Let there be light. It’s a phrase that will forever be stamped in Beaver Dam baseball history as one associated with the first game played under stadium lights. The Beaver Dam Golden Beavers and Waupun Warriors will face off in the first night game the BDHS baseball diamond has ever seen.
A variety of local sponsors tabbed under the Leave Your Legacy title pooled money to make this happen, as games in the past have been suspended and postponed due to darkness.
This day has been a long time coming, and Beaver Dam head coach Nate Wilke said that he’s still in disbelief that he gets to lead his group onto a lighted field on such a historic night.
“I still kind of think ‘is this really true?’ We really have lights on our field,” Wilke said. “It’s a super exciting time, and I’m really just proud of everyone coming together and supporting our program.”
Crowds have persevered through rain, sleet, wind, and everything in between, and Wilke expects more of the same with this matchup being on Youth Night. A youth player will be throwing out the first pitch as fans, and other members of the next generation, cheer on throughout the opening night festivities.
As for the matchup at hand, the Golden Beavers (6-7) and Warriors (12-1) both bring high caliber baseball to the table.
While Beaver Dam still sits below .500 on the year, they have as many wins (three) in their last four games as they collected throughout the first nine games of the season.
Senior Boston Damon has been at the forefront of his squad’s recent success. The swiss army knife is 7-for-14 over this four-game stretch for the Beavers. Damon has also tied the school’s single season sacrifice bunts record with five.
Waupun has operated with one of the most electric offenses in the state of Wisconsin all year. Field Manager Travis Hull’s squad has put up 10 or more runs in five of the last six games and has a .380 batting average on the campaign. The Warriors have also proven to be elusive on the base paths, as they are yet to be caught stealing on 59 attempts this season.
Junior Jake Krueger is achieving an offensive feat not many can say they’ve done this year; he has three straight games with multiple hits. Over the last three contests, Krueger is 6-for-9 with six runs scored, three RBI and a walk drawn.
The two Dodge County foes will face off at 7 p.m. with coverage starting at 6:30 p.m. on 1430 ESPN Beaver Dam and Daily Dodge TV.
The full interview with Coach Wilke is available below.
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