Break Out the Brooms: Milkmen Sweep RedHawks

by Jonathan Michel & Hannah McIlree

Franklin, WI. —  The Milwaukee Milkmen were able to sweep the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks Sunday afternoon after hot bats carried them to a narrow victory the previous night. Starting pitcher Matt Solter picked up his first win of the season, pitching 7 innings and giving up only 2 runs. 

Fargo-Moorhead struck first for the third time of the series when John Silviano singled home Correlle Prime in the top of the second. The early run signaled the seventh straight game where the Milkmen’s opposition scored first, however the Milkmen were 4-2 in the previous six games. The Milwaukee “comeback kids” were seemingly unfazed after giving up an RBI sac fly from the RedHawk’s Dylan Kelly in the same inning. 

“I’m never worried with these guys. I know they’re going to come out and do their thing and I’m confident in myself, our defense, and our ability to shut them down,” Milkmen starting pitcher Matt Solter said. “The defense played great, [Christ] Conley caught a great game and we did a good job of scoring some runs when we needed to.”

The Milkmen loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the second thanks to Aaron Hill, Tony Rosselli, and Christ Conley but Fargo-Moorhead’s starter Brent Jones struck out two Milkmen to end the inning. 

The Milkmen broke through to take the lead in the bottom of the third. Trey Martin continued to raise his batting average as he did throughout the week, striking an RBI single to score Brett Vertigan. Logan Trowbridge scored from first on the play after an error from RedHawks center fielder Alex Boxwell, tying the game at 2. Martin stole third base and came across to give Milwaukee the lead on a bang-bang play at the plate after Aaron Hill flew out to right field. 

The bottom of the fifth brought more insurance runs for Milwaukee. Vertigan walked and Logan Trowbridge singled. The 2020 American Association MVP, Walker II, singled and made his way to third on an overthrown ball after he was already safe at first. Hill hit a sacrifice fly to score Walker II and extend the lead to 6-2. 

Liam Scafariello showed off his eye in the bottom of the sixth snagging a walk, and stealing a base. Like the temperatures, Vertigan’s bat was hot as he hit another single this time adding an RBI, making the score 7-2 Milkmen. The Milkmen bullpen tandem of Matthias Dietz and Nate Hadley finished the final 2 innings without a problem, ensuring a Milkmen series sweep.

Milwaukee finished their longest homestand of the year on a 4-game win streak and winning 7 out the 10 games at Franklin Field the last week and a half. 

“We were nice and resilient. Adam Brett Walker doing his thing is always nice. We have a great group of guys with a lot of fight and it’s going to be fun to see where we go from here,” Solter said. 

The Milkmen hit the road Tuesday for a 3-game series against the Chicago Dogs.

Tickets and more info at MilwaukeeMilkmen.com