Verona's one-loss record is best among HTL

Another week of Home Talent Baseball has gone by and Verona remains atop all Sections with a 13-1 record.

Verona holds a three game lead over second place Monroe and a 3.5 game lead over Wiota. Whether it is Monroe or Wiota that comes away with second place, they are going to have a difficult time with Verona, whose only loss came at the hands of Monroe June 12.

Wiota defeated Monroe twice, however, and holds the head-to-head tiebreaker.

In the Southeast Section, the highly anticipated matchup between Division leaders Fort Atkinson and Utica was postponed again due to poor field conditions at Utica Park.

The two teams are eyeing an Aug. 3 makeup date, and the location may be moved to Jones Park in Fort Atkinson.

The Generals lost Sunday to Stoughton, 3-2. The Merchants took advantage of Fort Atkinson errors and played sound defense behind starting pitcher Ben Riffle.

With the win, Stoughton improved its outside chance of making the playoffs out of the West Division. The Merchants still trail McFarland by half a game and Albion by a full game for the last postseason spot in the West.

Elsewhere, the Jefferson Blue Devils, who had rocketed up the East Division standings, had a setback Sunday. Jefferson got blanked by Orfordville, 7-0. Because Lake Mills and McFarland was postponed, the Blue Devils now sit one game back of the Grays for second place, and the final playoff spot in the East Division.

In the Western Section, Ashton made the East Division race a little more interesting by defeating first-place Middleton, 4-1. Middleton still leads the East with a 12-3 record, but Ashton is close behind at 11-4.

In the West Division of the Western Section Reedsburg won twice this weekend, topping Mazomanie Saturday and Richland Center Sunday. Reedsburg improved to 12-2 and took a half game lead ahead of Sauk Prairie (12-3).

Sauk won a thriller over attempted spoiler Cazenovia (4-12).

Finally in the Eastern Section, DeForest gave itself some breathing room at the top of the standings when they defeated Cottage Grove, 5-1, Sunday. DeForest is a comfortable 13-3, but there is a log-jam of teams behind them.

With Monona’s win over Sun Praire the Eastern Section looks like this: DeForest 13-3, Sun Prairie 10-4, Cottage Grove 10-5, Lodi 10-5, Monona 10-5.

The race down the stretch should be a fun one to watch in the Eastern.

Verona still the team to beat

Home Talent League

Western Section

Verona won 7-1 at Wiota on Sunday to clinch home field advantage and a first round buy in the playoffs. Essentially, they force Wiota or Monroe, the two teams with a chance to score the big upset, to come to Verona.

Ben Wallace looked fantastic on the road yesterday. He was locating well, and the off-speed pitches kept Wiota off balance. Verona has now defeated the Indians twice by a combined score of 19-2.

Southeast Section

Fort Atkinson and Dan Dean had another great showing with an 11-1 win, and they are the best team in the section at the moment. Utica lost another game, and Stoughton fell to McFarland. Suddenly, the teams in the West Division are struggling to close the season.

With Utica and Stoughton playing Fort Atkinson next weekend, McFarland may have the easiest schedule to claim the division. They are 1½ games back in second place.

Northern Section

Middleton clinched first place in the East Division on the Northern section. The other three spots are still up for grabs. In the West, Reedsburg held on for a big 10-9 win, and Sauk Prairie continued to roll forward.

With Reedsburg and Sauk Prairie facing off in the final season game on Aug. 1, the game is very important. However, they are in the playoffs at the moment. The other two spots are between Plain, Cazenovia and Mazomanie with neither team close to finishing at .500.

Eastern Section

It is still a free-for-all at the top of the section. Sun Prairie won and moved into second place behind DeForest who came closer to showing they deserve the top with a 6-0 win over Waterloo. Cottage Grove was upset, however, and they fell down to a tie for third with Monona.

Cottage Grove still has a great chance to win with three games against the three teams tied or ahead of them in their final four. Sun Prairie will have a big game against Lodi next week to try and continue their climb.

Verona shows off offense in Western Section; East a free-for-all

Home Talent League

Western Section

Verona is dominating with two impressive victories, both by 10 runs, over Dodgeville and Wiota. The Cavaliers are hitting and pitching well, and they have shown they can beat everyone.

The only team that beat them, Monroe, lost to Wiota 3-0 on Sunday. At the moment, Wiota is still in second, but Verona is catching stride at the right time.

Southeast Section

Utica and Fort Atkinson are the teams to beat in this section, and they both had some nice wins on the weekend. Utica defeated McFarland for the second time, and they are 9-1 ahead of Stoughton.

Kyle Bates and Matt Ellingson both had wins, and they are on a tough staff for any team. Fort Atkinson edged Whitewater with good pitching by Dan Dean. It’s too bad the game between Utica and Fort Atkisnon was rained out last week, because it would have been the two best teams to see who gets bragging rights.

Northern Section

The three-way tie for first in the East Division came to an end with a big win by Middleton over Cross Plains. Ashton also won, and the East is anyone’s still.

The West Division saw the two top teams continue their dominance. Sauk Prairie and Reedsburg remain No. 1 and No. 2, and they will face each other on the last game of the season. If they continue on this path, they should be battling for first place.

Eastern Section

The section has many teams in the mix, but the big winners of the weekend were Lodi and Deforest who both had big wins over their rivals. Lodi is in first place, but the other teams can easily finish first.

The section will come down to the final few weeks, but Lodi is the team to beat at the moment. The one run win over Sun Prairie was huge with them on their heels.