FCB Juniors fall in district tourney

COZAD -- The McCook First Central Bank Juniors baseball team was eliminated from the American Legion B-6 district tournament with a 10-7 loss to Holdrege Tuesday in Cozad.

Delvin Jackson led McCook with three hits. Keith Wallace, Drew Petersen and Andrew McCurdy had two hits each while Justin Terry and Cody Goltl added one hit each.

McCurdy, Drew Peterson and Catlin Rice drove in two runs each for McCook, while Jackson added one RBI for McCook.

Holdrege used a single by Shelby Dick, a walk and two groundouts to jump to a 2-0 lead after one inning.

McCook mounted a scoring threat in the second on a Drew Petersen double and a hit batter only to see the scoring threat erased by the first of three double plays by Holdrege.

McCook used a McCurdy double, a Jackson single and a Holdrege fielding error to load the bases with one out in the third. A line drive initially ruled a groundout was determined to be a line out, causing a McCook runner to be doubled off to end the inning.

Holdrege added two more runs in the third on another Dick single, two walks and two groundouts to take a 4-0 lead. McCook struck for five runs in the fifth to take a 5-4 lead.

McCook used a Jackson single and two hit batters to load the bases to open the fifth. A Drew Petersen single scored two runs for McCook. Following a hit batter and a fielder's choice, a fielding error on a Rice grounder plated the final runs of the inning.

McCook added one run in the sixth to extend its lead to 6-4. McCurdy reached on a fielding error and score on a Jackson RBI single.

Holdrege scored six runs in the bottom of the sixth to take a 10-6 lead. A Robby Allmand single followed a Ross Martin double, a hit batter and a walk to plate the first run.

Following two groundouts, Jerod Schoneman singled to drive in two Holdrege runs. Following two walks to load the bases, Tyler Kayton singled to drive in the final three Holdrege runs.

A Wallace double, a walk and a Goltl single loaded the bases with one out in the McCook seventh. Wallace was tagged out at home on a passed ball for the second out of the inning.

McCurdy singled home Rice to cut the score to 10-7. A fly out to center ended the game.

"We knew Holdrege would be aggressive on the bases," said McCook coach Mark McCurdy. "The stolen bases, passed balls and wild pitches eventually caught up to us in the sixth inning. On the other side, we threatened every inning.

"The three double plays and three runners tagged at the plate kept us from really breaking out. Offensively, we hit the ball pretty well with 11 hits and forcing 10 Holdrege fielding and throwing errors. The Kayton at-bat in the sixth ended up being the key to the game."

McCook finished the year at 6-18-1.

McCook First Central Bank Juniors final stats

(top five in each category)

Hitting

Batting average: Matt Thayer .468, Delvin Jackson .460, Andrew McCurdy .426, Gus Petersen .404, Justin Terry .394.

At-bats: Justin Terry 71, Andrew McCurdy 68, Delvin Jackson 63, Catlin Rice 57, Keith Wallace 51.

Runs: Delvin Jackson 31, Justin Terry 26, Matt Thayer 22, Andrew McCurdy 21, Gus Petersen 17.

Hits: Andrew McCurdy 29, Delvin Jackson 29, Justin Terry 28, Matt Thayer 22, Gus Petersen 19.

RBIs: Justin Terry 24, Delvin Jackson 17, Matt Thayer 15, Gus Petersen 15, Andrew McCurdy 14, Cody Goltl 14.

Doubles: Delvin Jackson 6, Gus Petersen 6, Justin Terry 4, Andrew McCurdy 4, Keith Wallace 3.

Triples: Justin Terry 5, Delvin Jackson 2, six players with 1.

Home runs: Delvin Jackson 1, Justin Terry 1, Matt Thayer 1.

Pitching

Wins: Catlin Rice 2, Keith Wallace 2, Andrew McCurdy 1, Matt Thayer 1.

Saves: Matt Thayer 1.

Earned run average: Andrew McCurdy 3.67.

Strikeouts: Catlin Rice 45, Keith Wallace 25, Matt Thayer 24, Justin Terry 15, Drew Petersen 15, Chris Conroy 13, Andrew McCurdy 3.