OSHKOSH – Being a Bay Port baseball player over the last week and a half has it’s perks and Saturday brought a couple more.

The Pirates won the school’s first ever team state title by winning the WIAA Division 1 state title June 18, and two of the team’s top seniors showcased their skills this weekend in the Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association’s 26th edition of its All-Star Classic at E.J. Schneider Field on the campus of Oshkosh North High School.

Sean Grabig delivered the game-wining hit in the bottom of the sixth inning and was the winning pitcher for the North All-Star squad in the team’s first game of the day and teammate Austin Peot delivered with a two-run single of his own in the final game of the celebration to help the North go 3-0 over the two-day event.

Grabig’s 3 for 6 performance at the plate, with the game-winning RBI in the bottom of the sixth against the West squad in the North’s first game of the day, paired with his 3 innings pitched, in which he allowed just two hits and struck out five, including the side in the top of the seventh led to him being selected the Tim Nygaard Most Valuable Player for the Classic.

“It doesn’t get much better to be Bay Port right now,” Grabig said after receiving the MVP award from WBCA All-Star Chair Tony Gerharz. “

Having done much the same against the top talent in the state in helping bring the Pirates the state title, Peot was not surprised Grabig came through.

“He’s been great all year and he continues it through the summer,” said Peot of Grabig. “There’s nothing more I can say about him that I haven’t said already.”

Here’s a look at the day’s four games:

East 3, South 1

The East scored all three runs in the  third inning as the first six batters reached base in the inning and helped back up starting pitcher Cale Ross.

Ross went four innings, giving up just one hit and striking out eight. In fact, the first five outs the Brookfield Central senior recorded were via the strikeout.

“I was just hoping I could throw some strikes because I knew I had a defense behind me that could pick me up,” said Ross of not expecting to get as many outs as he did with strikes. “My slider was my best pitch. My slider I could spot pretty well and my curve ball was setting things up. I really didn’t throw any changeups.

“It came down to getting two strikes and going after guys with the slider.”

SOUTH….000 010 0—1 3 1

EAST….….003 000 x—3 4 1

Pitching: SOUTH—Dan Britts (L) 2.1 IP 2 K, 3 BB, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER; Lee Vlasek 3.2 IP, 3 K, BB, H. EAST—Cale Ross (W) 4 IP, 8 K, H; Ben Heller 3 IP 2 K, 2 H.

Leading hitters: SOUTH—Lee Vlasek 1-2, R, SB. EAST—Dan Douglas 1-2, R, RBI; Daniel Mueller 1-1, R.

North 4, West 3

Bay Port’s Sean Grabig entered the game in the fifth inning, replacing Kimberly’s Brad Schreiber and pitched the final three innings without giving up a run.

His biggest spot came in the bottom of the sixth, when he came to bat with Hortonville’s Luke Cismoski on third base.

“My at-bat before that, he threw me a lot of curveballs and I was figuring he’d come back with the same thing and that was the pitch I drove was a curveball,” Grabig said of his thought process at the plate.

He then came back out on the mound for the top of the seventh and struck out the side despite a one-out single.

“Any pitcher loves to come into that situation there and shut the game down,” Grabig said.

WEST……..000 300 0—3 7 1

NORTH…..102 001 x—4 6 1

Pitching: WEST—Jordan Guth 3 IP, K, 4 BB, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER; Lucas Warren (L) 3 IP, 6 K, 2 BB, HB, 2 H, R, ER. NORTH—Brad Schreiber 4 IP, 5 K, BB, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER; Sean Grabig 3 IP, 5 K, 2 H.

Leading hitters: WEST—Josh Meade 2-2, R; Lucas Warren 1-2, RBI. NORTH—Sean Grabig 1-2, RBI; Tyler Kamps 1-1, R, Brad Schreiber 1-2, RBI, R, 2B.

West 9, South 6

The West scored six runs in the third inning, capped by a bases loaded triple by La Crosse Central’s Drew Ghelfi which gave the West a 7-6 lead.

With at least one error in the field for West from the second on through the seventh, that one-run lead didn’t feel safe.

Then La Crosse Aquinas’ Bobby Kachel blasted a two-run shot over the left-center field fence to make it a 9-6 game and give his team the breathing room it needed.

“We had a one-run lead, but six errors on the board, so that was a big two runs,” Kachel said. “He left a high fastball up there and I just smoked it.”

After the South loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the seventh, those extra runs helped make life easier for Baldwin-Woodville pitcher Dylan DeMotts.

WEST…….106 000 2—9 9 7

SOUTH….132 000 0—6 7 0

Pitching: WEST—Mason Nesbitt 2 IP,  3 K,  2 H, 4 R, 2 ER; Cody Brietzke (W) 2 IP, K, 2 H, 2 R, ER; Dylan DeMotts 3 IP, 3 K, 4 H. SOUTH—Mike Jacobs (L) 2 K, 3 BB, 7 H, 7 R, 7 ER; Josh Eastman 4.1 IP, 6 K, 2 K, 2 R, 2 ER.

Leading hitters: WEST—Ryan Freitag 2-2, 2 RBI, 2 R, HR, 2B; Kurtis Johnson 2-2, RBI; Drew Ghelfi 1-3, 3B, 3 RBI, Bobby Kachel 1-2, 2 RBI, R, HR. SOUTH—Tyler Tardiff 3-4, R; Drew Barman 1-2, RBI, R.

North 4, East 3

The final game of the day pitted the two unbeaten teams against one another for bragging rights – it was prescheduled, and just worked out perfect.

The East took a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the sixth inning where errors and walks caught up with the East.

After two runs were walked in, Bay Port’s Logan Peot came to the plate and hit an 0-2 pitch in the hole on the left side of the infield to score Luke Cismoski and Matt Wells.

“I got down in the count and I was just trying to put the ball in play,” Peot said. “That’s all I try to do every at bat and all you can do down 0-2.”

In a hole with the pressure on is where Peot has thrived all season, his teammate, Sean Grabig said.

“He’s one of those kids that gets really nervous, but it really makes him focus and he always seems to come around and make the play,” Grabig said.

EAST……….001 011 0—3 7 2

NORTH…...000 004 x—4 5 2

Pitching: EAST—E.J. Sexton 3 IP, 2 K, 2 H; Travis Sindles IP, K, H; Ben Heller IP; Ryan Schilter (L) IP, 3 K, 3 BB, H, 4 R, 3 ER. NORTH—Brad Smolinski 4 IP, K, BB, 3 H, R, ER; Kyle Mayer (W) 2 BB, H, 2 R, 2 ER.

Leading hitters: EAST—Travis Sindles 1-1, 2B, R; Daniel Mueller 1-2, RBI, Charlie Markson 1-1, RBI. NORTH—Logan Peot 2-2, 2 RBI; Mark Fantini 1-1; Brett Young 1-1, 2B.