Menu
Seniors split baseball double-header with Kansas squad
The Wednesday night, July 6 Legion baseball results between the McCook National Bank Seniors and Colby, Kansas revolved around two at-bats.
McCook rallied with six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to claim a 7-6 win in the opening game at the Jaycees Sports Complex. Colby came back in the second game, scoring eight runs in the top of the sixth to claim a 13-4 victory.
The Seniors are comprised of players ages 17 and 18 years old.
Seniors head coach Greg Larson was pleased with his team's strong comeback in the opener. McCook 6-1 before the sixth-inning outburst.
"We were down five runs and came back and won that," Larson said of his team's first-game rally. "We had a great a comeback there, and played really well, and played smart and hit the ball. We didn't go up to hit home runs -- we had bases loaded and the guys just went up and got the base hits that we needed. They did well, they did a great job of coming back and staying focused."
McCook scored a run in the bottom of the first inning as Joe Kenny led off with a single, then Kenny stole second base and scored on a single by Justin Terry. Colby scored twice in the top of the fifth inning, plus four more runs in the sixth.
McCook's two-out rally
The Seniors started the rally in the bottom of the sixth with two outs. Lucas Post, Cast Bortner and Gavin Harsh each walked to load the bases. Colby brought in a new pitcher, and he promptly plunked Justin Terry to force in a run. Clint Beguin then drilled a shot that got behind Colby's outfielder for a double to empty the bases and tie the score at 6-6.
Keith Wallace walked, then Cam Burkey hit a ground ball that was bobbled by the Colby shortstop. Burkey was safe at first, and Will Burkert, in the game as a courtesy runner for catcher Beguin, scored the winning run.
Colby put runners on first and second with two outs, and Beguin went to the mound in relief of pitcher Josh Escher. Begiun induced a ground ball to first base, where Seniors fielder Keith Wallace snagged the ball and touched first for the final out.
Colby knocked McCook starting pitcher Chris Conroy out of the game in the top of the sixth. Escher got the final out of the sixth, then he worked two outs in the seventh before giving way to Beguin for the final out.
Second game
McCook took an early lead in the second game, with a single run in the bottom of the second on an RBI-single by Escher. Colby came back with three runs in the top of the third and two more in the fourth for a 5-1 lead.
The Seniors rallied with three runs in the bottom of the fifth. Burkey dropped a single behind the Colby infield, Kenny walked and Burkert loaded the bases after he was safe on a Colby error. Terry delivered a two-run single, and Burkert scored on an infield ground-out to pull McCook within 5-4.
The roof fell in on the hosts in the sixth, as Colby tallied eight runs despite getting just two hits out of the infield.
"Quicksand -- it just kept going and going we just couldn't get out of it," Coach Larson said of his team's sixth-inning woes. "That's what we've got to get away from. We've had too many ruts of those one bad inning that just crunches us."
McCook went down in order in the bottom of the sixth with three infield ground-outs to end the game by the eight-run mercy rule.
Beguin started for the Seniors on the mound, and Clint pitched 3 2/3 innings before giving way to Cameron Burkey, who was relieved by Keith Wallace in the sixth.
Not enough strikes
Larson said one problem for his pitching staff in Wednesday's second game was falling behind in the count.
"(Colby) took advantage of that. We just did a poor job of staying on top of the count, we were behind in the count," he said. "Some of the times we had innings where we got two quick outs, then boom! Our pitch count just went way up. Y,ou can't win ball games that way, we're not deep enough pitching-wise to get that way. We need to pitch a little smarter.
"Base running, we need to a little more smart. It's hard to steal bases when our leads aren't big enough and we're not reading the pitcher. A lot of little things, we just need to put the little things together. It would be in nice if we could stay focused for two complete games. We just haven't had that yet."
Grand Island tourney
The Seniors will have an opportunity to string good performances together this weekend at the U-Save Pharmacy Invitational at Ryder Park in Grand Island. All eight teams in the tournament will play three games in three days.
McCook will see a rematch with Lincoln Dinsdale (Southeast) in first-round action Friday, July 8, at 7 p.m. Dinsdale beat the Seniors, 9-1, in round-robin tournament action at Kearney last weekend, as McCook hurt its chances with errors.
"We've just got to get away from the hiccups," Coach Larson said.
In other first-round action Friday, Grand Island U-Save will face Holdrege at 11:30 a.m., Ogallala and Aurora square off at 2 p.m., with Central City and Kearney meeting at 4:30 p.m.
First-round losers will play Saturday, July 9, at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m., with first-round winners meeting Saturday at 4:30 and 7 p.m.
Finals for seventh place, fifth place, third place and the tournament championship will be played Sunday, July 10.
The Grand Island tournament will feature seven-inning games with no time limit, and an eight-run mercy rule after five innings. Designated hitters may be used for the pitcher only, with courtesy runners allowed for pitchers and catchers.
Juniors B action
In baseball action at Colby, Kansas, Wednesday, July 6, the McCook Peters Transportation Juniors B Red team swept a double-header by scores of 15-1 and 5-0.
The Peters Transportation Juniors B White team was scheduled to face Holdrege Kiwanis Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the South Central Nebraska Baseball League Tournament at Bertrand. But the tournament action was postponed by rain, so McCook and Holdrege are scheduled to meet Thursday at 8:30 p.m., with semifinals pushed back to Friday, July 8, and finals set for Saturday, July 10.
The league tournament will be the final games for the Juniors B White squad this summer.
The Juniors B Red team is scheduled to see its final games of the season against Colby, Kansas in a double-header Friday, July 8, at the Jaycees Sports Complex starting at 6:30 p.m.
FCB Juniors
The McCook First Central Bank Juniors have a road trip to Aurora scheduled Saturday, July 9.
The Juniors, comprised of players ages 15 and 16 years old, are scheduled for two games in Aurora starting at 3 p.m.
The McCook squad had a double-header scheduled Sunday, July 10, at Lexington, but those games have been cancelled.
The FCB Juniors are gearing up for Class B Area 6 Legion Juniors Tournament action in McCook July 14-19.
McCook will host six other teams at the Jaycees Complex in the double-elimination area tournament. The area tournament champion will advance to the Class B State Legion Juniors Tournament at Beatrice starting July 23.
McCook will be the fifth seed in the area tournament. The Juniors will face Cozad in first-round action Thursday, July 14, at 7:30 p.m.
Watch next week's Sports pages and here on-line for more information on the Area 6 Juniors Tournament.