Barcikowski, Brancel power Badgers past Pirates

Berkshire broke open a tight game with a huge sixth inning and rode a dominant pitching performance from Sam Barcikoski to a 5-1 victory over Southeast to open the OHSAA tournament.

The Badgers threatened early but were unable to capitalize through the first four innings despite collecting several baserunners. Southeast struck first in the third inning, taking advantage of a pair of Berkshire errors before pushing across a run on an RBI single.

Berkshire finally answered in the fifth. Barcikoski worked a walk and moved into scoring position on an Evan Pollock single to right. Patrick Brancel then delivered the tying run with a clutch RBI double to left field, knotting the game at 1-1. The hit was Brancel's 100th in his career.

The Badgers exploded an inning later.

Christopher Brancel and Bear Masink opened the sixth with back-to-back singles before Chase Bajzel reached on a sacrifice bunt attempt that resulted in an error, loading the bases. That brought Barcikoski to the plate, and he delivered the decisive blow with a towering grand slam to right field, giving Berkshire a 5-1 lead.

Barcikoski was equally impressive on the mound. The left-hander struck out 13 batters and allowed just one unearned run while working around several defensive miscues. He closed the game in dominant fashion, striking out the side or forcing weak contact throughout the final innings.

Patrick Brancel paced the offense with two doubles and an RBI, while Barcikoski finished with the grand slam, two runs scored, and a strong outing on the mound.

The Badgers move on in the OHSAA tournament and will face the winner of Sullivan Black River & Creston Norwayne on Wednesday, May 27th.