Travis Houslet / Daily Register
Waunakee pitcher Derek Lyght works on the mound during an American Legion Baseball game against Portage on Tuesday at Bidwell Field in Portage. Lyght held Portage to just three hits as Waunakee beat Portage, 8-2.

It was a lights-out performance by Waunakee starting pitcher Derek Lyght. The Waunakee righty held Portage to just three hits and struck out eight to lead his team to an 8-2 victory over Portage in an American Legion Baseball game at a wet and cool Bidwell Field on Tuesday evening.

Portage struggled to get much going on offense against Lyght, as its first hit didn't come until there was two outs in the third when leadoff hitter Ethan Greene legged out an infield single. Two of Portage's three hits on in the game never left the infield.

When Portage did put the ball in play against Lyght, they got little to show for it.

"Lyght's probably their No. 1, possibly their No. 2, but he's a heck of a pitcher," said Portage coach Bill Greene. "We put the ball in play, We hit the ball hard, and I think that's what kind of boiled over. There were a lot of at-'ems and we didn't deal with it very well. They're not mentally tough yet, but there getting there."

Portage's inexperience showed a bit in the sixth inning. Already trailing 3-0, Waunakee scored a pair of runs without the aid of hit thanks to a pair of errors, to go along with another mental miscue.

"We lost our focus there for one inning," Greene said. "I think that was a little bit of the frustration of putting the ball in play against a good pitcher and not getting anything out of it."

Waunakee got a pair of runs in the opening inning, and then went up 3-0 with a solo homer over the right-field fence by Cole Cefalu in the third inning. Waunakee added three more runs to its total in the top of the seventh with RBI singles by Derek Strauss and Spencer Ripp to go along with a RBI ground ball from Riley Aiello.

Portage finally got some balls to bounce its way in the bottom of the seventh. With one out Brady Greene was hit by a pitch and Tyler Twing followed with an infield single. Brady Greene and Twing would both score as Waunakee followed with three straight errors.

WAUNAKEE 8, PORTAGE 2

Waunakee ...........201 002 3 - 8 6 4

Portage ...............000 000 2 - 2 3 3

Pitchers (ip-h-er-bb-k) - Lyght (W; 7-3-0-1-8); A. Bortz (L; 5-3-3-5-1), Twing (2-3-2-2-1).

Leading hitters - Fullen (W) 2x4. HR - Cefalu (W).

MONDAY'S LATE RESULT

Portage came out on the wrong end of a slugfest on Monday night, falling to host Sauk Prairie, 12-11 in an American Legion Baseball game.

Portage scored eight runs in the first three innings of action, but Sauk Prairie rallied with a five-run fourth.

Travis Hamilton led Portage with three hits and two RBIs. Ethan Greene and Mike Jordahl each had two hits and two RBIs for Portage, while Anthony Bortz added a double and a pair of RBI.

SAUK PRAIRIE 12, PORTAGE 11

Portage ....................233 021 0 - 11 12 2

Sauk Prairie .............222 510 X - 12 11 1

Leading hitters - Greene (P) 2x3, Hamilton (P) 3x4, Jordahl (P) 2x3, Koenig (SP) 3x3, Herbrand (SP) 2x3, Prime (SP) 2x3. 2B - Koch (P), A. Bortz (P), Koenig, Prime, Bruenig (SP), Gorsuch (SP).