Midgets bring home 2nd from North Platte

Susan Harris-Broomfield The McCook Midgets pose with their second place trophy. Front, from left: Brendan Funk, Cameron Foster, Brady Chancellor, Chance Pearson, Austin Larson, Jeff Lorentz, Batboy Travis Wallen, A.J. Huffman. Second: Cody Broomfield, Nick Kenny, Chad Stull, Adam Kruger, Jimmy Barron, Shane Wallen, Joe Vertrowski, Matt Thayer, Nate Gleason. Back: coaches Lyron Yost and Mike Broomfield.

NORTH PLATTE -- Defense, pitching and hitting were all working to McCook's advantage over the weekend during the North Platte Tournament. The Midgets posted a 3-1 record, which was good enough for a second place finish.

McCook defeated North Platte 7-1, Sterling, Colo., 10-7, squeezed by Grand Island 1-0 and fell to Kearney 10-4.

McCook 7, North Platte 1

Austin Larson was the king of the hill during McCook's opener of the tournament. Larson went the distance, while striking out six and only giving a free pass to one batter.

"Austin had a phenomenal performance to open up the tournament for us. He was very accurate with his pitches and it was definitely one of his better outings of the season," head coach Mike Broomfield said.

Brady Chancellor led the Midgets at the plate by going 2 for 3. Larson and Cody Broomfield added two singles apiece to pace McCook with their seven runs.

McCook 10, Sterling, Colo., 7

After picking up a big win in the first game, the Midgets continued to take care of business in game two.

They defeated Sterling by three runs in the offensive-oriented ball game.

They nestled through three pitchers to come out with the five-inning victory. Jeff Lorentz, Cody Broomfield and Adam Kruger all played huge roles on the mound.

"Whenever any of our pitchers started to get into trouble, we just brought in a new one to get out of the jam. Jeff started to struggle in the second, so we brought in Cody. Then we felt like Adam could finish off the game for us," Broomfield said.

Hits were not hard to come by for McCook as they put up double digits in the run column.

Jeff Lorentz and Brady Chancellor both went 2 for 2 as the Midgets kept rolling.

McCook 1, Grand Island 0

According to Broomfield and several other coaches, this hard-nosed defensive battle got the honors for the best game of the tournament.

Adam Kruger had Grand Island in his hands while pitching the shutout.

He struck out five and walked three in the complete game which was a crowd-pleaser.

Matt Thayer had the only two-hit game, but both teams were hitting the ball very solid.

Kearney 10, McCook 4

The Midgets' perfect defensive game couldn't quite carry over to the championship game.

They committed four errors in the first inning and Kearney crossed the plate five times.

Austin Larson and Adam Kruger shared pitching duties in the final game of the tournament.

Shane Wallen and Cody Broomfield connected for four of the teams hits, as the offense couldn't quite make up for the early hole they were put in.

The Midgets (12-13) will travel to Overton Wednesday for a 5 p.m. twinbill.