Hall Still Has It, Wins vs. Menomonie

The minimum age requirement for the Menomonie Grey Eagles’ 35-and-older team is just that, 35 years.  With a few games under his belt this season, Chuck Hall has now played for that many years in the CRBL alone, and he proved Friday night against the Grey Eagles that he has plenty of gas still left in his tank.  Hall toed the rubber for the Lumberjacks all of seven complete innings, going the distance, and striking out six along the way.  The grizzled veteran relied on deceptive off-speed to fool opposing batters, and he will be the first to tell you that you don’t need to throw the ball hard to be successful.  In light of the “Franchise Four” announcements at last night’s MLB All-Star Game, there’s no doubt that Hall would be a shoe-in for the Chippewa Falls version.

Menomonie took advantage of a walk and an error in the first inning to plate the game’s first run.  Chippewa replied with a run of their own in the bottom of the frame.  In the top of the third, Hall surrendered a pair of runs, but his squad’s offense matched Menomonie yet again with two more in the same inning.  With this being only a seven inning game, the run scored by the Grey Eagles in the top of the fifth had the Jacks up against the ropes with only a few at-bats left.  No cause for worry, though, as Micah Sackett came up with a big two-RBI single in the bottom of the fifth to take the lead 5-4.  Hall gave up two hits to lead off the sixth, but sent the following six batters down in order to secure the win.

The Lumberjacks stroked ten hits in the game, with Sackett, Zach Parr, and Brett Jensen each totalling a pair of base-knocks.  Also contributing to the hit column were Sawyer Sturz, Terry McCann, Josh Briggs, and Jake Krier.  The victory moved Chippewa’s overall record on the season to 14-6.