McCook Legion teams lose state tourney openers

Omaha squad

uses longball

against MNB

Oakview Construction

belts five home runs

GOTHENBURG -- The Omaha Skutt Catholic-Oakview Construction squad entered the Class B Seniors state baseball tournament at Gothenburg with four home runs total.

The McCook National Bank Seniors entered the state tournament with 39 circuit clouts.

But it was the Oakview Construction Skylarks, the defending Class B American Legion champions, that belted five homers and rolled to a 11-5 victory.

MNB Seniors' coach Justin Wacker said the smaller dimensions were a factor for both teams.

"It shortens the field, but they hit the ball hard," Wacker said. "They (the homers) may have been doubles and triples in a bigger ball park, so it's not that big of a difference."

The Skylarks jumped out to a 4-0 lead. Joe Servais and Andrew Welch each hit two-run homers.

Oakview Construction added a two-run homer from Pat Klein and a solo shot from Adam Schenkelberg in the fourth to make the score 7-1.

The Skylarks added another run in the fifth and a solo homer by Klein in the sixth.

Matt Beckenhauer was the starting pitcher for the MNB Seniors. He was replaced by Jeff Holthus. The duo allowed 12 hits.

MNB's Jared Muehlenkamp got into the longball act with a solo homer in the top of the third inning. It was his six round-tripper of the summer.

The Seniors also got a solo homer by Jayce Dueland and a three-run shot by Derick Lorentz to close the gap. But the Skylarks tacked on three more runs.

Bryant McCann picked up the win for the Skylarks. He scattered six hits and the Seniors committed one error.

"We played good defense again," Wacker said. "It took us a while to get out bats going, but the third time through (the lineup), we got it hoing.

"We didn't play badly today. They just came out and beat us."

Oakview Construction (34-15) will play Ogallala at 5 p.m. Saturday in the quarterfinals.

Most of the Skylarks' wins this summer came against Class A competition. The Omaha Skutt-based team posted a 21-11 high school record.

Ogallala got a no-hitter from its pitcher defeated Nebraska City 9-0 in the early game Friday.

MNB (28-14) will play at 2 p.m. Saturday in the consolation bracket against the loser of the first-round game between Gothenburg and Waverly.

FCB Juniors

lose 2-1 contest

to Aurora team

LEXINGTON -- The McCook First Central Bank Juniors lost 2-1 to Aurora Friday afternoon in the first round of the American Legion Class B Juniors state tournament at Lexington.

The game started an hour late because of soggy playing conditions brought on by heavy rains Thursday night.

The FCB Juniors (28-13) will play in the 11 a.m. consolation game against the loser of the first-round game between Omaha Bishop Roncalli and Beatrice.

McCook left-hander Evan Koetter pitched a complete game for the Juniors and got the loss. Joe Brockmeier was the winning pitcher for Aurora.

Brendan Liess drove in Alex Sughroue in the top of the sixth for McCook's lone run.

Aurora scored one run in the bottom of the second inning and added the game-winning run in the sixth. The second run was aided by a FCB throwing error.

FCB coach Dennis Liess said the Juniors battled some first-game jitters.

"I think we were just a little nervous and kind of inexperienced," he said. "For a lot of our players, this is our first trip down (to state).

"We wanted to go a long time with Evan because Evan can throw a lot of innings for us and we wanted to see if he could do it or not.

"This was the best game we played all year long. It was one of those games where we played well enough to win, but we just couldn't do a lot. I couldn't be prouder of the kids."

Liess added that the wet field hampered the Juniors, who entered the state tournament averaging 10 stolen bases a game.

Michael Sinclair slipped trying to steal a base and was thrown out at second.

McCook Seniors and Juniors American Legion state tournament games will be broadcast on 93.9 The Prairie.