the finale. Galiher once again did a nice job of getting the Maple City hitters out on their front foot. South Bend held a 10-6 lead heading into the 5th inning where Galiher once again held the Magic scoreless. Shortly after, in the bottom half of the 5th, the floodgates opened.
The Truffle Butter poured it on with an 8 run 5th inning as they took an 18-6 lead into the 6th inning. The Magic were able to score 5 runs in the top half of the 6th but that would not be enough as South Bend clinched a series victory over Maple City to pull into soul possession of first place in the American League with an 8-1 record.
On top of picking up a pair or wins on the mound, Ryan Galiher also had himself an impressive day at the plate as he went 12/18 with 12 HR, 12 R, and 15 RBI. South Bend’s Brandon Terry, Walter Griffin III, and Josh Trim all did their part as they each hit 6 Home Runs in the series victory.
Maple City’s Caleb Jonkman and Wes Ellis each hit 9 Home Runs on the afternoon as the entire Maple City lineup continued to put up impressive offensive numbers to start the season despite the series loss. The Magic will look to bounce back next week as they will return home to Magic Park where they will host the (4-5) Mill Pond Pink Pandas who are coming off of their first sweep in team history.
As for South Bend, they will look to build off of this statement series victory as they will host the (4-5) Green Stem Great Lakes Godfathers at Payton’s Yard.
