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Imperial boys finish strong season at 'C' state
Imperial’s Legion baseball season came to an end in Palmer on Sunday, Aug. 1 with an extra-inning loss to Tecumseh.
Imperial opened its first-ever Senior Legion state tournament appearance with a loss to Louisville-Weeping Water Saturday.
After playing on an extremely dry field at Bridgeport in districts, the green, all-grass infield at Palmer was a different look, but wasn’t a problem for the Horns.
“The field in Palmer was unique. We had to make some adjustments to the field conditions. Infielders couldn’t play as deep as normal, it was wet and soft from rain the night before, but wasn’t a huge issue,” Imperial Head Coach Bruce Peterson said.
Imperial pitchers combined to give up five hits in the 5-1 loss.
Dominic Sis started off the game for Imperial with a walk, but was left stranded on third base after two fly outs and a ground out.
On the mound, Sis walked one batter in the first inning, but struck out three LWW batters.
Trevor Peterson and Nolan Burrell both singled in the fourth inning for Imperial, however the pair were left stranded before the Horns sat LWW down in order in the bottom of the inning.
Though Bennett Bauerle singled in the fifth, he was caught stealing for the first of three-straight outs.
The Horns sent Triston Hite to the mound in the fifth inning. Hite forced the first batter he faced to ground out to second base, but an error quickly gave LWW a baserunner.
Hite reached base in the top of the sixth inning on a base on balls.
He was caught in a fielders’ choice, leaving Imperial with one on base and two outs. Clean up hitter Jaret Peterson made the most of his at bat, doubling and driving in the Horns only run of the game.
Peterson said his pitchers performed great.
“We had a couple untimely errors in the field and we struggled to move base runners into scoring position. We were never able to put the pressure on the other team by collecting a lead,” Peterson said.
Five different batters each had one hit for the Horns.
Imperial took to the field once more Sunday morning against Tecumseh.
The first inning was quick with the game’s first six batters sitting down in order.
Though Tecumseh had the game’s first hit, a single in the bottom of the inning, Imperial kept them off the scoreboard.
Sis singled early in the third inning and moved into scoring position with a stolen base. The aggressive move paid off when Hite hit an RBI double.
An error and a balk set Tecumseh up with a runner on second base in the bottom of the third, but Burrell struck out one and fielded a grounder to get the third out at first.
Pitching struggles helped the Horns extend their lead in the fifth.
Sis was hit by a pitch then Hite and T. Peterson walked to load the bases. J. Peterson came through again with an RBI single to keep the bases loaded.
Hite scored when Burrell was hit by a pitch and T. Peterson scored when Tecumseh fumbled a Bauerle hit.
Holding a 4-0 lead, Imperial’s half of the inning was over after an out at home plate.
The Horns’ defense had its own struggles in the bottom of the inning.
Two errors and a walk, coupled with a double and a sacrifice fly brought home two runs for Tecumseh.
Two more errors by Imperial and two singles allowed Tecumseh to tie the game at 4-4.
Hite started off the seventh inning with a walk before Imperial’s bats came alive.
T. Peterson drove Hite home with a triple. T. Peterson scored on a single by J. Peterson. Burrell also singled before three-straight strike outs ended the Horns’ at bat with runners on first and second and a 6-4 lead.
Its back to the wall, Tecumseh led off the inning with a fly out to right field. Back-to-back singles set Tecumseh up with runners on the corners, both of whom scored on a sac fly to left field to tie the game.
A stolen base and ground out had a runner on third with two outs. A single down the right field line drove home the winning run in the 7-6 Imperial loss.
“I’m very proud of the way they fought in this one. I ask them every game to ‘compete’ every pitch until the end of the game. That is exactly what they did in this one,” Peterson said.
More details at imperialrepublican.com.