Hager City pitchers: Brenner, Foley at the top

Appeared in print April 28

In the third game of his senior season at Ellsworth High School, Brady Brenner was working on a no-hitter.

He was into the seventh inning against Durand when he partially tore his ulnar collateral ligament.

Two pitches later he completed the no-hitter.

Brenner sat out the rest of his senior year and rehabilitated his elbow for eight months before joining the baseball team at the University of Wisconsin-Stout.

“(The doctors) basically just told me straight up that I was going to rehab, then get back on the throwing program and if I didn’t get better, I was going to have to get Tommy John (surgery),” Brenner said.

He added: “It was really frustrating trying to get back from that.”

While rehabbing, he felt tightness in his elbow on two separate occasions when upping his velocity to 75 percent.

Doctors told him if that happened one more time, he was going to have to get surgery.

Brenner, 20, was cleared to return, but said he pitched his freshman year with an elbow that was between 80 and 90 percent healthy.

He is now in his third season pitching for the Hager City Skeeters and he said his arm is back to 100 percent.

“I’d like to be the ace (of the Skeeters),” Brenner said. “With that being said, last year I pitched too may innings.”

Hager City player/manager Cory Brathall said that Brenner is “our guy” but he is keeping a close eye on his health.

Enter innings-eater Elliot Foley.

The UW-River Falls senior may not have the same stuff as Brenner — who boasts an 85-mile-per-hour fastball — but he brings consistency to the mound.

Foley also is an Ellsworth graduate; he played four seasons with the Ellsworth Hubbers before moving to the Skeeters in their inaugural season.

“I’d say he’s more of a pitcher than a thrower whereas last year, I was a thrower rather than a pitcher,” Brenner said.

While Foley and Brenner are the top two starters on the team, there is no competition for the title of team ace.

“We’re kind of hoping for (Brenner) to step into that role and be an ace,” Foley said. “He’s got some more power (than me) and that would help our team.”

Tags: hager city, sports, proam, baseball, skeeters