Royal Valley's, Logan Bausch

Full slate of Northeast Kansas league legion baseball action on Wednesday and it was four action packed tight ballgames on the night.

Royal Valley headed to Noble Park to square off with Hiawatha in a double-header and it was two tight ballgames between the two. In the first contest it was a pitching dual between Logan Bausch for Royal Valley and Hiawatha's, Dakota Bayles with Bausch and Royal Valley coming out on top 3-1 on KNZA radio. In the nightcap the offense broke loose a little more with eight hits by each team in a game that featured seven lead changes. The final lead change came in the sixth when Bayles stole home to bring the go ahead run across the plate for Hiawatha and they held on to win 7-6 for the double-header split at Noble park.

The other two matchups on the night were single games with Holton hosting Atchison and Seneca traveling to Sabetha, in what both proved to be great one-run ballgames.

Offense showed up for Holton and Atchison but a solid pitching performance by Holton held off Atchison enough to grab their first league win of the season 9-8.

While, Seneca and Sabetha squared off in a matchup that feature two teams with undefeated league records and at the end of the night Seneca took first place in the NEK league standings. It was another one-run game on the night that needed extra innings to be decided. Seneca held an early 6-2 lead but Sabetha battled back, but ultimately Seneca came up with a run in the tenth to grab a 8-7 win.

Four tight ballgames in an action packed night of Legion baseball created some shake up in the NEK league standings. (Check out the updated NEK League Legion Standings -- click here) 

30th Annual Leo Tritsch Tournament -- Bracket

Royal Valley and Hiawatha Split Double-Header at Noble Park

Both looking to break up a losing streaks Hiawatha and Royal Valley took to the field at Noble Park in Hiawatha and each earned a win, to split the double-header. 

In game one it was a pitching dual between Royal Valley's, Logan Bausch and Hiawatha's, Dakota Bayles who both pitched all seven innings of action for their team. Both guys looking for run support from his team and Bausch got three runs to Bayles' one, as Royal Valley grabbed the 3-1 win for the first win of the season.

Bausch finished the game giving up one-run on three hits, two walks and striking out 11, while aiding his cause offensively with a RBI double to help Royal Valley tie the game up 1-1 in the top of the third, earning him McDonald's "Player of the Game" honors. Royal Valley then took the lead in the fourth after a pair of singles to lead things off in the inning by Jon Cox and Travis Burget. Weston Hasty added a multi-hit night for Royal Valley in win as the only guy to have two-hits for Royal Valley in the win.

Bayles in the loss gave only three runs on just five hits five walks and two strikeouts; but the offense wasn't enough behind him. Hiawatha managed only three hits with two coming at the hands of Parker Hasenkamp who finished the game 2-3 with run scored.

In game two, the bats awoke slightly more for both teams to the tune of eight hits for each team and 13 total runs in contest combined.

It was a see-saw affair with seven lead changes with Hiawatha on top early 5-1 and on top at the end 7-6 to grab the win and the double-header split. Hiawatha took to retake the lead in the sixth after tying the game back in the fifth and they took the lead behind a Bayles stealing home plate in the bottom of sixth.

Baxter DeFore stepped up in game two to tally a two-hit game with a run scored to help propel Hiawatha to the win as Taylor Jacobsen picked up the pitching win in relief.

For Royal Valley they used four pitchers in the contest and were lead offensively by Erich Weidmann who was 2-3 with a run scored.

With the split, Royal Valley earned their first win of the season and are 1-7 on the season, while Hiawatha moved to 3-4 on the year.

Seneca Bests Sabetha 8-7 in 10 Inning Marathon

In a battle of undefeated league teams it was sole possession of first place up for grabs in the NEK league last night in Sabetha and Seneca came out on top 8-7 in 10 innings.

Offense came out early for Seneca as they pushed out to a 6-2 lead going into the bottom of the second with Sabetha's two runs coming courtesy of a two-run homer by Thaine Allen. Sabetha then cut into the Seneca lead with single runs in the second and third and a pair of runs in the fourth to tie the game at 6-6 after four.

Sabetha, looked primed to continue to score in the fifth when Eric Huerter came in relief and worked out a no-out situation with runners at second and third, by striking out three of the four batters he faced. Both teams blanked each other in the seventh to force extra's.

In the ninth, Seneca regained the lead with a run but Sabetha matched it in the bottom of the inning to continue the marathon into the tenth, when Seneca tallied the winning run off an RBI single by Tim Nolte that scored Matt Haverkamp for the 8-7 win.

Seneca was led by Eric Huerter who tallied two hits and four RBI in the game as Michael Rottinghaus had a pair of RBI with a key triple in the game.

Graham Howard in the loss pitched nine innings striking out 11 while giving up nine hits for Sabetha.

With the win Seneca remains unbeaten in league play and on the season, also improving, too 7-0 and taking sole possession of first place in the league standings. Sabetha with the loss falls to 10-4 on the season and 4-1 in league action.

Holton Tops Atchison in 9-8 Tight League Showdown

Looking for some revenge from a 13-0 route loss to Holton in the NEK tournament, Atchison traveled to Holton.

This time the game proved to be a tighter ballgame and down to the wire with Holton holding on for its second win of the season. Holton led 4-0 after two innings. Atchison responded with two runs in the fourth, but didn't score when the bases were loaded. The same situation happened in the sixth with the A's not being able to capitalize on a bases-loaded opportunity.

Brandon Schuman led the way on the mound pitching 5 2/3 innings to grab the win while striking out 13, as Zac Porter finished the game in relief earning the save. Porter, also provided the offensive punch for Holton, too going 3-4 on the night, while Jay Haverkamp joined in on the offense with a mult-hit night of his own going 2-3 with three RBI.

Hitting wasn't a problem for Atchison as the A's recorded 12 hits, but the team couldn't cross enough runs over the plate, leaving 12 runners stranded on the bags. Four batters recorded two or more hits for the A's. Jimmy Priest led the way, going 2-3 with a run scored. Others that recorded multiple hits included Cody Calhoon, Mark McDermed and Geoffrey Vaughn.

With the win Holton improved to 2-6 on the season, while Atchison fell to .500 on the season at 4-4.