MNB back on winning track

Scoring six runs in one inning will definitely give a team tremendous momentum.

This is exactly what the McCook National Bank Seniors American Legion baseball team did as they clenched an 11-1 victory over the Overton Bandits Monday night.

Rain and pea-sized hail pushed the starting time back about 30 minutes, but the field crew did its job getting the infield dried out, and ready for a five-inning game at the Jaycees Sports Complex.

"We came out with some decent intensity in the first inning and got three runs on the board. It is so important to get the first runs across the plate, and we need to do that from here on out," head coach Justin Wacker said.

MNB crossed the plate 11 times on only six hits and took advantage of five Bandit errors in the field.

"In the past it seemed like if we had runners on second and third we would leave them stranded. We were putting the ball in play a lot more tonight, especially with runners on third. The top of the order really had some timely hits," Wacker said.

The seniors did not have many solid hits, but found the right spots at the right time.

"We had some hard-hit balls and some lazy flies that fell in, but that is just going to happen. I'm willing to take the good with the bad on that one," Wacker said.

Mason Pohl made his debut on the mound and threw a very strong game according to Wacker.

Pohl struck out 12 and only gave up two hits on the night.

"Mason had a great first start of the season. He was around the zone most of the game and took a no-hitter into the fourth inning," Wacker said.

"His slider was working well and the curveball was effective as his strike out pitch. For not throwing much on the mound, I thought Mason did a nice job."

With Pohl just joining the team on June 1, he felt like his duty on the mound went well for not having much practice.

"My arm felt pretty good today. I came out today and knew what needed to be done, and got the win," he said.

"The defense played great tonight, too. It takes more than one person to win, no matter how many strikeouts you have."

The MNB Seniors (2-7) will head to Kearney Tuesday for their second road trip of the season.

The Seniors will play 5:30 p.m. doubleheader against the Kearney B team.

Steve Stein will have the play-by-play action on 93.9 The Prairie.

"Kearney should be fairly decent. They are a good baseball town, so we need to come out ready to play and really play a good game to win," Wacker said.

Overton 000 10 -- 1 2 5

McCook 316 1x -- 11 6 1

1B- McCook: Brett Burton (2), Mark Rogers, Jared Muehlenkamp, Alex Sughroue. Overton: Justin Wrinkler, Jared Kenny.

2B- McCook: Allan Shiers.