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Postseason play commenced at Somerset Park on Monday night (July 22nd) with the Zone 1 AA legion baseball tournament with Hiawatha, Doniphan County, Sabetha and Seneca participating.
Zone tournament play opened up great for a pair of teams, while the other two struggled on the diamond in round one of zone play.
In game one, Seneca took on Hiawatha and took control of the game early and dispatched Hiawatha in four innings behind a 12-0 victory, while in the nightcap it was all Sabetha as they paced their way to an 8-0 win over Doniphan County.
Seneca got things started early in their game against Hiawatha establishing a lead in the top of the first behind a three RBI inside the park homer in straight away center by Devin Henry, giving Seneca the 3-0 lead. Henry added a two-run homer in the third for Seneca to push the lead to 6-0, as Seneca plated a run earlier in the inning on an error. Two more in the third and four in the fifth was a enough for Seneca to grab the four inning win.
Henry finished the night 2-3 with five RBI, three runs scored and a pair of homers, aiding his cause on the mound for Seneca as he pitched to the win giving up just one hit and two walks, while striking out six to earn the win and take home McDonald’s “Player of the Game” honors on KNZA/KMZA.
Eric Huerter joined Henry with a multi-hit night going 2-2 with three runs scored, a walk and RBI, while Alex Hermesch scored twice and Cody and Alex Rottinghaus both had an RBI and single.
For Hiawatha their lone hit came in the fourth innings at the hands of Dakota Bayles, but they only managed three base runners overall on the night in the loss.
Seneca improved to 24-3 with the win and Hiawatha moved to 8-24 with the loss. Seneca would await the winner of Doniphan County versus Sabetha, while Hiawatha will play the loser.
In the nightcap it was Sabetha paced their way to a 8-0 five inning win over Doniphan County behind the strong arm of Brendan Garrett who pitched all five innings giving up just two hits, three walks, while striking out nine and blanking Doniphan County. Garrett performance on the mound earned him McDonald’s “Player of the Game” on KNZA/KMZA.
While, Garrett was dealing on the mound his offense was getting it done in the same sense plating at least a run in every half inning at the plate.
Sabetha’s offense started with an RBI double by Kyle Stallbaumer in the first inning giving Sabetha a 1-0 lead then Sabetha added three in the second behind three singles and three walks. Another run added in the third and fourth gave Sabetha a 6-0 lead going into the bottom fifth, when Sabetha ended the game with a pair of runs in the fifth plating their eighth run via an RBI single by McKenzie McAfee.
McAfee lead the way on offense for Sabetha going 2-2 with a double, RBI, run scored and two walks. Keegan Schuman and Blake Popkess joined McAfee each registering a 2-2 night as Schuman added two runs scored and a walk, with Popkess scoring three times and a walk. Kyle Stallbaumer went perfect from the plate also with a 1-1 night with an RBI double and two walks.
Doniphan County got their lone hits at the hands of Nathan Gaarder and Colton Masters who both laced a double in the game, but Doniphan County managed only five total base runners.
Sabetha improved to 34-11 with the win, while Doniphan County fell to 19-14 on the season.
With Sabetha and Seneca grabbing wins they will meet up Tuesday (July 23rd) night at 8:00pm in the winner’s bracket game, while Hiawatha and Doniphan County will lead off the night at 6:00pm in the first elimination game of the Zone 1 AA tournament. (You can listen to the games on 103.9 KNZA & 92.1 KMZA and online – click here)
Updated NEK League Legion standings -- click here
Zone Tournament brackets -- click here
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