Three area teams participated in the 2014 Marysville Classic for legion baseball over the weekend and all three NEKL teams finished in the top four in the tournament.

Hiawatha won went into the tournament winless came out of the tournament with a pair of wins and finished second place after beating Marysville 2-1 in the opening round, holding on in the semifinals to win 5-4 over Sabetha and then fell to Fairbury in the Championship game 13-5 in five innings.

Sabetha grabbed a third place finish at the Marysville Classic winning their opening round game 8-0 over Clay Center, but stumbled against Hiawatha in the semifinals 5-4, but responded with a 5-3 win over Frankfort in the third place game.

Frankfort after winning their first round game 10-0 over Leavenworth and fell in their next two competitions to finish fourth place at the Marysville Classic. Frankfort met up with Fairbury in the semifinals and fell in the contest 4-2 and then suffered a loss to Sabetha in the third place game to Sabetha 5-3.

2014 League standings and full schedule -- click here
2014 KNZA & KMZA Legion Baseball broadcast schedule -- click here
2014 Marysville Classic Bracket (NEKL teams: Frankfort, Sabetha & Hiawatha) -- final bracket

Marysville Classic First Round

Hiawatha, Sabetha and Frankfort all opened the Marysville Classic with first round victories to move on in the winner's bracket portion of the competition.

Hiawatha picked up their first win of the season on Friday night topping the host Marysville with a 2-1 victory. Marysville held the early 1-0 lead after getting their lone run of the game across home plate in the bottom of the first inning after Garrett Crome led the inning off with a single and came around to score. Hiawatha tied the game in the top of second without a hit as Taylor Jacobsen walked and came around to score on a Marysville error. Hiawatha took the led in the sixth on a RBI double Parker Hasenkamp who scored Brendan Steele.

Jacobsen went the distance for Hiawatha on the mound going seven innings giving up just one run on two hits and striking out three. Offensively Hiawatha only had four hits, but had five walks in the contest.

For Sabetha they opened the Marysville Classic with a 8-0 win over Clay Center on Friday night as Jake Meyer paced the team with tossing a complete game four-hitter, striking out 11. Sabetha held only a 1-0 lead going into the seventh and scored seven runs on five hits and three Clay Center errors to secure the win; Dustin Boeckman had a big two-run double in the inning.

Frankfort opened up the tournament by dispatching Leavenworth with ease cruising to the 10-0 win. While Fairbury topped Wamego 4-1 in the opening round game of the Marysville Classic.

Marysville Classic Semifinals

In the semifinals, it was Hiawatha versus Sabetha and Frankfort taking on Fairbury on Saturday, with Hiawatha and Fairbury securing wins.

Sabetha struck first in the matchup against Hiawatha plating a run in the top of the first as they took advantage of two batters and a Hiawatha error in the frame, but Hiawatha answered to tie the game in the bottom of the first using three hits to make it 1-1. Hiawatha then took the lead in by adding a run in the second and third innings, but Sabetha drew within one-run in the top of the fourth at 3-2 until Hiawatha again got on the scoreboard with a pair of runs in the fourth leading 5-2. Sabetha continued to threaten in the game and scored two more in the sixth but couldn't get any more as Hiawatha's, Parker Hasenkamp registered the final four-outs to earn the save for Hiawatha in the 5-4 win.

Both teams stranded multiple runners as Sabetha left 13 on the bases and Hiawatha left 11, while there was 13 walks and six hit batters in the contest. Offensively, Hiawatha was led by Taylor Jacobsen who was 2-3 with two runs scored and a walk, while Ryker Smith was 1-2 with double, run scored and two walks. Sabetha only had three hits with Tyler Hackney, Keegan Schumann and Dustin Boeckman each getting a hit.

Frankfort took on Fairbury in the other Semifinal contest and it was Fairbury picking up the 4-2 win to move on to the Championship game on Sunday to take on Hiawatha, while Sabetha and Frankfort would play for third place.

Marysville Classic Third Place Game

Both teams looking to bounce back from a loss and end the Marysville Classic on a high note with a win Frankfort and Sabetha both from the NEKL took to the diamond on Sunday to square off against each other to compete for third place in the Marysville Classic.

Sabetha broke the 3-3 tie with Frankfort in the sixth inning behind a two-run frame to give them the 5-3 lead and ultimately the win by that score. The offense came with two-outs in the sixth for Sabetha as Jake Meyer singled and scored on a Taylor Bauman triple, while Bauman also came around to score adding an insurance run of Sabetha scoring on a wild pitch. Tyler Hackney picked up the win pitching the final two and a third innings in the matchup.

With the win Sabetha wrapped up the tournament 2-1 taking third place and moved to 7-9 on the season overall, while Frankfort finished fourth place going 1-2 in tournament action and moved to 5-5 on the season.

Marysville Classic Championship

After their first two wins of the season Hiawatha found themselves in the Marysville Classic Championship game and taking on Fairbury, who would end Hiawatha's winning streak earning the 13-5 win in five innings in the Championship.

Fairbury took early control of the game plating eight runs in just the top of the first inning using three hits, three walks, a hit batter and a Hiawatha error. Another run scored in the second frame for Fairbury and it was 9-0 before Hiawatha got on the board when they scored their first runs of the game with three-runs in the bottom of the second. But the hole proved to be too much for Hiawatha to come from behind as they fell 13-5 in five innings taking second place in the Marysville Classic.

Hiawatha used three pitchers in the contest and only gave up seven hits, but issued 11 free passes and had four errors in the competition. Taylor Jacobsen and Brendan Steeled both led the Hiawatha offense in the loss each going 2-3 at the plate, as Hiawatha moved to 2-11 on the season, wrapping up the tournament with a second place finish going 2-1 in action.