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Summer 2008 Preparations are underway
May 9, 2008
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BaseballNebraska.com (formerly MetroPreps Baseball) is preparing for its third year of coverage of Nebraska summer high school baseball. Our goals for 2008 are to expand our Senior Legion and Junior Legion coverage to more teams in classes B and C and to provide greater coverage of the 26-team Nebraska Reserve Baseball League. We'll continue to focus on Class A Senior and Junior Legion and the Metro League Seniors and Juniors, which comprises Areas 1 through 4 of the seven areas within the state that play Class A Legion ball.
To continue improving and expanding our coverage, we need your help. BaseballNebraska is a statewide, volunteer, grassroots network of dedicated baseball nuts who work together to share information about their teams and make this information available in a central location. The system relies on a designated Team Reporter for each team who will be given a user name and password so that he or she can log on to the system and enter schedules, scores, rosters and other information about a particular team. We supplement that effort with photography and feature stories about players and programs and general information to help promote interest in high school baseball.
Team Reporters from the Spring Season are invited and encouraged to continue to report for their teams during the Summer Season. If your team did not have a reporter during the spring, or your team did not play spring ball, then we'd like to have someone from your team help by serving as Team Reporter. To find out more about this, click on the Team Reporter link on the Main Menu.
If you are a returning Team Reporter, either from Spring Season or last summer, you can now begin entering your schedule into the system. See information on the Team Reporter link about how to do this.
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MBL Tryout Camp to be held in North Omaha on June 7
May 26, 2008
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The Major League Baseball Scouting Bureau will conduct a tryout at Boyd Field (Omaha Central's home field) on Saturday morning, June 7 to identify talented inner city prospects. Charles Peterson of the North Central Regional Office of the MLB Scouting Bureau will conduct the tryouts, and scouts representing the various Major League teams will be in attendance as well. Players identified through the tryout process may be invited to participate on one of four teams that will compete in a series of games to be played at the MLB Urban Baseball Academy in Compton, California later in June. Mr. Peterson will coach one of the four teams. The Omaha tryout is one of only 21 MLB Urban Baseball Academy in Compton, California later in June. Mr. Peterson will coach one of the four teams. The Omaha tryout is one of only 21 MLB Urban Baseball Academy in Compton, California later in June. Mr. Peterson will coach one of the four teams. The Omaha tryout is one of only 21 MLB tryout camps to be held around the country this summer. The next closest tryout will be in Kansas City on June 27. The tryouts are free of charge. Although the tryout is described as an "inner city tryout" camp, Mr. Peterson stated that there are no specific geographic or demographic requirements that must be satisfied in order for an interested player to be eligible to tryout. Players must be at least 16 years old. Interested players and / or coaches may contact Mr. Peterson by phone at 651-428-6664, 204-333-1132 or by e-mail at charles.peterson@mlb.com. Additional information: | Informational Flyer | Liability Waiver (required) | Tryout FAQ's |
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Southeast Community College Starts Baseball Program for 2008-2009; Actively Recruiting Players
May 26, 2008
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Ron Cullison
Head Baseball Coach
Southeast Community College
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Southeast Community College, with campuses in Lincoln, Beatrice and Milford, will compete in Division II National Junior College Athletic Association Baseball for the 2008-2009 school year. The school has hired veteran coach Ron Cullison of Beatrice as the Head Coach of the new program which will play its home games at Christensen Field in Beatrice. Cullison is currently the pitching coach for the Beatrice Bruins in the MINK League under Head Coach Bob Steinkamp, was pitching coach under Head Coach Mark Mancuso at Nebraska Wesleyan for three seasons (2003-2005) and has been the Beatrice Junior Legion head coach for the past 19 years.
Coach Cullison will be assisted by Troy Kantor, a recent Nebraska Wesleyan player who is currently playing club baseball and teaching school in England, but will be returning soon to help Collison get the new program off the ground. The program will play a fall schedule consisting of scrimmages and a spring championship season.
The new coach of the Storm is busy hitting the recruiting trail to get players lined up for the inaugural 2008-2009 season. Recent signees include Trevor Cissell of Benson, Scott Doggett of Gretna and Butler Community College transfer Micah Busboom, a Beatrice native who has played for Cullison since he was 14. Coach Cullison is holding a Tryout Camp this coming Thursday morning, May 29, at 10:00 at Christensen Field. Uncommitted 2008 graduates who are interested in investigating the opportunities at Southeast are invited to participate and should contact Coach Cullison at (402) 239-1715 or cully12@alltel.net.
Students who attend any of the three campuses are eligible to participate in the baseball program.
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Nebraska City Player Drowns in Iowa Pond
May 27, 2008
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The Nebraska baseball community was saddened to learn of the drowning death of a sixteen year old Nebraska City ballplayer, Brian Vock, on Sunday. According to published reports in the Omaha World Herald, Brian was swimming Sunday at the Waubonsie Access Area pond at Highway 2, east of the Missouri River, when he went under water and did not resurface. His body was recovered later last evening.
As a sophomore at Nebraska City High School Brian played on the Junior Varsity team this spring and occasionally saw action with the Varsity team, according to Varsity Head Coach Tom Bales. Coach Bales noted that Brian was "great kid and a great teammate" and was a "good athlete who would have helped us next year."
Funeral services are at 11 a.m. on Thursday, May 29, at Bethel United Church of Christ in Nebraska City. Visitation is 1-9 p.m. Wednesday at Marshall Funeral Chapel in Nebraska City. Memorial are suggested to Bethel United Church of Christ.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to Brian's family, friends, classmates and teammates.
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Kevin Koch Hired as New Burke Head Coach
May 28, 2008
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Kevin Koch
Burke Head Coach
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"Since I've returned to Omaha, friends have been asking me when I was going to get back into coaching baseball. My response has always been, 'when the right opportunity presents itself.' Well, the right opportunity DID present itself." That was the explanation given by veteran coach and Omaha native Kevin Koch (pronounced "cook") for his decision to apply for and accept the head coaching position at Burke.
Koch, who took over from Interim Head Coach Bruce Palmer just prior to the start of the Legion season, brings a wealth of coaching experience to his new job. A graduate of Millard North, Koch attended Texas Christian University for two years before transferring to Missouri Southern in Joplin, where his team was Runner Up in the 1991 NCAA Division II College World Series. After spending three spring seasons (1998-2000 - 58 wins, 24 losses) and four summer seasons (1997-2000) as Head Coach at Millard North, Coach Koch joined Dave Van Horn's staff at Nebraska as a volunteer assistant, working with catchers and hitters for two years, during which the Huskers made back-to-back appearances trips to the College World Series. Koch then went to the University of Evansville as a paid assistant, helping new head coach Dave Schrage turn around a team that was previously ranked as worst in the Missouri Valley, culminating with the MVC regular season and tournament championships and an NCAA Regional Tournament Runner-Up finish in 2006. At Evansville, Coach Koch again worked with hitters and catchers and was defensive coordinator.
Since returning to Omaha in 2006, Coach Koch has been a math teacher at Westside, has been helping out with the Westside baseball program and teaching classes and clinics in all areas of the game at the Strike Zone.
Opponents can expect a Kevin Koch team to be fundamentally sound on defense and, offensively, to put a lot of pressure on the other defense. "We'll put the ball in play and put pressure on the defense to make plays. We want to be difficult to play against," said the new coach.
As far as his coaching staff is concerned, "for this summer we're keeping everything in place from the spring," said Koch. This includes Scott Hodges as varsity assistant and Dustin Driever and Joe Rider as Junior Legion coaches.
Best wishes to Coach Koch in his new position.
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Kalkowski Selected as Gatorade Nebraska Baseball Player of the Year
May 28, 2008
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RISE Magazine, Gatorade's official selection partner for the Gatorade Player of the Year program, has announced in an on-line article that Kash Kalkowski, senior pitcher and infielder on the Grand Island Islanders Class A state championship team, has been selected as the 2007-08 Nebraska Baseball Player of the Year.
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Kash Kalkowski
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A University of Nebraska recruit, Kalkowski is a three-time Lincoln Journal First Team Super-State Selection (serving as honorary captain last year and co-captain this year) and a two-time Omaha World Herald All-Nebraska First Teamer, selected as honorary captain this year. In the listing of final Statistical Category Leaders in yesterday's World Herald, Kalkowski was among the state's leaders in six of the seven offensive categories and all four of the pitching categories. Offensively, he finished #1 in the Class A in hits with 53 with a .460 batting average, 12 doubles, 4 HR's and 32 RBI's, scored 34 runs and stole 26 bases. On the mound, he had a 6-1 record, a 1.51 ERA, 3 saves and 65 strikeouts.
Kalkowski earned two wins and a save in the Class A state tournament to lead the Islanders to its first ever baseball state championship. His opening game win over Creighton Prep set the stage for the Islanders state tourney run. Although committed to Nebraska, Kalkowski is expected to get serious consideration in next month's MLB draft.
According to the Gatorade Player of the Year website, the selection process utilizes a panel of "top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists" to evaluate candidates for Gatorade State Player of the Year honors. State winners in each sport are automatically eligible for the Gatorade National Player of the Year award in their respective sports -- the country's best all-around high school student-athlete in his or her sport. The National Players of the Year selected from each sport are then considered for the ultimate honor of Gatorade National High School Athlete of the Year. The male and female Gatorade National High School Athletes of the Year are announced at the ESPY Awards in July.
A Gatorade Nebraska Baseball Player of the Year has been named each year since 1986, including last year's winner, Matt Freeman of Elkhorn, now at Nebraska, Ian Dike of Lincoln Southwest in 2006, Dike's current Creighton University teammate Robby Knight from Millard North's undefeated 2005 team, Grand Island's Johnny Dorn, now at Nebraska, Kansas City's Alex Gordon from Lincoln Southeast, along with other Nebraska high school baseball standouts from the past 21 years. The only two-time winner during that period was Kyle Bakker of Millard West who played collegiate ball for Georgia Tech. See complete list of Nebraska winners.
Kash is the son of Karly and Deb Kalkoski of Grand Island. Congratulations to Kash on this very significant accomplishment!
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PI Midwest Struggles Out of the Gate; Union Bank Wins Four Straight in Turf Classic to Claim Championship
June 1, 2008
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PI Midwest, comprised of players from the Creighton Prep Varsity team that was ranked #1 most of the spring season, seems to be suffering from the Vagabond Blues. PIM will play their entire summer schedule on the road while their home park is under renovation due to improvements at the school. The Prep team is winless on the summer after dropping its season opener last Sunday to Class B Weatherguard Systems Pride (Roncalli) 3-0 and then losing three straight in the Turf Classic at Westside on Friday and Saturday. Union Bank (Pius) defeated PIM 8-4 on Friday followed by a 2-1 loss to Sioux Falls, and then Deeb Eagles (Central) defeated PIM 8-4 Saturday morning behind a strong pitching performance by Derek Noel. PI Midwest will try to right the ship against Spring State Champion Grand Island at 4:00 today at Westside followed by a game against the host team, Grubb & Ellis.
Meanwhile, Union Bank (5-3 on the season) won all four of its games so far in the tournament to establish an insurmountable lead in the race for the tournament championship. All other teams in the tournament, except for Grubb & Ellis have more than one loss, and Grubb is playing one less game than the other teams following the late withdrawal of an eighth team from the tournament. In addition to the win over Prep, the Pius team defeated Weatherguard Systems 11-3 on Friday, and beat Central 3-0 and Sioux Falls 15-1 on Saturday. Grand Island Home Federal is 1-2 in the tournament with a 5-0 win over Westside Friday night in which Kash Kalkowski threw a no hitter against the host team, striking out eleven.
Deeb Eagles, comprised of players from the Central team that went 7-18 in the spring, has nearly matched its spring win total already with a 5-2-1 record this summer. (A game against Gretna was halted by lightning with the score tied.)
As of the conclusion of the first game Sunday morning, team win-loss records in the tournament were as follows: Union Bank (4-0), Roncalli (3-2), Grubb & Ellis (1-1), Sioux Falls (2-2), Home Federal (1-2), Deeb Eagles (1-2) and PI Midwest (0-3). The tournament continues today with Sioux Falls taking on Roncalli and Central at 9:00 and 11:15, respectively, Home Federal taking on Deeb Eagles and Prep back-to-back at 1:30 and 4:00, and Westside playing Prep and Pius at 6:15 and 8:30. More information.
Want to see more information about your tournament? Email us your Tournament Schedule in advance so that we can make arrangements to follow your scores.
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Weekend Tournament Winners
June 2, 2008
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Seniors: Bellevue Invitational
Championship
Reagan Buick Bulldogs (Burke) 3, Nebraska Health Systems (Bryan) 2
Consolation
Tom Hansen Construction 7 (Bellevue East), Associated Fire Protection (Papio South) 3
Westside Turf Classic
Championship
Union Bank (Lincoln Pius) (4-0 in pool play)
Elkhorn / Fremont / Waterloo-Valley Roadkill Classic
Championship
Pinnacle Bank (Papio) 4, First State Bank (Fremont) 0
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Juniors: Miller - Phillips Tournament at Ralston
Championship
DiGorgio's (Gross) 8, Elkhorn Post 211 6
Consolation
Millard West Cats 8, Stonebrook Roofing (Lincoln North Star) 0
Juniors: Millard South Tournament
Awaiting results
Juniors: Kearney Post 52 Tournament
Awaiting results
Reserves: Skutt Invitational
Awaiting results
Still learning the names of the Summer Teams?
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Metro League Season Underway; G&E, Deeb Eagles and Pinnacle Bank Get Off to Hot Start
June 5, 2008
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Josh Samuelson
Deeb Eagles
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League play in the Metro League is in its second week with some surprising early results. Deeb Eagles (Omaha Central), which struggled through a 7-18 spring season, and Pinnacle Bank (Papillion LaVista), 11-14 during the spring, are both off to a 3-0 start in league play, trailing only 4-0 Grubb & Ellis in the League standings. The lineup for Pinnacle Bank (9-1 overall) has been bolstered by the return of Butler County Community College recruit Colby McCord following Tommy John surgery earlier in the year and Legion Baby Cody Daeges, one of PB's top hitters last year. Meanwhile, the Eagles are getting help in the outfield and at the plate from Kent Drickey, a 2007 grad who plays at Northwestern College in Iowa. The offensive improvement of rising senior Josh Samuelson has also been a big factor in the Eagles' strong start (8-2-1 overall, with a tie-game against Gretna suspended by lightning). The lefty hitting 6'3" right-hander is swinging the bat at a .438 clip for the season and is 7 for 10 (.700) at the plate in his last three games with three doubles. Samuelson also threw a complete game one-hit shutout against Weatherguard Systems Wednesday night, striking out eight.
Despite the rainclouds and lightning bolts, Grubb & Ellis (Westside) has managed to stay on schedule and get all four of its League games played over the past week, staying perfect with a League-leading 4-0 record. G&E is 6-1 overall, with their sole loss on the season being to Home Federal (Grand Island) behind a no-hit performance by Kash Kalkowski.
Northwest Merchants (Omaha Northwest) has also gotten off to a nice start on the summer with a 6-2 record overall and a 2-1 League mark, including a big program win over PI Midwest last night.
The big surprise at the lower end of the standings is PI Midwest (Creighton Prep) at 0-2 (1-7 overall) with losses to Northwest Merchants (Omaha Northwest) and Tom Hansen Construction (Bellevue East) in League games this week.
At the Junior Legion level, Associated Fire Protection (Papio South) has jumped out to a 3-0 record (7-3 overall) to claim the early lead, following by BDB Walls (Bellevue West) and Crimson Pride Juniors (Roncalli), both at 2-0. Grubb & Ellis (2-1 League) and Prep Jr. Bluejays (1-1 League) are also 7-3 overall. Grub & Ellis's loss was to Prep whose loss came at the hands of Associated Fire Protection. Westside, Prep and Millard West each have two teams competing in the League this season.
The 22-team Metro League is in its third year following the restructuring of Class A Areas 1-4 in 2006. The League standings at the end of the 12 game schedule are used to seed 21 of the teams into the Areas 1, 2, 3 and 4 Class A Seniors and Juniors tournaments in July. (Roncalli plays in Class B in the post-season.)
To follow the Metro League standings, click on the "Metro League Seniors" and "Metro League Juniors" links on the Main Menu.
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Kuebler, Kalkowski Await Today's MLB Draft
June 5, 2008
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Jake Kuebler
Lincoln Southeast
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Kash Kalkowski
Grand Island
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Kash Kalkowski of Grand Island and Jake Kuebler of Lincoln Southeast have been paired all season long as the top two baseball players in the Nebraska high school Class of 2008. The two were named co-captains of the Journal Star's Super-State First Team and were both recruited to play at the University of Nebraska. So, it comes as no surprise that the pair will also share the anxiety and excitement of Major League Baseball's 2008 First-Year Player Draft which will be held today and tomorrow.
Both are talented pitchers, shortstops and hitters and posted impressive numbers during the spring season. Kuebler, a lanky 6'5" right-hander, was 7-0 as a pitcher with a state-leading ERA of 0.17. At the plate, his .545 batting average was second only to Zane Hinkel's .547. The 6'1", 195 pound Kalkowski has been described by many as the best infielder in the state with the ability to make defensive plays that other high school fielders simply can't. On the mound, he was 6-1 with a 1.51 ERA, while leading the Islanders to their first ever state baseball championship. In his only start this summer, he threw a no-hitter against Grubb & Ellis last Friday in the Turf Classic, the first no-hitter ever thrown against a Westside team (spring or summer) during Bob Greco's fifteen years as head coach. "That's about 1,200 games if you figure 80 games a year for spring and summer," said Greco. "And to be honest, I'm not sure he was doing anything all that extraordinary for him. Pretty much just his usual game. He had two or three different pitches that he was striking guys out with" (a total of 11). During the spring Kalkowski batted .460 with 32 RBIs, 34 runs scored and 27 stolen bases.
Based on pre-draft interest, Kuebler is projected to go earlier than Kalkowski. Kuebler has made recent visits to both the Dodgers and the Royals, where his first cousin and fellow Southeast alum Alex Gordon plays. If draft day doesn't bring the rewards that either player is hoping for, Haymarket Park provides a nice alternative.
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Kuebler Drafted in 17th Round, to sign with Royals
June 6, 2008
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Jake Kuebler, a recent Lincoln Southeast graduate and University of Nebraska recruit, will forego his collegiate baseball career and sign with the Kansas City Royals after being selected by the Royals in the 17th round of the MLB First-Year Player Draft on Friday. According to an interview on Friday with Jeff Motz of LincolnPrepSports, Kuebler, the #505 overall pick in the draft, has reached a verbal agreement with the major league club and will report to rookie league duty shortly after inking the deal. Kuebler reports that the Royals are looking at him as a third base prospect, a position currently occupied by his first cousin, Alex Gordon.
Grand Island's Kash Kalkowski, the other Husker recruit in the draft was selected in the 49th round by the Tampa Bay Rays as the 1051st overall pick. Kalkowski's plans are not known at this time.
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Weekend Tournaments in Full Swing
June 6, 2008
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Three Senior Legion tournaments will keep twenty-six Class A teams busy in the eastern half of the state this weekend. In Grand Island, the Home Federal Classic will get underway at two locations later today with a field of eight teams. To give Ryder Park additional time to dry out following several days of rain, three of today's games were delayed a few hours and moved to Duncan Field in Hastings, with the final two games of the day to be played at Ryder. The competitive field is headlined by Kearney Runza (9-2), Reagan Buick (7-3) and Grubb & Ellis (6-1). The host team, Home Federal, has been idled by wet weather since finishing 1-4 in last weekend's Turf Classic at Westside. The Feds will play Oakview Construction this evening with their ace, Kash Kalkowski, expected to be on the mound. Tournament play wraps up on Sunday. | Tournament info | Grand Island Independent Article |
Meanwhile, in the Metro Area, Kinman Lawn Care (Benson) and Grunwald Vikings (North) will host two pools of five teams each at Omaha Home for Boys and Fontenelle Park, respectively, in the Ames Avenue Bash. Northwest Merchants (6-2), Tom Hansen Construction (5-1) and Weatherguard Systems Pride (5-3) look keep their early season momentum going. The tournament championship game will be played at 3:00 on Sunday at Omaha Home for Boys. | Tournament info |
Three Lincoln teams, Anderson Ford (North Star), Union Bank (Pius) and JC Brager (Southeast) are in action at the NP Dodge Invitational being played at Millard West and Millard South, with one four-team pool at each location. Pinnacle Bank (Papillion LaVista), 9-1 and champions of last weekend's Roadkill Classic, will compete in Pool A with the host Wildcats, Union Bank and Anderson Ford. Deeb Eagles (8-2-1), DiGorgio's (Gross), JC Brager and PrimeTime Patriots will play in Pool B at Millard South. The tournament concludes with a championship game to be played at 4:00 on Sunday. | Tournament info |
Nebraska Medical Center Bears (Bryan) and Gretna Post 216 are heading north of the border to compete in the 7th Annual Lewis & Clark Wooden Bat Classic, with the Bears playing in the Yankton pool and Gretna playing in the Vermillion pool. | Tournament info | Also, playing out of town this weekend are the Deeb Mustangs who are competing in a tournament in Oklahoma.
In Junior Legion action, Grubb & Ellis takes its Turf Classic into a second weekend, this time with twenty Junior Legion teams from across the state competing at four locations. The field includes Kearney Post 52 (9-1), Hastings Johnson Imperial Homes (6-1), GI Wells Fargo (4-2), four Lincoln teams -- JC Brager (Southeast), Carpetland (East), Sandhills Publishing (Pius) and Baylor Test Prep (Lincoln Southwest) -- Blue Valley (KS) Coffman Insurance, and a number of Metro area teams headlined by NP Dodge Wildcats (9-0), Deeb Mustangs (7-1), Associated Fire Protection (PLVS) (7-3), Prep Jr. Bluejays (7-3) and Grubb & Ellis (7-4). The Championship will be played at Westside on Sunday at 2:45. | Tournament info |
Many thanks to volunteer Gary Paul for gathering and compiling information about this weekend's tournaments. If your team is playing in or hosting a tournament, please forward a copy of your tournament schedule / bracket to Gary via email.
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Primetime Patriots Win Grubb & Ellis Juniors Turf Classic; Seniors Tournaments Cut Short by Rain
June 9, 2008
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Soggy ballfields on Sunday cut short action in three Class A Seniors tournaments -- the NP Dodge Invitational, the Ames Avenue Bash and the Home Federal Classic. The one tournament that was able to play a full schedule, including games on Sunday, was the Grubb & Ellis Junior Legion Turf Classic. In that twenty-team event, Primetime Patriots defeated the Millard West Cats 9-3 on Sunday on the artificial turf at Westside to claim the championship with a 6-0 record in the tournament.
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North by Northeast. A Grunwald Vikings baserunner slides headfirst into third as Judds Bros. Construction third baseman Max Jensen awaits the throw. The Vikings prevailed over Judds, 2-1, in wooden bat pool play on Saturday in the Ames Avenue Bash.
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In Grand Island, Sunday's five pool-play games were cancelled after thunderstorms blew threw the area late Saturday night. The host Home Federal team and Pinnacle Bank (Lincoln Southwest) were both 3-0 in pool play when tournament play was halted, without having played each other head-to-head. Reagan Buick Bulldogs and Grubb & Ellis both finished 2-1, each with a loss to Home Federal. Kash Kalkowski led the Feds offensively, with three home runs in two games, including a grand slam Friday night against Oakview Construction and another on Saturday against Westside. He also had a two-run homer against Grubb & Ellis for a total of six RBI's in the game. Kalkowski also had a two-run double against Reagan Buick to give him 12 RBI's in the three tournament games.
Sunday's scheduled semi-finals, consolation games and championship game in the eight-team NP Dodge Invitational at Millard West and Millard South also fell victim to Saturday night's storm which included an F2 tornado wreaking havoc in Millard. After the conclusion of pool play in the two four-team pools on Saturday, Anderson Ford (Lincoln North Star) emerged with a 2-1 record to claim Pool A, and DiGiorgio's (Omaha Gross) took the Pool B title via the tie-breaker. The Cougars, Deeb Eagles and Primetime Patriots were all 2-1, but ended up 1-2-3, respectively, based on fewest runs allowed.
In North Omaha, action in the wooden bat Ames Avenue Bash at Fontenelle Park and Omaha Home for Boys came to an early conclusion due to wet fields that wiped out Sunday's pool play. Weatherguard Systems (Roncalli) was leading Pool A with a 2-0 record after the completion of Saturday's schedule, and in Pool B, Fremont First State Bank and Tom Hansen Construction were both 2-0 without having played head-to-head.
In Junior Legion tournament action, pool play in the Grubb & Ellis Junior Legion Classic was completed at four locations on Saturday with Primetime Patriots winning the Padres Pool at Westside with a 4-0 record, and defending state champs Kearney Post 52 prevailing in the Rockies Pool at Omaha Burke with a 3-1 record, advancing to semi-finals with a win over NP Dodge Wildcats, also 3-1 in pool play. Baylor Test Prep (Lincoln Southwest) went 4-0 in the Indians Pool at Millard North, and Millard West Cats came out of the Angels Pool at Bryan with a 4-0 record.
In semifinals action, Primetime Patriots jumped on Post 52, 21-8, and Millard West Cats defeated Baylor Test Prep 12-8, setting up an All-Millard final. Primetime (12-5) took the crown with a 9-3 victory over their cross-town rivals. Millard Wests' other Junior Legion team, NP Dodge Wildcats, took their first loss of the season Saturday morning, falling to Post 52, 9-4. Following weekend play, NP Dodge is 12-1 on the season, and Post 52 is 12-2.
Congratulations to the Primetime Patriots for a perfect weekend record against a state-tournament caliber field and to Tournament Director Steve Clark, head coach of the Grubb & Ellis juniors, for putting together and administering a great juniors tournament.
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Hinkel, Cole Commit to Bluejays
June 11, 2008
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The number of NCAA Division I recruits from the Nebraska High School Baseball Class of 2008 has grown to eight with the recent announcements by Creighton Prep's Zane Hinkel and Omaha Skutt Catholic pitcher Austin Cole that each has accepted a scholarship offer from Creighton University. Hinkel, the state's leading hitter during the Spring 2008 season, is one of four Division I recruits and seven college recruits overall from the talented Prep squad, with at least one additional D-1 caliber player, Derek Nelson, currently uncommitted. The other current members of Prep's PI Midwest team going to Division I are Nick Ludemann (Nebraska), Josh Raburn (South Dakota State) and Ryan Briggs (Class of 2009, Virginia). Cole, one of four college recruits from the 2008 Skyhawk squad, is the latest in a line of Division I ballplayers to come out of Skutt. Recent Skyhawk grads who went on to Division I include pitchers Zach Herr at Nebraska and T.J. Walz at Kansas, catcher-turned-pitcher Bobby Lackovic at Creighton, catcher Joe Servais at Creighton and Pat Kleine who was redshirted after signing with Creighton in 2005.
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Zane Hinkel
Creighton Prep
PI Midwest
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Austin Cole
Skutt Catholic
Oakview Construction
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Hinkel and Cole were both two-sport prep standouts, with Hinkel being a three-year letter winner in baseball and basketball and earning First-Team OWH All-Nebraska, First-Team LJS Super-State, First-Team Class A All-State (both papers) and First-Team All-Metro Conference as a Designated Hitter in 2008 for baseball and Second-Team Class A All-State honors in basketball in 2007-2008. Cole was the Skyhawks' starting varsity quarterback for two seasons, earning Class B All-State Honorable Mention and River Cities Conference Academic All-Conference honors in football. In baseball, Cole earned LJS Second-Team Super-State and First-Team Class B All-State (both papers) as well as River Cities Conference Honorable Mention and Academic All-Conference honors.
Hinkel led Class A in batting average (.547) for the Spring 2008 season, was second in hits with 52, third in doubles (13) and runs scored (42) and among the Class A leaders in triples (3), RBI's (31) and stolen bases (10). Primarily used as a pitcher, Cole ranked second overall in the state with 77 strikeouts and was among the Class B leaders in wins (5) and ERA (2.09). Cole's summer coach Shawn Exner noted that during and since the Class B State Tournament, in which Skutt finished runner-up to Elkhorn, Austin's fastball has been consistently in 88 - 90 range. "He's got some very good stuff and a lot of upside as he fills out and gets stronger," observed Exner about his 6'1", 175 pound hurler.
Both players are excited about the opportunity to join the Bluejays and play for Coach Ed Servais. "He is a guy who likes to play the game the right way and demands a lot of his players," observes Hinkel. "Everything I can learn from him now about baseball and life lessons will only help me in the future when my playing days are over." Cole commented that "I am extremely excited to be a part of this program. It's an honor to be asked to play for the Jays, and I can't wait to start things up and see where the future leads." The future teammates will both pursue academic interests in business with Cole interested in accounting and finance and Hinkel likely to focus on management.
Austin is the son of Kevin and Theresa Cole. Zane is the son of Mike and Laurie Hinkel. Best wishes to these two fine young ballplayers.
More Information: | Creighton Bluejays Baseball | Class of 2008 College Commitments |
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Overnight Storms Alter Battle of Omaha Juniors Schedule
June 12, 2008, updated 11:15am
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Rainfall from thunderstorms last night has resulted in schedule changes for today's Battle of Omaha Junior Legion Tournament to be played at seven locations: Burke, Boyd Field (Central), Gross, Northwest, Bryan, Skutt and Omaha Home for Boys (Benson). Here's the latest information from site directors from each of the sites:
Bryan: Crew is hoping to have field ready to play at 1:00. If so, the 10:00am game betweeen Osseo and Natural Baseball will be played at 1:00, with the 3:30 and 6:00 games to be played as scheduled.
Boyd: No word at this time.
Gross: Play will begin at 1:00 with that game, the 3:30 game and the 6:00 game to be played as scheduled. The 8:00am game will be played tonight at 8:00pm, and the 10:30 game will be played at 8:00 Saturday morning. The quarterfinal game currently scheduled for Saturday morning at 8:00am will be pushed to 10:30am.
Northwest: The earliest that the field will be ready is 3:30 due, and that's not a sure thing, according to Site Director Todd Wesslund. If they can get started then, they will play the 3:30 and 6:00 games as scheduled and tentatively plan to make up the 8:00am, 10:30am and 1:00pm games on Saturday.
Skutt: The first two games this morning are postponed. Site Director Brian Chladek hopes to get started today at 1:00 and play the 1:00, 3:30 and 6:00 games as scheduled. Information about making up the 8:00 and 10:30 games scheduled for this morning is pending.
Benson: No games today at Omaha Home for Boys. Make-up times to be announced.
Burke: [updated 11:15am Thursday] First game today, which will be Burke vs. Illinois Outlaws, has been pushed back to 3:00, followed by Carpetland (Lincoln East) vs. Springfield, MO at 5:30 and Springfield, MO vs. Papillion Post 32 at 8:00pm. The game between the Outlaws and Carpetland originally scheduled for 10:30 this morning and the game between Burke and Papillion Post 32 originally scheduled for 6:00pm today will both be made up on Saturday.
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Pinnacle Bank Leads Metro Standings
June 12, 2008
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Colby McCord
Pinnacle Bank
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Pinnacle Bank (Papillion LaVista) took sole possession of the top spot in Metro Seniors League standings this week with a 5-0 record by defeating Grunwald Vikings (Omaha North) Tuesday night as former co-leader Grubb & Ellis (5-1) fell to Kinman Lawn Care (Benson), 2-1. Grubb & Ellis bounced back last night with a 8-2 win over DiGiorgio's while Pinnacle Bank's game at Bryan was suspended in the top of the 7th due to lightning and approaching storms with the score tied 2-2.
Pinnacle Bank, 12-2 on the season, has already surpassed its spring season wins total (11) and has benefitted from the return of Colby McCord from arm surgery and 2007 graduate Cody Daeges. Both are providing leadership as well as productivity on the field. Daeges is currently leading the team in RBI's with 21 and is hitting a torrid .605. McCord is second in runs scored with 16. Other top hitters for PB this summer are catcher Brett Anders (.405), Cody Kimball (.417), Brent Christensen (.371) and Jeff Weander (.350). Nick Yost has 4 wins on the mound for Pinnacle, and Daeges, Andrew Maher and John Carlson each have 2.
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Paul Morrow
Kinman Lawn Care
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After a standout junior campaign last year as a catcher, pitcher and hitter, McCord was widely regarded as one of the top college prospects in the Nebraska high school Class of 2008. Arm problems on his throwing side eventually led to off-season Tommy John surgery, wiping out his senior season of spring ball and cooling interest among Division I suitors. McCord eventually committed to Butler (KS) Community College in an effort to earn back Division I interest, but has recently rescinded that commitment to sign with Division II University of Nebraska Omaha. Colby is currently playing first base for Pinnacle Bank.
The number two team among Metro Senior teams, Grubb & Ellis (Omaha Westside), is 9-3 overall following Tuesday night's loss to the Jackrabbits (4-7 overall, 1-3 league). Sophomore-to-be Paul Morrow held Grubb to four hits, and recent Benson grad Chris Busch supplied the offense with a two-run homer. Morrow had started some games this spring as a freshman, but this was his first varsity win, according to Kinman Head Coach Chris Burke. "He did a nice job of hitting his spots, and we played perfect defense behind him," noted Burke.
After three weeks of League play only 40 of 72 scheduled League games have been played, largely as a result of abnormally wet weather. The league schedule of 132 games continues through July 8 prior to Area Tournament seeding on July 16.
Three teams share the lead among the twenty-two Junior Legion teams playing in the Metro League: Associated Fire Protection (Papio South), NP Dodge Wildcats (Millard West) and BDB Walls (Bellevue West), all at 3-0. Following another wet and stormy night last night, only 30 of 72 scores have been reported by the Juniors, who must complete their schedule of 132 league games (12 per team) before Area Tournament seeding on July 8.
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CWS Legion Tournaments Ready to Roll
June 16, 2008
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Traffic on the Road to Omaha is bumper-to-bumper this week as approximately 87 high school-age teams from 28 states pour into the home of the College World Series to play in one of four Metro Area tournaments and catch a bit of the action at Rosenblatt in the process. The 48-team Decker CWS Tournament hosted by Grubb & Ellis, the 48-team Battle of Omaha under the direction of Burke assistant coach Scott Hodges, the six-team Olson Classic at Northwest, and Hodges' 14-team Battle of Omaha Midweek Tournament will give approximately 1,300 visiting ballplayers from as far away as Alaska, California, North Carolina and Idaho an opportunity to experience tournament action in the Mecca of college baseball, while dreaming of someday returning someday to play in the CWS itself.
Tournament action gets started this morning at 8:00 in the Olson Classic, named after legendary Nebraska high school coach Bill Olson, at Omaha Northwest's Olson Field, with Montevideo, MN and Fairview, CO facing off. That tournament features pool play among six teams Monday through Wednesday. The Battle of Omaha Midweek Tournament also gets underway this morning at 8:00, at four locations: Fontenelle Park (Omaha North), Boyd Field (Omaha Central), Omaha Burke HS and Omaha Bryan HS. The fourteen-team field will compete in pool play Monday through Wednesday.
The 48-team Decker CWS Tournament gets underway at noon on Wednesday at eight locations with six teams at each location competing in pool play through Saturday afternoon. The eight pool winners will advance to quarterfinals to be played Saturday evening with the semifinals and championship to be played on Sunday. The host teams plus PI Midwest (Creighton Prep) and Pinnacle Bank (Lincoln Southwest) will compete against a field of 38 teams from 22 states.
The Battle of Omaha 48-team tournament kicks off Thursday at 8:00am, also with pools of six teams each at 8 locations. The eight pools are divided into two divisions, the American and National, with division semifinals and championship games to be played on Sunday among the winners coming out of each pool. The Battle of Omaha features fourteen Nebraska teams and 34 teams from 16 states.
Additional information for each tournament, including complete schedules, can be found under the Tournaments link (Class A Senior Legion). Also, ballfield location information can be found under the "Directions" link on the Main Menu.
We hope that our out of town guests have a great time while in Omaha and that they will return next year for more tournament action.
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Prep's Holtmeyer Headed to UNO
June 16, 2008
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Joe Holtmeyer
PI Midwest |
Joe Holtmeyer, one of the most overpowering high school pitchers in the state during the spring season, has given his verbal commitment to accept an offer from University of Nebraska Omaha Head Coach Bob Herold to become a Maverick. Holtmeyer's switch from Butler (KS) Community College to UNO comes on the heels of a similar change of heart by another Butler recruit, Papillion LaVista standout, Colby McCord. McCord and Holtmeyer join Lincoln North Star's Jake Benne and Millard North's Brady Hohl as UNO commitments from the Nebraska high school class of 2008. Benne, Holtmeyer and Hohl were all OWH First Team All-Nebraska and LJS First Team Super-State for the spring season. McCord did not play spring ball while recovering from arm surgery but has now rejoined the Pinnacle Bank team for the summer.
The hard-throwing Holtmeyer led Class A in strikeouts with 66 on the spring season, while compiling a 7-1 record and a .038 ERA. He is one of seven college recruits from the spring Prep squad.
UNO posted a 45-13 record in 2008 en route to a #12 national ranking in Division II, losing in the NCAA II Central Regional Championship game, 11-6, to Central Missouri. The Mavs were 22-1 in the final season of the North Central Conference, including an 18-game NCC winning streak. Coach Herold was tabbed for NCC Coach of the Year honors for the third time in his nine-year stint at UNO, Bryan Frew of Grand Island was named the league's MVP and junior Chris Kessinger (10-1, 3.08 ERA, 78K's) was named the leagues' Most Valuable Pitcher. Kessinger's award marked the third straight year that a UNO pitcher was selected for the honor, with Bellevue East graduate Tyler Cloyd named in 2006 and 2007. Cloyd (18th round, Philadelphia), pitcher Tim Huber (27th round, Kansas City) and Frew (43rd round, Philadelphia) were all selected in the recent MLB draft.
2008 was the final season for the venerable North Central Conference which began play in 1921. UNO will join the Mid-America Athletics Association which currently consists of ten NCAA Division II institutions in Kansas and Missouri.
The Mavs' 2008 active roster and redshirts included twenty-one former Nebraska high school players. On the active roster were Bryan Frew (Grand Island), Dustin Koca (Westside), Blake Denoyer (Grand Island), Josh Shirk (Millard North), Matt Meyer (Elkhorn), Tim Huber (Creighton Prep), Evan Porter (Millard North), Dan Kuzma (Lincoln Southeast), Ryan Hines (Millard North), Taylor Weisbeck (Papillion LaVista), Brian Strawn (Bellevue East), Mark Johnson (Ogallala), Drew Schwab (Westside), Jeremy Klein (Millard South), Travis Jacobi (Elkhorn), Wes Simmons (Lincoln Christian) and Brandon Dahl (Millard North). Redshirted for 2008 were: Chris Ciochon (Millard South), Paul Hansen (Columbus), Ross Helleberg (Grand Island), Dan Hunter (Papillion LaVista), Jim Kraus (Lincoln Southwest) and Cody Raile (Grand Island).
UNO plays its home games at Boys Town, but is currently raising funds for a $37.5 million sports complex proposed for the former Chili Greens site in Omaha which will include a new baseball park. No date has been set for the construction or completion of the new facility.
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Associated Fire Protection Wins Milt Simons Tourney; NP Dodge Juniors Improve to 17-1, Win Kearney Tourney
June 16, 2008
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Several Nebraska Senior Legion Teams had successful road trips this past weekend as a tune up for CWS Tournament action, but none more successful than Associated Fire Protection (Papillion LaVista South), which brought home the championship trophy from the fourteen-team Milt Simons Tournament in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The tournament runner-up in Sunday's all-Nebraska championship game was Pinnacle Bank (Lincoln Southwest). Associated Fire Protection claimed an 11-3 victory in five innings on Eli Nelson's game-ending RBI single up the middle after routing Parkston 9-0 in the semifinals earlier in the day. The Papio South team posted a perfect 6-0 record in the tournament. Pinnacle Bank finished 4-2 on the weekend, defeating North St. Paul 7-3 in semifinal action to advance to the championship. Elkhorn Post 211, Union Bank (Pius), and Primetime Patriots (Millard South) also participated in the tournament, with Elkhorn going 3-1 in pool play, and Union Bank and Primetime both finishing 2-2.
Further north in the Moorhead, MN / West Fargo, ND area, three Nebraska teams competed well in the 2nd Annual Red River Classic, consisting of 24 teams in four pools. Oakview Construction (Omaha Skutt) and DiGiorgio's (Omaha Gross) both finished with 3-1 pool play records in the rain-delayed tournament and Anderson Ford (Lincoln North Star) went 2-1. Oakview's only loss was to pool winner Elcelsior, MN, 5-3, and the Cougars' sole setback was to eventual tournament champion Winnipeg in an 8-7 nine-inning loss Friday afternoon. The three Nebraska teams posted a combined 8-3 tournament record and outscored their opponents by a combined score of 90-37.
Meanwhile, here at home, four local teams - PI Midwest (Prep), Weatherguard Systems Pride (Roncalli), Northwest Merchants and First State Bank (Ralston) - played host to four out-of-state teams - Torrington (WY), Rapid City (SD) Post 22, Front Range (CO) and Gillette (WY) - in the Post 1 CWS tournament played at Orval Smith, Roncalli and Seymour Smith. After struggling to a 1-7 start on the season, PI Midwest put together three wins in the tournament to claim the championship, and added a pair of non-tournament wins over the weekend (Cheyenne, WY and Post 22) to get to .500 for the first time on the season (7-7). According to tournament director Herb Kupfer, Gillette finished 2nd with a 2-1 record, and Weatherguard took third, also with a 2-1 record which included a loss to Gillette on Sunday.
In Junior Legion action, NP Dodge Wildcats (Millard West) went 4-0 in the seven-team Kearney Post 52 Junior Invite at Memorial Filed in Kearney to claim the championship and improve its season record to 17-1. The Wildcats' avenged their only loss of the season -- 9-4 to Post 52 in the Westside Junior Turf Classic on June 7 -- by defeating the host team, 6-3, on Friday. Post 52, currently 16-4 on the season, took 2nd with a 3-1 record, and Prep Junior Bluejays (11-6) finished third with a 3-1 record which included a 13-7 loss to Post 52 on Saturday.
Additional information about each of these tournaments may be found on the "Tournaments" link. Many thanks to volunteer assistant Gary Paul for collating and reporting tournament information. If your team is hosting a tournament, please be sure to email your tournament schedule and results to Gary.
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CWS Tournament Info Quick-Links
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Decker CWS Tourney Info
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Battle of Omaha Tourney Info
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Battle of Omaha Website
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Decker CWS Tourney Championship:
Westside quarterfinals: DiGiorgio's 6, Fargo (ND) 4
Millard South quarterfinals: Coeur d'Alene 5, San Mateo 2.
Millard West quarterfinals (played at Elkhorn): Greensboro (NC) defeated Colorado Slammers Black (Greensboro took the place of the Millard West pool winner Dublin (OH), who had a flight to catch).
Elkhorn quarterfinals: PI Midwest 5, Chico (CA) 3
Semifinals:
Semifinals at Westside: DiGiorgio's 11, Coeur d'Alene (ID) 10 (11 innings)
Semifinals at Elkhorn: Greensboro (NC) 10, PI Midwest 4
Due to schedule changes caused by rain, no overall championship game was played. DiGiorgio's and Greensboro are the tournament co-champions.
Battle of Omaha:
National Division at Burke HS
Semifinals:
San Antonio (TX) Wranglers 7, Chippewa (WI) Post #77 1
Fort Collins (CO) Lobos 1, Anderson Ford (Lincoln North Star) 0
National Division Championship:
San Antonio (TX) Wranglers 7, Fort Collins (CO) Lobos 6 (9 innings)
American Division at Roddy Field (Bellevue East HS)
Semifinals:
Gateway Prospects (MO) defeated Boise (ID) Jesuit
NW Huskies (Overland Park, KS) 6, Union Bank (Lincoln Pius) 3
American Division Championship (at Omaha Skutt)
NW Huskies (Overland Park) 11, Gateway 3
Due to schedule changes, no overall championship game was played. NW Huskies (Overland Park) and San Antonio Wranglers are tournament co-champions.
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Winkelmann and Dostal lead DiGiorgio's to Share of Decker CWS TourneyTitle; PI Midwest Falls Short in Final Game
June 22, 2008
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Brandon Winkelmann
6 hits, 4 HR's, 9 RBI's
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John Dostal
5 hits, 2 HR's, 4 RBI's
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After going 4-1 in Decker CWS Tournament pool play on their home field, DiGiorgio's (Omaha Gross Catholic) rode the hot bats of Brandon Winkelmann and John Dostal to post wins over Fargo (ND) and Coeur d'Alene (ID) at Westside on Sunday and earn a share of the Tournament Championship. DiGiorgio's and Greensboro, as winners of the two semifinal games played on Sunday, were named tournament co-champions. On Friday it was decided that the championship game originally scheduled for Sunday would be eliminated to accommodate schedule changes brought on by three days of rainy weather during the tournament. Greensboro defeated PI Midwest on Sunday in the other semifinal game at Elkhorn's Legion Field, 10-4. PI Midwest ended up with 5 wins and 2 losses in the tournament, which very nearly ended with two Omaha teams as co-champions.
Recent Gross Catholic graduate Brandon Winklemann had a monster day for DiGiorgio's, hitting two home runs in the quarterfinal win over Fargo, including a clutch walk-off three-run shot to right center in the bottom of the seventh inning with two outs and DiGiorgio's trailing 4-3. In an eleven-inning marathon battle with Coeur d'Alene played immediately following the win over Fargo, Winkelmann went four-for-four, driving in four runs with two more home runs and a double. He ended the day going six-for-eight with four home runs and nine RBI's. Winkelmann has 11 home runs on the summer, including seven during a five game stretch earlier this season.
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Winkelmann Sets All-Time Career Home Run Record for Omaha Gross Baseball
Brandon Winkelmann's four home runs on Sunday raised his career home run total to 40 (spring and summer seasons), eclipsing the Omaha Gross Catholic all-time career home run mark of 37 set by Pat Almgren (1993-1996).
Congratulations, Brandon!
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Teammate John Dostal also had a big day for DiGiorgio's, going 2-for-3 with a solo home run and throwing 6 2/3 innings in a no-decision start against Fargo. In the second game, he drove in three runs on three hits, including another home run.
Jesse Parker hit a lead off home run in the top of the eleventh against Coeur d'Alene, which turned out to be the game-winning hit. Reliever Eric Brooner earned the win, allowing only two hits and no runs in three innings of relief.
After going 6-1 in the tournament, DiGiorgio's is 15-6 on the season.
PI Midwest (14-9) went 4-1 to win a tough Millard North pool and then defeated Chico, California (4-0-1 in pool play) Sunday morning in quarterfinals action at Elkhorn. PI Midwest's pitching staff was pretty well depleted by the time they faced Greensboro in the semi's, which contributed to a 10-4 Greensboro victory.
This is the second year for the 48-team Decker CWS Tournament hosted by Westside Summer Baseball, which has been sponsoring a CWS tournament since 1999. According to Tournament Director Jim Simons, an assistant coach at Westside, it was "nearly miraculous" that only a handful of games were cancelled this year due to weather. Most teams played all five of their scheduled pool games with just one of the eight sites reducing pool play to four games as a result of wet field conditions. "The host sites really worked hard to get all of their games in," acknowledged Simons, "and I think the visiting teams were quite pleased with the quality of the fields that we have here in the Metro area. We get a lot of teams that come back year after year, so that's a pretty good indication that they like the tournament."
Congratulations to DiGiorgio's and PI Midwest for their performances in the tournament.
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Anderson Ford and Union Bank Win Battle of Omaha Pools; Fall in Division Semifinals
June 23, 2008
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Two Lincoln teams, Anderson Ford (North Star) and Union Bank (Pius) went undefeated in Battle of Omaha pool play Thursday through Saturday to win their respective pools and advance to Sunday's championship bracket. Union Bank swept the Ralston pool, 5-0, outscoring their opponents by a combined score of 51-15. The Pius team posted wins over Olathe (KS) South, pool host Ralston First State Bank, South Anchorage Wolverines, Colorado Khaos Gold and Waukegan (IL) Redbirds. In American Division semifinals action Sunday afternoon at Roddy Field, Union Bank fell to a very strong Gateway Prospects team out of St. Louis, 6-3, to end their tournament run. Gateway went undefeated in the five-team Bellevue East pool, allowing only two runs in four games. In the American Division finals, Gateway was defeated by Blue Valley (KS) Northwest Huskies, 11-3. The Division Championship win earned the Huskies a share of the Tournament Championship since the overall championship game between the American Division and National Division champs was unable to be played due to weather-related schedule changes.
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Mitchell Bean of Ft. Collins Lobos slides safely into second base with a double ahead of the tag by Anderson Ford second baseman Zach Buller. Bean's second-inning double drove in the only run scored in the game.
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Meanwhile, Anderson Ford claimed the top spot in the Omaha North pool with a perfect 3-0 record, earning the North Star team the right to advance to the National Division semifinals against the Fort Collins (CO) Lobos, who won the Skutt pool by outscoring their opponents 41-9 en route to a 4-1 pool record. The Lobos are comprised of players from Rocky Mountain High School in Fort Collins, back-to-back state champions in Colorado Class 5A in 2007 and 2008. Anderson Ford represented Nebraska well against the Lobos, battling hard before falling, 1-0, in a very close game. The Lobos then advanced to play the winner of the other semifinal contest between the winner of the Central pool, San Antonio (TX) Wranglers, and the winner of the Burke pool, Chippewa (WI) Post 77, for the National Division Championship. The Wranglers prevailed, 7-6, in nine innings to claim a share of the overall tournament crown.
Anderson Ford and Union Bank were among thirteen Nebraska teams to play in the 48 team tournament at eight host sites in Omaha and Council Bluffs. Congratulations to the two teams for winning their pools and competing well in the semifinals against quality teams from out of state.
This weekend's Battle of Omaha concludes a series of three tournaments under the direction Burke assistant coach Scott Hodges hosted at local sites during the College World Series. The 34-team Battle of Omaha 17U tournament was played the previous weekend, and on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of last week, fourteen 19U teams competed in a "mid-week" Battle of Omaha tournament. Altogether, ninety-six teams played in the three tournaments.
Hodges gave the host site coaches, players and parents high marks for keeping their ballfields playable last weekend despite three days of heavy rains. "The site hosts did a fantastic job," said Hodges. "Our out-of-state teams were happy to get nearly all of the games in and still have time to catch some CWS games." Hodges is planning to expand the field of the 17U tournament for next year as a result of increasing interest in the tournament and has other enhancements in store for the tournaments. Nike is the the major tournament sponsor and provided bats for players to use in the tournament as well as providing promotional items such as T-shirts and jackets. "The Nike sponsorship is huge," said Hodges. "We really appreciate their involvement with our tournament."
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Weather Hinders Metro League Play; Pinnacle Bank and NP Dodge Juniors Remain Unbeaten in League
June 26, 2008
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Nebraska Med Center catcher Cody Kottich keeps an eye on advancing runner Jeff Weander of Pinnacle Bank after going up high to receive a relay throw in league action on June 11at Bryan. Kottich came down with the ball and applied the tag to keep Weander from scoring in a tight game that was suspended due to thunderstorms in the top of the 7th, tied at 2. The game will be continued on July 2.
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With less than two weeks remaining before the July 8 seeding meeting for the Areas 1-4 Junior Legion Tournaments and less than three weeks remaining before the Seniors seeding meeting on July 16, Metro League teams as a whole have barely played 50% of their mandatory league schedule. The Juniors have played 69 of the 132 league games on the schedule, one more than the Seniors. Each league should have completed 99 games at this point in the season. Play in both leagues has been hampered by rain, thunderstorms and lightning which seem to frequently strike the area on Tuesdays or Wednesdays when league games are scheduled. It should be an exciting and challenging sprint to the finish line for each team to get its required 12 league games played ahead of the seeding date.
Pinnacle Bank (Papillion LaVista) remains atop the Metro Seniors standings with a 7-0 record with its game against the number two team, Grubb & Ellis (Westside) (8-1), rained out Tuesday night. Pinnacle Bank's June 11 game against Nebraska Medical Center Bears (Bryan) (4-2) was tied at two apiece in the top of the 7th inning when tornadoes and lightning in the Metro area caused play to be suspended. Play will resume at 4:00 on July 2 at Fricke Field in Papillion. The other two teams currently positioned as #1 seeds in Area Tournaments are Tom Hansen Construction (Bellevue East) (6-1) and Northwest Merchants (Omaha Northwest) (5-1).
In Metro League Junior Legion play, NP Dodge Wildcats sit atop the field with an 8-0 record as Coach Adam Steyer's team has compiled an impressive 22-1 overall record. The other teams currently occupying #1 seed positions are Deeb Mustangs (Millard North) (6-1), Grubb & Ellis (Westside) (6-2) and Associated Fire Protection (Papio South) (5-2).
Area Tournaments will be played July 16 - 21 for the Juniors at Ralston, Fricke (Papillion), Elkhorn and Westside. Senior Legion Tournaments will be played at Seymour Smith, Omaha Gross, Millard West and Brown Park (Omaha South) July 23 - 28. Winners of the seven Class A Junior Legion Area Tournaments across the state will advance to the Class A Junior Legion State Tournament to be played at Omaha Skutt July 25-29. Both Champions and Runners-Up from the seven Class A Senior Legion Tournaments will compete in one to two "Divisional Tournaments" to be played August 1 - 5, with the Class A National Division State Tournament to be held at Millard North and the Class A American Division State Tournament to be played at Norfolk. The winners of the two Class A Senior Legion State Tournaments will face off in the State Championship Game to be played on August 9 at Roddy Field in Bellevue. The Class B Senior Legion State Champion and the Class C Senior Legion State Champion will go also go head-to-head this year in the August 9 Championship Series at Roddy.
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Faces of the Game
June 26, 2008
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Joey Bartolomei
Prep Bluejays (Reserve)
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Matt Maura
Papio Post 32 (Juniors)
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Gordon Beckham
University of Georgia Bulldogs
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Chris Williams
Grubb & Ellis (Seniors)
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Nick Grage
Crimson Pride Reserves
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Justin Beranek
Fremont First State Bank (Srs)
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Dylan Vergith
Stonebrook Roofing (Juniors)
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Alex Jensen
Millard West Cats (Juniors)
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Pat Burkhardt
Primetime Patriots (Seniors)
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Alex Buechler
Ralston First State Bank (Jrs)
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Tyler Patterson
Stacey Dental (Jrs)
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Jaydee Jergenson
J.C. Brager (Srs)
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Austin Reid
NP Dodge Wildcats (Jrs)
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Adam Chapman
Grunwald Vikings (Srs)
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Coach Geary's Mom
Primetime Patriots (Srs)
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Nebraska Juniors Compete Well Out of State; Grubb & Ellis Srs. Win Skyhawk Summer Classic
June 30, 2008
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The NP Dodge Wildcats (Millard West) Junior Legion returned team from a Kansas roadtrip Sunday with a perfect 6-0 record in the Blue Valley Invitational, defeating another Metro power, Grubb & Ellis (Westside), 10-2, in an All-Nebraska championship game. With the weekend wins, the Wildcats improve to 28-1 on the season and extend their win streak to 16 after losing to Kearney Post 52 on June 7. Grubb & Ellis (22-10) went 4-2 in the tourney with their only losses in the sixteen team tournament coming at the hands of the Wildcats -- once in pool play and once in the Championship. Other Nebraska teams in the tournament included Reagan Buick Bulldogs (Burke) (19-10), who finished 3-1 in pool play (4-1 overall), Millard West Cats (16-10), who went 2-3 in pool play, and Baylor Test Prep (Lincoln Southwest), who went 4-0 during pool play before losing to NP Dodge Wildcats in the semifinals.
Another pair of Nebraska Junior Legion roadtrippers, the Prep Junior Bluejays (20-7) and DiGiorgio's made successful runs in the twelve-team Junior Upper Midwest Classic in New Ulm, Minnesota. Prep went 3-0 to win the "B" Pool and DiGiorgio's went 2-1 to finish as runner-up in the "A" Pool. DiGiorgio's only pool play loss was an 11-10 setback to Buffalo, MN. Prep and DiGiorgio's were then paired in the semifinals, with Prep winning a close one, 2-1, to advance to the Championship where the Junior Jays fell to Maple Grove, MN, 8-2. Prep had defeated Maple Grove earlier in pool play on Friday by a score of 7-2.
Meanwhile, back in windblown Omaha, the Grubb & Ellis Senior Legion team compiled a 4-1 record to claim the Championship of the six-team Skyhawk Summer Classic played at Skutt and Westside. The host team, Oakview Construction, also finished with a 4-1 record but lost to Grubb & Ellis, 12-0, in five innings in the tournament opener Friday morning. The head-to-head win earned Grubb & Ellis the crown.
South of town, the two Papillion teams, Pinnacle Bank (PLV) and Associated Fire Protection (PLVS), hosted the eight-team First Midtown Classic at Fricke Field and Papillion LaVista South High School, which included two out-of-state teams (Sioux Falls West and Topeka). Associated Fire Protection and Deeb Mustangs (Millard North) both compiled 3-0 records to lead the participants.
In other Senior Legion Tournament action, Kearney Runza and Grand Island Home Federal co-hosted the eight-team GI/Kearney Invite, played at Memorial Field in Kearney and Ryder Park in Grand Island. Three teams ended up with a 4-1 record: host team Home Federal along with Hastings Five Points and Anderson Ford (Lincoln North Star). No tie breaker information was available so we do not know at this time whether one of the 4-1 teams was deemed to be the tournament champion. During the three-day event, the two spring season champions, Home Federal and Elkhorn Post 211, were matched up twice, with Home Federal winning Saturday night's contest 10-2, and Elkhorn winning Sunday afternoon, 14-4. Sunday's loss ended a twenty-two game win streak for the 25-5 Feds, who had not lost since going 1-4 in the Grubb & Ellis Turf Classic May 30 - June 1.
Back in the eastern part of the state, Gretna Post 216 (17-10) claimed the Bennington Tournament crown with a 4-0 record, with Millard Athletic Association Red finishing second and Kinman Lawn Care (Benson) third, with a 3-1 record. Kinman is 9-18-1 overall. In Friday night action in the tournament, Kinman's Trevon Sams threw a no-hitter in an 11-0 win over Millard Sox, which would have been a perfect game, but for two infield errors committed by the Jackrabbits.
And, in local Junior Legion action, Stacey Dental (Bellevue East) posted a perfect 4-0 record to claim the 11th Annual George P. Johnson Tournament in Valley. BoysTown finished 2nd and Springfield 3rd in the tournament.
Congratulations to all of the tournament winners!
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Three All-Staters Announce Collegiate Commitments
June 30, 2008
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Joe Bircher
Weatherguard Systems Pride
Omaha Roncalli Catholic
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Derek Landis
First State Bank
Ralston
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Derek Nelson
PI Midwest
Omaha Creighton Prep
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Three of the top Nebraska high school baseball players in the Class of 2008 will head out-of-state to pursue their collegiate careers. Two will stay close to home, and the third will venture further afield but to a program that has deep ties to the area.
Joe Bircher, Derek Landis and Derek Nelson, all First-Team All-Staters for the Spring 2008 season, recently announced their college baseball commitments. Bircher, a hard- throwing 6'3" lefty and a top hitter for Roncalli, becomes the ninth member of the Class of '08 to commit to an NCAA Division I school by announcing his intention to play baseball at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois. Despite the distance, local baseball fans will be able to keep a close eye on Bircher in the coming years since the Braves are a member of the Missouri Valley Conference and will make the occasional trip to Omaha to take on conference rival Creighton University. Bircher was a dominant pitcher for the past two seasons, helping Roncalli's Legion team win the Class B State Tournament in 2007 and advance to the Class B spring season state tournament, earning Bircher Second Team All-Nebraska and First Team Class B All-State honors in the process. Joe also plays first base and was one of the top hitters in Class B this spring with a .400 batting average. He earned five wins on the mound, with 70 strikeouts, against only 15 walks, and a 0.77 ERA.
Joe is part of the first Braves' recruiting class for new Head Coach Elvis Dominguez, who takes over at Bradley for veteran coach Dewey Kalmer, a fixture at the helm in Peoria for nearly three decades. Dominguez has ties to the Omaha area as a four-year starter at shortstop at Creighton in the 80's who began his coaching career in 1987 as an assistant at Creighton under Coach Jim Hendry, now General Manager of the Chicago Cubs. Dominguez then became the varsity coach at Omaha Central High School (1988-92) before returning to the Creighton staff as infield instructor and hitting coach for five years (1993-97). Also on Head Coach Jack Dahm's staff at that time, in addition to Dominguez, were current Gross head coach Mike Filiopowicz and former Northwest head coach Bill Olson. After a four-year stint at the University of Iowa as an assistant coach, Dominguez took the head job at Eastern Kentucky, where he has been for the past seven years.
The two Dereks, Nelson and Landis, both First Team All-Nebraska and First Team All-State selections, will become teammates at Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs. Landis, a lanky 6'5" right-hander, had a breakout spring season for Ralston, earning 8 of the Rams' 11 wins, while compiling a 0.70 ERA and striking out 50. He led the Rams to the 2008 Class B state tournament, where he earned one of his wins against eventual runner-up Skutt in first-round action. Like Nelson and Bircher, he was selected to participate in the 2008 Collin-Orcutt All-Star Game, and distinguished himself further by earning Co-MVP honors along with Prep's Zane Hinkel.
Nelson, a 6'4" lefty, was Prep's top RBI man with 38, second in the state only to Millard West's Steve Jensen (46), while hitting .449 with 5 home runs and 36 runs scored. Featuring an excellent glove at first base as well as a powerful bat, Nelson was selected for First Team Super State honors by the Lincoln Journal Star in addition to being picked First Team All-Nebraska by the World Herald.
Iowa Western, playing in NJCAA Division I, has compiled an impressive record of achievement in post-season play with numerous appearances in the NJCAA World Series, including three in the past four years. Head Coach Marc Rardin's 2008 squad had a record-setting 54-12 season, the most wins ever for the Reivers, earning a #9 national final ranking. In six seasons at the helm at Iowa Western, Coach Rardin has averaged more than 43 wins per year while compiling a record of 262-80 (.767). Nebraska players on the 2008 roster included Pat Boyd (Papillion LaVista), Jon Reed (Millard West), Aaron Williams (Hastings), Ben Brown (Millard West), Dan Klusaw (Bryan), Charlie Shaver (Elkhorn) and Brian Feekin (Papillion LaVista).
Also recently announcing his commitment to the Rievers was Andrew Shalgren of Omaha Burke.
For a list of commitments by members of the Nebraska High School Class of 2008, currently numbering 77, click on the "Class of 2008" link on the Main Menu to the left. The list can be sorted by Player's Name, High School, College and College Location.
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NP Dodge Wildcats Run the Table to Repeat as Metro League Juniors Champs
July 7, 2008
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Kyle Kruger
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Jordan Gonsior
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Tyler Ware
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Behind a powerful offensive machine that has averaged more than ten runs per game, the NP Dodge Wildcats Junior Legion team has rolled to a 35-1 record for the season, which includes an unblemished 12-0 record against Metro League opponents. With an 8-4 win over Prep Bones yesterday, the Wildcat's wrapped up the Metro League title for the second consecutive year. The top-place finish earns Head Coach Adam Steyer's squad the #1 seed in one of the Areas 1-4 Tournaments to be played July 16-21 at four Metro locations.
Although the official seeding meeting won't take place until tomorrow morning, it appears that Deeb Mustangs (Millard North) has finished runner-up at 11-1, thereby also winning a #1 seed, with Grubb & Ellis (Westside) (9-2) and Primetime Patriots (Millard South) (8-2) poised to claim the other two #1 Area Tournament seeds if they can win their final league games to be played today. Grubb & Ellis will play Elkhorn this evening, and Primetime will play Deeb Eagles (Central) and Stacey Dental (Bellevue East) today.
This Millard West squad seems to be cut from the same cloth as recent varsity teams put on the field by Head Coach Frank Ryan -- featuring a relentless hitting attack and team speed. The young Wildcats are hitting over .400 as a team for the season, led by Kyle Kruger and Jordan Gonsior who are both hitting around .495. Kruger has also stolen 34 bases and scored 65 runs to lead the offensive attack. Assistant Coach Tom Giles credits Tyler Ware as the "quiet leader" of the team, with 25 extra base hits in 36 games, including 6 home runs. Ware is also the Wildcats' "go to guy" on the mound for the big games. Other top hurlers for the league champs are Adam Morey (7-0) and Austin Reid (6-0).
"This is a very talented, very special group of kids," observed Giles. "They have learned to accept their roles and play as a team. Most of these guys were used to hitting at the top of the order when they came in here so some have had to adjust to a new role as maybe an 8-hole or 9-hole hitter. But they've done that, and it has worked out great."
The Wildcats' only loss on the season was a 9-4 setback to defending state champ Kearney Post 52 (33-4) in Grubb & Ellis Junior Turf Classic pool play on June 7, but they avenged that loss by defeating Kearney, 6-3, in the first round of Kearney's invitational tournament, which earned the Wildcat's the championship over the host team. The Wildcats have also won three other tournaments this summer: the Midwest Classic at Blue Valley, Kansas and two invitationals hosted by the Wildcats.
Congratulations to the Wildcats on their impressive season record and for repeating as champions of the Metro League.
Metro League Junior Legion Standings (Note: not all league records are current. Some scores are unreported from league games that were made up over the weekend. Several games are on tap today as teams use the final day of the season to play "make-up" games from earlier rainouts.)
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Junior Legion Area Tournament Fields Set for Areas A1-A4
July 8, 2008
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Metro-area Class A Junior Legion coaches met Tuesday morning at Westside High School to determine the Metro League season final results and to seed the twenty-one area teams into four Junior Legion Area Tournaments (Areas 1, 2, 3 & 4) that will begin next Wednesday, July 16. As expected, NP Dodge Wildcats was crowned the League Champion for the second year in a row with a perfect 12-0 record in league play. The #2 overall spot was earned by Deeb Mustangs (11-1) with 3rd and 4th going to Primetime Patriots and Grubb & Ellis, respectively. Both the Patriots and Grubb & Ellis posted identical 10-2 records, with the tie going to the Patriots for playing opponents with a slightly higher winning percentage. The top four teams each earned a coveted #1 seed in one of the four Area Tournaments to be played in the Metro. The rest of the teams were assigned to Area Tournaments and seeded using a serpentine method based on their overall ranking in league play.
The four double-elimination Area Tournaments in the Metro will be played at the following locations: Orval Smith in Ralston, Fricke Field in Papillion, Legion Field in Elkhorn and at Westside High School. Brackets and schedules will be posted under the "Tournaments" link on the Main Menu as soon as available.
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Area 1 @ Westside
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Area 2 @ Elkhorn Legion Field
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Area 3 @ Fricke Field
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Area 4 @ Orval Smith
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| 1. Grubb & Ellis |
1. Deeb Mustangs |
1. Primetime Patriots |
1. NP Dodge Wildcats |
| 2. Associated Fire Protection |
2. DiGiorgio's |
2. Prep Jr. Jays |
2. Skutt Skyhawks |
| 3. Prep Bones |
3. Reagan Buick Bulldogs |
3. Papillion Post 32 |
3. Millard West Cats |
| 4. BDB Walls |
4. Elkhorn Post 211 |
4. Stacey Dental |
4. Westside Warriors |
| 5. Northwest Merchants |
5. Deeb Eagles |
5. Nebraska Med Center |
5. First State Bank |
| 6. Millard Sox |
Tournament Dates: July 16 - 21, 2008
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The four Metro Area Tournament Champions, plus the winners of the Area Tournaments for Area 5 (to be played in Lincoln), Area 6 (to be played in Columbus) and Area 7 (to be played in Scottsbluff) will advance to the Nebraska Junior Legion Class A State Championship to be played at Omaha Skutt Catholic High School, July 25 - 29. This year for the first time, the Class A Junior Legion State Champion will advance to an eight-team American Legion Junior Legion Regional Tournament to be played at Legion Field in Blair, Nebraska, July 31 - August 4. In addition to the Nebraska State Champion, the tournament field will include the state champs from the following states: North Dakota, Minnesota, Kansas, Missouri, Texas and Nevada. And, as the host team, the Blair Juniors, a Class B team, will also earn a spot in the tournament. The Regional Tournament is the final stop in Junior Legion post-season play.
League play for Metro Senior Legion teams continues through next Tuesday, July 15, with seeding of the Senior Legion Areas A1 - A4 Tournaments to take place on Wednesday morning. The Class A Senior Legion Area Tournaments will be played July 23 - 29, with the two State Tournaments (American Division and National Division) to be played August 1 - 5. The winners of the two State Tournaments will then meet in a one-game playoff for the State Championship on August 9 at Roddy Field in Bellevue. Both the State Champion and the State Runner-Up in Class A will advance to Regional Tournament play August 14 - 18; one to the Region 6 (Central Plains) Tournament in Minot, ND, and the other to the Region 4 (Mid-South) Tournament in Enid, OK. Regional Tournament winners move on to the American Legion World Series to be played in Shelby, North Carolina, August 21-26.
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Home Federal Repeats as Cornhusker League Champs
July 8, 2008
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Home Federal (Grand Island) defeated Union Bank (Lincoln Pius), 9-3, Monday night at Ryder Park to successfully defend its Cornhusker League Championship crown. The Feds defeated Pinnacle Bank (Lincoln Southwest) a year ago at Sherman Park to claim the championship on behalf of the Western Division of the League. Just as in last year's game, Husker recruit and Tampa Bay Rays draftee Kash Kalkowski was the winning pitcher. However, unlike last year's game in which Kalkowski cruised to an early 3-0 lead before a late home run tied the game and pushed it into extra innings, the decorated hurler got off to a bumpy start on a hot, muggy night, falling behind 2-0 in the first inning after walking the first two batters faced. Kalkowski then settled into a groove and held Union Bank to only four baserunners the rest of the way, including a solo homer by Aaron Molinaro in the top of the 7th. He ended the night allowing only four hits, striking out five and walking two.
Slade Bolles went 3-for-4 with 3 RBI's, and Nate Zook drove in two runs to ignite a six-run fifth inning by the Feds.
With the win, Home Federal, coached by Tino Martinez, improves its Class A-leading record to 32-6 (.842). Union Bank, which qualified for the championship with the best league record in the Cornhusker East, is now 21-14.
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Oakview's Beutler Injured in Outfield Collision
July 8, 2008
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John Beutler
Oakview Construction
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It was deja vu all over again at Omaha Gross Tuesday evening -- paramedics, coaches and worried parents huddled over a player lying injured in the outfield as the flashing lights of a rescue squad vehicle approached the field. A violent collision in the outfield between Oakview Construction's right fielder John Beutler and second baseman Michael Servais in the sixth inning of Oakview's' Metro League game at Gross rendered Beutler unconscious for about twenty seconds, according to Oakview coach Shawn Exner. Fortunately, a potentially serious head / neck / spinal injury appears to have been avoided as Beutler (pronounced bite-ler) was examined at Nebraska Medical Center, diagnosed with a concussion and then released.
Beutler and Servais were both running towards each other as hard as they could to get to a "tweener" according to Coach Exner. In an effort to catch the ball, Beutler left his feet and dove headfirst, extending himself horizontally in the air towards the ball. As he did so, Servais was charging hard into the outfield, with his eyes focused towards the ball. The two athletes, moving rapidly in opposite directions, then collided, with Beutler's head striking against Servais' hip. Beutler actually made the catch despite the violent impact, and the batter was ruled out. But, at that moment, the result of the play was the last thing on anyone's mind as the two players hit the ground. In addition to Beutler's head injury, Servais suffered a bruised hip in the collision.
"We do teach our guys that the infielder needs to stay high, and the outfielder comes in low in that situation so that we avoid a head-to-head collision," said Exner. "But in the heat of the moment you never know what they're really going to do. Fortunately, they did it the way we teach it. If it had been head-to-head, it would have been really, really bad."
For the Gross parents and fans in attendance Tuesday evening the scene was eerily similar to the April 24 outfield collision on the same field which resulted in a concussion and broken jaw for Cougar outfielder John Cunningham. After several weeks of having his jaws wired shut, Cunningham has made a full recovery and has rejoined his team. In the April incident, Cunningham's grandfather also had to leave the field in an ambulance as he broke his leg running down a hill to go out to the field to see if John was all right. Fortunately, in both incidents trained paramedics were on the scene and were able to examine and stabilize the victims until the rescue squad arrived.
Beutler will need to get some rest for a week or so, but should be cleared to rejoin the team for its trip to a tournament in Rapid City, SD next Wednesday. John is the son of Eric and Xiaoli Beutler. Mr. Beutler is a pilot for Northwest who was out of town at the time of the accident but anxiously listened by phone as his wife described the scene on the field. Mrs. Beutler reports this morning that John has a stiff back and a sore jaw but is up and around and feeling much better. At the time of the accident, John was just getting back into action after tearing a ligament in his thumb earlier in the season. He also underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum in 2006. A 2008 graduate of Skutt, John will attend Creighton University on an academic scholarship next fall.
Anyone who would like to send "get well" wishes to John, may do so by leaving a message on the guestbook of the Skutt baseball website.
In other Oakview Construction news, Creighton recruit Austin Cole is recovering from Tommy John surgery that took place on July 1. In the absence of the staff ace, senior-to-be Zach Croonquist is coming on to have a very nice summer, with a 6-0 record, 46 strikeouts and a 0.44 ERA. The 6'8", 210 pound right-hander is delivering his fastball consistently in the 86-90 mph range, according to Exner, and has developed a nice slider. "If we had both Austin and Zach going this summer, the top of our rotation would be about where we were last summer with Walz (KU pitcher T.J.) and Kleine (Neosho Community College pitcher Jake)." The defending Metro League champs concluded league play with an 8-4 record after the 6-0 loss Tuesday and await the outcome of games yet to be played by two three-loss teams, DiGiorgio's and Tom Hansen Construction, and several other teams with four losses to see if they will earn one of the four #1 Area Tournament seeds. Oakview is 18-9 overall, and have won nine of their last ten games.
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Grubb & Ellis Seniors Finish Atop Metro League Standings
July 11, 2008
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Grubb & Ellis (Westside) has concluded play in the 22-team Metro League with an 11-1 record by defeating Nebraska Medical Center Bears (Bryan), 11-4, Tuesday evening. As the only team with one loss in league play, the fewest among all contenders, G&E has captured the regular season league crown and a #1 seed in one of the four Areas 1-4 Tournaments to be played July 23 - 29 at four Metro locations: Seymour Smith, Omaha Gross, Millard West and Brown Park. Pinnacle Bank (Papillion LaVista) has finished league play with a 10-2 record to claim second place overall and a #1 seed in Area Tournament play. The pivotal game in determining the league championship was a 5-2 win by G&E over Pinnacle Bank on June 30, which was Pinnacle Bank's first loss in league play. The Papio team then dropped an 8-0 game to Oakview Construction the following night. Grubb & Ellis's only league loss was a 2-1 setback to Kinman Lawn Care (Benson) on June 10.
The Grubb & Ellis team features a strong core of seniors-to-be including Chris Williams, Jory Goldstrom, Jake Rupp, Ryan Tomlinson and others who led the Grubb & Ellis Juniors to a Junior Legion State Championship as freshmen in 2006. In league games, G&E featured pitching and defense that held opponents to an average of less than two runs per game (1.917) while scoring exactly six runs per game. The Westside team's record is 27-8 overall for the summer.
Pinnacle Bank (23-10) has had a strong summer following a rare sub-.500 spring season. Offensively, Pinnacle is led by 2007 graduate Cody Daeges, who is hitting .515 with 32 RBI's on the summer, Colby McCord (.301, 23 RBI's), Brett Anders (.326, 21 RBI's) and Jacob Krska (.341, 17 RBI's). On the mound, Nick Yost and Andrew Maher are each 6-1, and Daeges is 5-2.
With ten league games yet to be played before next Wednesday's seeding meeting, the final two #1 seeds are still up for grabs. A pair of three-loss teams, DiGiorgio's (8-3) and Tom Hansen Construction (7-3), are on track to claim the remaining #1 seeds if they can win their remaining league games. DiGiorgio's (Omaha Gross) will host backyard rival Nebraska Medical Center Bears (Bryan) Monday evening in a make-up of an earlier season rainout. A win by the Cougars (23-7 overall) over the Bears (20-18 overall, 6-5 league) would clinch a #1 seed. Tom Hansen Construction (Bellevue East) can clinch the final #1 seed with wins Monday against Northwest Merchants (17-15 overall, 5-5 league) and Tuesday against Primetime Patriots (19-11 overall, 6-5 league).
If either DiGiorgio's or Tom Hansen Construction (or both of them) drops a remaining league game next week, they would join three four-loss teams -- Oakview Construction (Skutt), Associated Fire Protection (PLVS) and NP Dodge Wildcats (Millard West) -- in a battle for the #1 seed slot or slots. Oakview and Associated Fire Protection have finished play at 8-4, while NP Dodge has a game remaining against South Omaha Post 331. If NP Dodge wins, and both DiGiorgio's and Tom Hansen drop a game, there would be a five-way tie among 8-4 teams for fourth place in the league. The tie-breaker would be determined by each teams' opponent win percentage since all five will not have played head-to-head. Currently, DiGiorgio's has the highest opponent win percentage among the five teams (.536) by a considerable margin.
It should be noted that the standings and scenarios set forth above are unofficial at this time, pending final review and approval of the league results by the coaches at the seeding meeting next Wednesday.
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Kruger Flashes Leather in Triple Web-Gem Performance as Junior Wildcats Hold Off Prep in Extra Innings
July 11, 2008
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And he can hit too! Centerfielder Kyle Kruger of NP Dodge Wildcats Juniors put on a defensive clinic with three exceptional catches in the Wildcats' 5-3 nine-inning win over the Prep Junior Jays in tournament action at Westside on Sunday. Above (left) he is shown running down a ball hit deep into the gap in right-center, and (center and right) catching a ball at the warning track in straightaway center while running with his back to homeplate. Sandwiched in between those catches was a diving catch in shallow left-center (below right). Kruger, the WIldcat's leading hitter with a batting average of just under .500, also drove in the go ahead run in the top of the 9th to break a 2-2 tie.
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If this weekend's six-team Grubb & Ellis Juniors Round Robin was just a tune-up for Area Tournament play, get ready for some really great baseball next week when Junior Legion Area Tournament action gets underway! Saturday morning's battle between NP Dodge Wildcats (39-2) and the Prep Junior Jays (26-13) was played as though it might have been for the state championship. After punching each other a couple of times with single run innings, the score remained knotted at two runs apiece from the bottom of the fifth through the top of the ninth inning when the Wildcats finally broke through for three runs. The Junior Jays responded with one in the bottom of the ninth and were threatening with a man on and only one out when a hard liner back to the pitcher resulted in a game-ending double play as the runner was doubled up at first. The Junior Jays had their chances in the bottom of the seventh with the score still tied at two with bases loaded and two outs but were unable to get the winning run across in regulation.
Primetime Patiots (shown on this website as 14-9, although record may not be up to date) surprised NP Dodge Wildcats on Thursday by handing the Wildcats their second loss of the season, 6-4. The Patriots finished second overall in the tournament with a 2-1 record behind Deeb Mustangs (26-7) who defeated the Patriots on Friday, 10-2, en route to a 3-0 first place finish in the tourney.
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And Prep's defense wasn't too shabby either. With NP Dodge's Kevin Grant running from second base on contact, Prep shortstop Bryan Sova dove to his left to stop a hard hit ground ball up the middle by the Wildcat's Jordon Gonsior. Sova got to his feet to attempt the putout at first but the speedy Gonsior beat out the throw. Prep's first baseman then rifled a strike to catcher Michael Langdon in time to nail Grant at the plate. After the next hitter came to the plate, Langdon threw out Gonsior at second base to snuff a steal attempt and end the inning.
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Metro League Season Concludes; Senior Legion Area Tournaments Seeded for Areas A1-A4
July 17, 2008
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Metro-area Class A Senior Legion coaches met Wednesday morning at Westside High School to determine the Metro League season final results and to seed the twenty-one area teams into four Senior Legion Area Tournaments (Areas 1, 2, 3 & 4) that will begin next Wednesday, July 23. As expected, Grubb & Ellis was crowned the League Champion with an 11-1 record in league games, and Papillion Pinnacle Bank finished runner-up with an 10-2 record. DiGiorgio's defeated Nebraska Medical Center Monday evening, 13-5, to finish in third place with a 9-3 record. Oakview Construction, NP Dodge Wildcats and Associated Fire Protection ended up in a three-way tie at 8-4 with Oakview claiming the #4 spot by virtue of the Opponent Winning Percentage tie-breaker that was used to resolve the three-way tie. The top four finishers were each awarded a #1 seed in one of the four Area Tournaments as a reward for their outstanding league performance. The rest of the teams were assigned to Area Tournaments and seeded using a serpentine method based on their overall ranking in league play.
As an indication of the parity in the league this summer, in addition to the three 8-4 teams, six teams tied with 6-6 records and three teams tied with 4-8 records. Tom Hansen Construction and Primetime Patriots attempted to get a make-up game played Tuesday evening, the last day before the seeding meeting, but were rained out. The two teams tentatively rescheduled for Wednesday morning at 7:30 am in a last ditch effort to finish their schedule, but wet fields prevented the game from being played. As a result, both teams took a loss for the unplayed game. Three other games were not made up which also resulted in losses for both teams.
The four double-elimination Area Tournaments in the Metro will be played at the following locations: Seymour Smith, Millard West High School, Brown Park and Omaha Gross Catholic High School. Brackets and schedules will be posted under the "Tournaments" link on the Main Menu as soon as available.
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Area 1 @ Seymour Smith
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Area 2 @ Millard West
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Area 3 @ Brown Park
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Area 4 @ Gross
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| 1. Grubb & Ellis |
1. Oakview Construction |
1. Pinnacle Bank (PLV) |
1. DiGiorgio's |
| 2. PI Midwest |
2. NP Dodge Wildcats |
2. Tom Hansen Construction |
2. Associated Fire Protection |
| 3. Nebraska Med Center Bears |
3. Deeb Eagles |
3. Primetime Patriots |
3. Deeb Mustangs |
| 4. Elkhorn Post 211 |
4. Reagan Buick Bulldogs |
4. Ralston First State Bank |
4. Northwest Merchants |
| 5. Heartland Lighting / DC Electric |
5. Kinman Lawn Care Jackrabbits |
5. Souh Omaha Post 331 |
5. Millard Sox |
| 6. Grunwald Vikings |
Tournament Dates: July 23-29, 2008
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In addition to the four Metro Area Tournaments, the Area 5 Tournament will be played in Lincoln, Area 6 in South Sioux City and Area 7 in Hastings. The top two finishers in each of the seven tournaments will move on to one of two state tournaments, either the National Division State Tournament at Millard North High School or the American Division State Tournament at Memorial Park in Norfolk to be played August 1 - 5.
In addition to the Area Tournament Champions and Runner Ups, a host team will also be assigned to each State Tournament. The teams assigned to these tournaments will be as follows:
Class A National Division State Tournament at Millard North: Area 1 Runner Up, Area 2 Champion, Area 3 Runner Up, Area 4 Champion, Area 5 Runner Up, Area 6 Champion, Area 7 Runner Up and Host Team.
The Host Team will be Deeb Mustangs, unless the Mustangs finish as Runner Up or Champion in the Area 4 Tournament. If the Mustangs win Area 4, they will compete in the National Division State Tournament in the Area 4 Champion slot, and the highest Metro League fnisher among the four other teams sponsored by Millard Post 373 (either NP Dodge Wildcats, Oakview Construction, Primetime Patriots and Millard Sox) would take the Host slot at the Millard tournament. Right now, the highest ranking Millard team is Oakview, but if the Skyhawks were to win or finish runner-up in their Area Tournament, the Host spot would be awarded to the next highest Millard team, and so on. If Deeb Mustangs were to finish as Runner-Up in Area 4, the Area 4 Champion will go to the Norfolk Tournament, so that the Mustangs can stay at home. In any scenario, Deeb Mustangs will play in the National Division Tournament.
Class A American Division State Tournament at Norfolk: Area 1 Champion, Area 2 Runner Up, Area 3 Champion, Area 4 Runner Up, Area 5 Champion, Area 6 Runner Up, Area 7 Champion and Host Team.
Norfolk Nebraska Central Railroad will play in the Area 6 Tournament in South Sioux City. Like the Mustangs, under any scenario, Norfolk will play in the American Division State Tournament in Norfolk. The method for selecting the alternate site host for the Norfolk tournament has not been provided to us yet at this time.
The winners of the two state tournaments will meet in the Class A State Championship Game on August 9th at Roddy Field, Bellevue. Both teams will advance to Regional Tournament play in either the Region 6 (Central Plains)Tournament in Minot, ND or the Region 4 (Mid-South) Tournament in Enid, OK to be held August 14 - 18. The Regional Tournament winners will play in the 2008 American Legion World Series to be held in Shelby, NC, August 21-26.
The Class A State Championship Game on August 9 will be preceded by a game between the Class B State Champions and the Class C State Champions, also at Roddy. The winner of that game will play in a Regional Tournament in Pratt, KS. On the night before the Championship Games, an All Class Banquet of Champions will be held for the four teams, coaches and parents at Cascio's Steakhouse in Omaha with Creighton University Coach Ed Servais as the guest speaker.
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Winkelmann Signs with Rievers
July 18, 2008
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Brandon Winkelmann
Omaha Gross Catholic HS
DiGiorgio's Sportwear
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Iowa Western Community College has added another First-Team All-Nebraska player to its list of late season recruiting triumphs, this time landing a player that many consider to be the one of the very best all-around players in the state. Brandon Winkelmann, a recent graduate of Omaha's Daniel J. Gross Catholic High School and current member of the DiGiorgio's Sportwear Senior Legion team, has recently signed a National Letter of Intent to play baseball for the Rievers, joining Derek Nelson of Creighton Prep and Derek Landis of Ralston, who also recently committed to the Council Bluffs juco.
The 6'0, 200 pound Winkelmann is "a complete player" according to his coach, Mike Filipowicz. "He's a power hitter who knows the strike zone and has put up unbelievable numbers, is a phenomenal shortstop, can start games on the mound or can come in as a closer -- just a great athlete with great character. He's one of the top 3 or 4 players we've ever had here in this program."
That short list of top Gross players also includes Brandon's older brother Steve, a 2004 graduate who went on win National Juco Player of the Year honors at Neosho County Community College in Chanute, Kansas prior to joining the Creighton Bluejays where he was the starting third baseman for the past two seasons, leading the team in home runs and RBI's in 2008. Filipowicz noted that Brandon and Steve had very similar four-year careers at Gross, with Steve coming up to varsity during the spring of his freshman year and Brandon moving up to varsity during June of his freshman summer. Several of the Gross High careers records broken by Brandon were set by his older brother.
During his four-year career at Gross, Brandon has posted prodigious offensive numbers, including a .368 batting average, 305 hits, 277 runs scored, 249 RBI's, 86 doubles and an unbelievable 43 home runs.
At this point in the 2008 summer Legion season, Brandon has 14 home runs, a .443 batting average (54 for 122), has driven in 67 runs, walked 31 times, stolen 14 bases and struck out only 12 times. He has an on-base percentage of .587 and an unbelievable slugging percentage of .943 (total bases divided by official at bats). On the mound he is 3-1 in 13 appearances, with 28 strikeouts in 28 2/3 innings, a 2.20 ERA and four saves.
A two-sport athlete, Brandon was a thousand yard rusher in football last fall, earning Class B Second Team All-State honors. In baseball, he led Gross to the 2008 Class B State Tournament with a .494 batting average, the highest in Class B, and was among the state's leaders in total hits (41), doubles (14), home runs (4), RBI's (27) and runs (33). He earned OWH First Team All-Nebraska and LJS First-Team Super State recognition as a Utility Player as well as being selected as a First Team All-State player by both papers. He was also selected to play in the Collin-Orcutt All-Star Game this spring which honors the top seniors in the Metro area. Since the game fell on the same night as the Gross High graduation, Brandon was only able to stay long enough to get one at bat -- and, fittingly, hit a home run.
Congratulations, Brandon, on an unbelievable high school baseball career!
In related news, IWCC Baseball announces that it is hosting two "Baseball Prospect Showcases" this summer to be held on August 24 and September 7. The registration deadline for both camps is August 15. See link below for additional information.
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DiGiorgio's Hosts Jayson Jewell Day for PI Midwest
July 20, 2008
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Time Out to Reflect. DiGiorgio's (blue) and PI Midwest (white) players and coaches gather in the infield at Gross High for a photo on Saturday during PI Midwest's annual end-of-season Jayson Jewell Day observation. Jewell was a former Creighton Prep player who died in a car accident two years ago.
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With the spotlight focused on Area and State tournaments these next few weeks, a game was played Saturday between PI Midwest (Prep) and DiGiorgio (Gross) that highlighted sportsmanship rather than winning and losing.
For the past two years, PI Midwest has finished its summer season home schedule with a game honoring its Seniors and also the memory of Jayson Jewell, a former Prep player who died in a traffic accident two years ago prior to the beginning of the spring season at Iowa Western Community College where he was intending to play ball. Jayson loved life and loved baseball, and the annual Jayson Jewell Award has brought an added meaning to the end of the summer season for the team. For each of the past two years, the opponent for that special end-of-season game has been DiGiorgio's Sportswear, Omaha Gross Catholic High School's summer Legion team.
Due to construction currently taking place at Creighton Prep, the PI Midwest team is without a home field this summer. Recognizing the importance of this event to the PI Midwest team, coaches and parents, DiGiorgio's coach, Mike Filipowicz, offered to host the season ending game and allow Prep to honor its seniors and present the Jayson Jewell Award.
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Jace Anderson
2008 Jayson Jewell
Award Recipient
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When the PI Midwest team arrived at the Gross High ballfield for the game, they were greeted by a street sign by the stadium reading "Jayson Jewell Parkway." Both teams wore special jerseys for the game, all with the number 9, Jayson's number. The Prep parents provided food and drinks, free of charge, to everyone at the game, and no gate fees were taken. Prep Coach Pat Mooney's two boys, PJ and Parker, sang Take Me Out to the Ballgame. Senior Jace Anderson won the 2008 Jayson Jewell Award. On hand, in addition to Jason's parents and sister, were the past two winners of the award.
After the game, both teams met at the pitcher's mound for group pictures - a very special moment for all the people in attendance.
The record will show Prep won the game, 4-3. But the Gross team, coaches, and fans made sure everyone won something that day, and made sure that the memory of a former player would live on and continue to inspire those who followed in his footsteps.
Editor's Note: many thanks to Prep fan Steve Branscombe for contributing this story and photographs. This event reminds us of the immortal words of sportswriter Grantland Rice:
For when the One Great Scorer comes
To write against your name,
He marks not that you won or lost ,
But how you played the Game.
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Millard West Cats Scratch Out Upset Win Over NP Dodge; Several Close Games in Juniors Tournament Action
July 18, 2008
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Twin Killing. Jeff Schnebel strokes a double in the Millard Sox' elimination game win over Prep Bones Saturday evening at Westside in Area 1 Junior Legion action. Schnebel's twin brother, Andrew (below), hit a walk-off home run in the Millard West Cats' upset win over #1 seed NP Dodge Wildcats in the Area 4 Tourney at Ralson.
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Sometimes little brother gets in a good lick against big brother. But then, look out. Big brother tends to not like that very much. We'll see if that common intra-family scenario holds true for the Millard West Cats and NP Dodge Wildcats in Area 4 Junior Legion Tournament action at Orval Smith Field in Ralston.
The Cats (24-17) definitely got their lick in last night against the other Millard West team in Winner's Bracket action, upsetting the #1 seeded Wildcats (41-3) by a score of 2-1 on Andrew Schnebel's walk-off, pinch-hit home run. The upset drops the Wildcats into a loser's bracket elimination game tonight at 8:00 against the winner of the 5:00 game between Skutt Skyhawks and host team Ralston First State Bank. If the Wildcats can prevail in the 8:00 game tonight, they will have an opportunity to settle the family feud with little brother in Monday evening's championship game. The Wildcats would need to beat the Cats twice since the Cats are the unbeaten team in the tournament. But first, the Wildcats will need to get past tonight's opponent.
In Saturday evening's Area 4 Losers Bracket game, the Skyhawks stayed alive with a 20-1 win over Westside Warriors, which ended the season for the Warriors.
In other Junior Legion Area Tournament action last evening:
Area 1: The tournament's #6 seed, Millard Sox, scored 7 runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to eliminate Prep Bones, 11-8. The Sox first baseman, Jeff Schnebel, twin brother of the Cats' Andrew, contributed to the win with a pair of RBI doubles. It was the second straight last-inning come-from-behind outburst for the Sox who scored 8 in the final frame Friday evening to eliminate #4 seed, BDB Walls.
The Winner's Bracket game at Westside was a dandy, with the #2 seed, Associated Fire Protection, getting past the #1 seed, Grubb & Ellis, 7-6 in eight innings. Grubb & Ellis and Millard Sox will square off in an elimination game this evening at 6:00 with the winner advancing to play Associated Fire Protection in the Championship Game at 5:00 Monday evening with a second game to follow, if necessary. A win this evening by Grubb & Ellis would set up a rematch with Associated Fire Protection with a trip to the State Tournament at Skutt at stake.
Undefeated Team: #2 Associated Fire Protection
Loser's Bracket Teams: #1 Grubb & Ellis and #6 Millard Sox
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Andrew Schnebel
Millard West Cats
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Area 2: In another one-run Winner's Bracket game, third-seeded Reagan Buick Bulldogs defeated the top-seeded Deeb Mustangs 4-3 to advance to Monday's Championship Game in the Area 2 Tournament at Elkhorn's Legion Field. The Mustangs will play second-seeded DiGiorgio's this evening at 6:00 with the winner moving on to Monday's Championship needing to beat the Bulldogs twice to advance to State. The Championship round begins at 5:30pm.
Undefeated Team: #3 Reagan Buick Bulldogs
Losers' Bracket Teams: #1 Deeb Mustangs and #2 DiGiorgio's
Area 3: The Area 3 Tournament at Fricke Field in Papillion is a day behind due to wet field conditions last week. In yet another one-run Winners' Bracket game last evening, #1 seed Primetime Patriots held off the #4 seed, Stacey Dental, 14-13, to advance to this evening's 8:00 game against Prep Jr. Jays. Both teams are undefeated in the tournament. The winner will move on to Tuesday evening's Championship Game. In Losers' Bracket action, host team Papillion Lavista Post 32 ended the season for the Nebraska Medical Center Bears, 4-3, to stay alive. Post 32 will play Stacey Dental at 5:00 this evening in another elimination game. The winner of that game will play the loser of Primetime Patriots - Jr. Jays tomorrow evening at 6:30, with the winner advancing to the Championship on Tuesday.
Undefeated Teams: #1 Primetime Patriots and #2 Prep Jr. Jays
Losers' Bracket Teams: #3 Papillion LaVista Post 32 and #4 Stacey Dental
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Boys' Night Out. Westside varsity head coach Bob Greco (left) and Papillion LaVista South varsity head coach Bill Lynam (right) enjoy a night off as they cheer for their respective Junior Legion teams Saturday night in Area 1 action at Westside. Lynam's juniors prevailed 7-6 in 8 innings. Also enjoying the action is Westside assistant coach Curt Shockey (center).
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Area 5: #3 seed Carpetland (Lincoln East) is undefeated in the tournament and will play the winner of this evening's 7:30 elimination game between Sandhills Publishing (Pius) and Baylor Test Prep (Lincoln Southwest) in Monday afternoon's 2:30 Championship at Sherman Field. A second game will be played at 5:00 if necessary. In yesterday's action, Carpetland won the winner's bracket battle against Sandhills, 7-2, while top-seed Baylor Test Prep eliminated both Stonebrook Roofing, 14-4, and #2 seed J.C. Brager, 4-1, to stay alive. BTP had a first round bye in the seven-team tournament but lost to Sandhills in its first tournament game on Friday.
Correction: we incorrectly reported a score from last week in Area 5 which caused the above summary to be inaccurate. In Game 9 on Friday, Sandhills defeated Carpetland 7-2, rather than the other way around as we had reported. So, Sandhills, rather than Carpetland was the undefeated team in the winner's bracket, and Carpetland and Baylor Test Prep were the two one-loss teams. The two losers' bracket teams played each yesterday with Baylor Test Prep winning 12-2. BTP then advanced to the championship against Sandhills last evening with Sandhills winning 6-4. Sandhills went 4-0 in the tournament to earn the right to play in the state championship at Skutt.
Undefeated Team: Sandhills Publishing
Losers' Bracket Teams: Baylor Test Prep and Carpetland
Area 6: In the seven-team Area 6 Tournament being played at Pawnee Park in Columbus, the host team Columbus First National Bank Blues is the undefeated team in the Winners' Bracket and awaits the winner of tonight's elimination game between #5 seed Grand Island Wells Fargo and #1 seed South Sioux City Post 307. South Sioux and Wells Fargo met on Friday with the Cardinals winning, 3-1. The Cardinals were sent to the Losers' Bracket last evening by the Blues in a 4-2 game. In the Losers' Bracket game last evening, Wells Fargo eliminated Fremont First State Bank, 7-5. The Championship Game (or games) between the Blues and the winner of tonight's rematch between South Sioux and Wells Fargo will be played tomorrow evening at 5:00 with a second game to follow, if necessary.
Undefeated Team: #2 Columbus First National Bank Blues
Losers' Bracket Teams: #1 South Sioux City Post 307 and #5 Grand Island Wells Fargo
Area 7: The Area 7 Tournament concluded this morning with top-seeded Kearney Post 52 (39-4) defeating Hastings Johnson Imperial Homes 10-0 to advanced to the State Tournament. Kearney, the defending state Junior Legion champions, dominated the four-team tournament by outscoring its three opponents by a combined score of 46-5. Congratulations to Coach Brad Archer and Post 52 for punching their ticket to Omaha.
Area 7 Champion: Kearney Post 52
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Nebraska Reserve Baseball League State Tournament Action Underway at Four Sites
July 21, 2008
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State Tournaments at the Class A, B, C1 and C2 level in the Nebraska Reserve Baseball League are rapidly moving towards conclusion this week with fifteen teams still in contention for a state championship. The twenty-six teams in the NRBL, in its third year of operation under the direction of League Commissioner Mike Castagnoli, were seeded into one of four state tournaments based on their League Standings at the conclusion of a fourteen-game regular season league schedule. The top ten teams were placed into the Class A State Tournament that is being hosted by Elkhorn and being played at Sandlot, Elkhorn High School and Elkhorn Legion Field. The next seven teams were placed into the Class B State Tournament being hosted by and played at Burke High School, the next six teams are playing in the Class C1 State Tournament being hosted by the Omaha South Packers at Brown Park, and the final three teams along with non-league teams Bellevue East, Fremont and Omaha Benson, are playing in the Class C2 State Tournament being hosted by Fremont at Moller Field.
The Class B Champion will be crowned tonight, with Classes A and C1 wrapping up tomorrow evening and Class C2 completing its tournament on Thursday evening.
Summary of Tournament Standings:
Class A: Three games tonight at Sandlot Ridge will determine which two of the four remaining teams will advance to tomorrow night's Championship Game. Number one seed Pacesetters (2-0) and Papillion LaVista South (3-0) will play at 6:00 at Sandlot Ridge with the winner going on to the championship. Tonight's game between the two unbeaten teams will be preceded by a Losers' Bracket elimination game between a pair of 2-1 teams, Millard West and the Keystone Sun Devils at 4:00. The winner of this evening's Losers' Bracket game will then play the loser of the 6:00 Winners' Bracket game at 8:15 tonight with the winner of tonight's finale earning the other spot in the Championship.
Clearly, the bracket favors the winner of tonight's Winners' Bracket game. That team will get two chances, if necessary, to defeat the team coming through the Losers' Bracket, and the team that does come through the Losers' Bracket must win two games tonight and two tomorrow night to win the Championship. Thus, the stakes are very high in the match-up between Pacesetters and Papillion LaVista South tonight.
Unbeaten Teams: Papillion LaVista South (3-0) and Pacesetters (2-0)
Losers' Bracket Teams: Millard West (2-1) and Keystone Sun Devils (2-1)
Class B: In yesterday's action #1 seed Prep (1-0) and #3 seed Gladiators (2-0) met in the Winners' Bracket with the Gladiators winning 9-5. The loss dropped Prep into the Losers' Bracket where they were paired up with Burke, a team that they had defeated 10-3 on Saturday. The hometeam Bulldogs had eliminated the Cardinals, 9-1, earlier in the day to stay alive, and then avenged their earlier loss to the Bluejays with an 11-5 upset over the top seed to advance to tonight's Championship Game. The Bulldogs will need to defeat the Gladiators twice to earn the Class B State Championship.
Unbeaten Team: Gladiators (3-0)
Losers' Bracket Team: Burke (4-1)
Class C-1: At Brown Park three teams are still alive in the six-team Class C-1 State Tournament, led by Gross (2-0), which is already assured of a spot in Tuesday night's Championship Game. The Omaha Miracles (2-1) and Roncalli (1-1) will face off at 7:00 this evening in an elimination game with the winner advancing to play Gross tomorrow night.
Unbeaten Team: Gross (2-0)
Losers' Bracket Teams: Omaha Miracles (2-1) and Roncalli (1-1)
Class C-2: The six-team Class C-2 State Tournament at Fremont didn't start play until Saturday, and no teams have yet been eliminated. Two Losers' Bracket games are on tap for tonight with Benson and Millard Sox playing at 5:45 to be followed by Bryan vs. North at 8:00. The two winners will meet tomorrow night at 5:45.
Meanwhile, in the Winners' Bracket, Bellevue East and Fremont were both beneficiaries of first-round byes and were then successful in their first games on Saturday with Bellevue East defeating Millard Sox 5-3 and Fremont defeating North 7-1. The two unbeatens will meet tomorrow night at 8:00. The winner of that game will advance to Wednesday evening's 8:00 Championship Game against the team coming out of the Losers' Bracket. An second championship game will be played Thursday evening at 7:00, if necessary.
Unbeaten Teams: Bellevue East (1-0) and Fremont (1-0)
Losers' Bracket Teams: North (1-1), Millard Sox (1-1), Bryan (0-1) and Benson (0-1)
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Class A Juniors Area Tournaments Featured Tight Games, Drama
July 23, 2008
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Brian Sova
Prep Junior Bluejays
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Does anyone associated with Class A Junior Legion baseball have any fingernails left? After a wild week of nailbiters in Area Tournament play, it seems unlikely. A total of sixty-five Class A Junior Legion Area Tournament games were played in the past week with 40% of them (26) decided by two runs or less. And, in the nine championship games played in the past three days, eight of them were decided by two runs or less. Only Kearney Post 52, which dominated Area A-7 by winning its championship 10-0 and outscoring its tournament opponents 46-5 in three games, seems to have avoided the high anxiety of Area Tournament week.
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PrimeTime Patriots Head Coach Tom Cooper (right) presents the Area 3 Junior Legion Championship plaque to pitcher Quentin Urban (center) and teammates Tuesday evening. Urban threw 10 innings, scattering 7 hits and allowing only one run to earn the win and scored the go-ahead run.
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No Area Tournament better exemplified the intense competition for State Tournament berths than did Area A-3, played at Fricke Field in Papillion. In that tournament, six of the eight games were decided by a single run and another was decided by two runs. Fittingly, the Championship Game between #1 seed PrimeTime Patriots and #2 Prep Jr. Jays was an eleven-round marathon that remained tied at one apiece from the third inning until Blake Headley's bloop single to center scored Quentin Urban from third to give PrimeTime the lead in the top of the 11th, and ultimately, a 2-1 PrimeTime victory. "That was the best played high school baseball game I've ever seen -- at any level," said an exhausted but elated Tom Cooper, head coach of the Patriots. "They made plays, then we came back and made plays. Their guy (Bryan Sova) made great pitches, and then our guy (Quentin Urban) made great pitches. If we didn't hang in there long enough to finally get their guy off the mound on the pitching rule (maximum of 10 innings in 3 days), I'm not sure we'd have ever won this game." Sova allowed a run on two hits in the top of the first, then threw 8 2/3 no-hit innings before giving up a hit in the top of the 10th. He finished with a "no decision" after allowing only three hits in ten innings of work. The Patriots won each of their three games in the tournament by a single run.
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DiGiorgio's players hoist the hardware after sweeping Reagan Buick in the A-2 Championship. The Cougars rebounded from a first round loss by winning five straight elimination games.
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The Area A-2 Tournament in Elkhorn also featured close games and plenty of drama as a gutsy DiGiorgio's team fought back from a first-round 8-5 loss to Reagan Buick Bulldogs to win five straight elimination games by a total margin of 9 runs for the Championship. The Cougars were one strike away from the end of their season in the bottom of the seventh Sunday night before pulling off a 7-6 upset win over #1 seed Deeb Mustangs. They then defeated Reagan Buick twice on Monday night, 2-0 and 5-3, for the Championship.
Area A-4 had only one one-run game, but it was a very dramatic one as a game-winning, walk-off, pinch-hit home run by Andrew Schnebel of the Millard West Cats on Saturday sent heavily-favored #1 seed NP Dodge Wildcats to the Loser's Bracket. In fact, the intra-family skirmish between the two Millard West teams was THE storyline of the tournament, as the Wildcats came back through the Losers' Bracket for a rematch with the Cats in Monday's Championship Game. The Cats broke through for four runs in the top of the seventh inning to turn a 4-2 deficit into a 6-4 lead over the Wildcats. Cats pitcher Anthony Falcone, who went the distance, then retired three of the four top hitters in the Wildcats' lineup to end the Wildcats' season at 42-4. "Bittersweet." said Cats coach Chris Emanuel. "I'm so proud of our guys. We went through a rough patch earlier in the season, and they just hung in there and figured some things out. But I also feel for those guys (the Wildcats). We know all those kids. That's a great team. Both teams deserve to go to state."
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Milard West Cats teammates celebrate by giving winning pitcher Anthony Falcone a lift. Falcone threw a complete game in the Cats' 6-4 win over NP Dodge Wildctas (42-4).
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Area A-1 Champions Grubb & Ellis and Runner-Up Associated Fire Protection went head-to-head in three games decided by a total margin of four runs. Associated Fire sent the host team to the Losers' Bracket Saturday evening, 7-6, but Grubb & Ellis battled back with an elimination game win over an upstart Millard Sox team on Sunday for a rematch with Associated Fire in Monday's Championship. Grubb & Ellis prevailed in two close games, 3-1 and 3-2, to earn a State Tournament berth.
In the seven-team Area A-5 tournament at Sherman Field in Lincoln, #4 seed Sandhills Publishing sent #1 seed Baylor Test Prep to the Losers' Bracket on Friday. The Lincoln Southwest team then battled back through the Losers' Bracket for a rematch in the Championship Monday evening where Sandhills prevailed again, 6-4. Sandhills went 4-0 in Area Tournament play to advance to State.
Area A-6 host team Columbus First National Bank Blues, the #2 seed, sent the #1 seed, South Sioux City Post 307, to the Losers' Bracket in a close game, 6-4, on Saturday, and Grand Island Wells Fargo finished the Cardinals off in a 7-0 elimination game Sunday evening. The Blues then prevailed over Wells Fargo, 3-2, in another nail-biter Championship on Monday.
Defending State Champion Kearney Post 52 (42-4) experienced very little drama in the four-team Area A-7 Tournament at Scottsbluff, steamrolling the field in three-lopsided wins.
The eight-team Class A Juniors State Tournament field will include three #1 Area Tournament seeds (Grubb & Ellis, PrimeTime Patriots and Kearney Post 52), three #2 seeds (DiGiorgio's, Columbus First National Bank Blues and Host Team Skutt Skyhawks), a #3 seed (Millard West Cats) and a #4 seed (Sandhills).
Tournament action gets underway on Friday at Omaha Skutt Catholic High School with opening round games at 11:00, 2:00, 5:00 and 8:00. | Tournament Bracket / Schedule |
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Area Tournament Photos
July 26, 2008 --
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Big Fly: Kearney Post 52 teammates greet Alex
Quintana after his grand slam home run. The defending Class A Junior Legion
state champs pounded out a 15-1 win over PrimeTime Patriots Friday afternoon in
Junior Legion state tournament action at Omaha Skutt.
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Two of the Best, Sombody's Goin' Down: Associated Fire
Protection shortstop Kendall Wehrle puts a tag on Brandon Winkelmann of
DiGiorgio's in A-4 Tournament action at Omaha Gross Friday night. Wehrle and
WInkelmann are widely regarded as two of the best in the state. Associated Fire
prevailed in the contest, 3-0.
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| One of those Days. An infield pop-up falls harmlessly to the ground
between four PrimeTime Patriots infielders in their loss to Kearney in the
Juniors State Tournament. |
Game Winner. Catcher Jarett Guenette (center) of Millard West Cats
drove in the winning run in the bottom of the 7th to give the Cats a 4-3 win
over a stubborn Columbus First National Bank Blues team in first round Junior
Legion State Tournament action on Friday. |
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Painful Season Ending Losses Eliminate Contenders; Five Senior Legion Area Championships Decided Today
July 27, 2008
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Teams fighting for survival in Saturday's elimination games were faced with starkly contrasting possibilities: win and be assured of a trip to a State Tournament, or lose and see your season -- and for seniors, your high school career -- come to an end. No middle ground. All or nothing. Jubilation or devastation.
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It's All Over. Tom Hansen pitcher Corey Buckely faces the reality of a season-ending 5-3 loss to Papio Pinnacle Bank in Area 3 action Saturday. Buckley and teammates Ryan Keele and Jerred Morrison will continue their careers at Iowa Central Community College next year.
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Tom Hansen Construction, Reagan Buick Bulldogs, JC Brager and Scottsbluff Westco Zephyrs all finished their seasons yesterday with gut-wrenching losses that left them one win short of playing in one of the two Class A Senior Legion Tournaments that will be played at Millard North and Norfolk beginning on Friday. PI Midwest's up-and-down season also ended yesterday in Area 1 action with an 11-10 eleven-inning loss to Elkhorn Post 211. The only elimination game victim to have been spared the pain of having its season ended was Deeb Mustangs who will host the National Division State Tournament.
Area 1: Play in yesterday's winners'-bracket showdown at Seymour Smith between #1 seed Grubb & Ellis and #3 seed Nebraska Medical Center Bears was suspended in the top of the 6th inning due to a sewer line / water leak near the Grubb & Ellis dugout. The game will resume today at 4:00 with Grubb & Ellis batting in the top of the 6th inning, trailing 4-3. The winner clinches a state tournament berth, while the loser plays Elkhorn at 6:00 in an elimination game. The winner of the 6:00 game earns a spot in the Championship and an automatic state tournament berth.
The Elkhorn-PI Midwest game yesterday that ended Prep's season was a dandy. PI Midwest jumped out to a two-run lead in the first, but Elkhorn came back with two runs in the second to tie, and then scored two more in the 5th to take a 4-2 lead. PI Midwest rallied back with three runs in the 6th to take a 5-4 lead, which was increased to 6-4 by Matt Bond's solo home run in the bottom of the 7th. Elkhorn scored two runs in the top of the 9th and held PI Midwest in the bottom of the inning to send the game into extra innings. After a scoreless tenth, Elkhorn erupted for four runs in the top of the 11th on a two-out 2 RBI single by Jake Long followed by a two-run double by Patrick Johnson. PI Midwest scored three in the bottom of the inning on a bases-loaded double by Max Heurter and had the tying run on third and the go-ahead run at first before hitting into a game-ending double play. Rob Wheeler got the win and Josh Bullock picked up the save for Elkhorn.
Winners' Bracket: Nebraska Medical Center Bears and Grubb & Ellis
Losers' Bracket: Elkhorn Post 211
Area 2: Number one seed Oakview Construction rebounded from a humbling 16-2 loss to #2 seed NP Dodge Wildcats on Friday to defeat Reagan Buick Bulldogs 8-5 in a losers' bracket elimination game last evening. The win clinched a state tournament bid for Oakview and earns a rematch at 2:30 today with the Wildcats for the Area Championship. John Beutler went 8 2/3 innings for Oakview, receiving run support from John Elliot (3 RBI's) and Bret Swain who singled, tripled and homered. The loss ends the season at 26-19 for new head coach Kevin Koch and his Bulldogs. Seven Bulldogs from the Class of 2008 are going on to play college ball.
Winners' Bracket: NP Dodge Wildcats
Losers' Bracket: Oakview Construction
Area 3: After being tied with Tom Hansen Construction at one apiece through five innings, #1 seed Papillion Pinnacle Bank put up single runs in the top of the next three innings to forge a 4-1 lead. But, Tom Hansen's Ryan Keele brought the Bellevue East team back within one with a two-run opposite field home run in the bottom of the eighth. After Papio added an insurance run in the top of the 9th, THC got two runners aboard against reliever Cody Daeges in the bottom of the inning but were unable to get them home. Nick Yost threw 8 solid innings, striking out seven and scattering seven hits. The season ended for #2 seed THC with a 30-14 record.
Winners' Bracket: PrimeTime Patriots
Losers' Bracket: Papillion Pinnacle Bank
Area 4: Number one seed DiGiorgio's earned a state tournament berth and a rematch with #2 Associated Fire Protection in the today's 5:30 Championship Game with a 5-3 win over Deeb Mustangs. The season continues for the Millard North team despite the loss since they will host the National Division State Tournament at their ballpark next week. Brandon Winkelmann threw a complete game for DiGiorgio's, striking out eleven, and also had three hits and two RBI's. Brian Boro add two hits and an RBI, and Adam Kresl had a hit and two RBI's. The Cougars welcome the return of John Dostal who has missed Area Tournament action to this point while preparing for and playing in the Shrine All-Star football game. Associated Fire defeated DiGiorgio's 3-0 Friday night.
Winners' Bracket: Associated Fire Protection
Losers' Bracket: DiGiorgio's
Area 5: The top two seeds in Area 5, #1 Anderson Ford and #2 Union Bank, are still alive and will square off at 2:00 today for the Championship. Anderson is 3-0 in the tournament, including a 5-4 win over Union Bank Friday night. Union Bank battled back through the losers' bracket with a 17-6 win over JC Brager yesterday afternoon. Brager was trying for a double-header sweep after defeating Pinnacle Bank (LSW), 2-0, earlier the day but saw its season come to an end with an 20-18 record.
Winners' Bracket: Anderson Ford
Losers' Bracket: Union Bank
Area 6: The top four seeds are still alive in the Area 6 tournament being played at Voss Field in South Sioux City with #1 seed Grand Island Home Federal (38-8) and South Sioux City alone in the winners' bracket. Norfolk Nebraska Central Railroad and Fremont First State Bank are both 1-1 after eliminating Columbus and GI Chief Industries, respectively, in losers' bracket action yesterday. The winners' bracket teams will play at 4:00 today followed by the losers' bracket elimination game at 7:00. The survivor of the loser's bracket game will play the loser of the Home Federal - South Sioux game tomorrow at 6:00 with the winner advancing to Monday's championship against the winners' bracket team. Norfolk is assured of playing in the state tournament as the host of the American Division State Tournament. If Norfolk finishes as either the champion or runner-up of Area 6, the third-place finisher in the tournament will take the host slot in Norfolk.
Winners' Bracket: South Sioux City Post 307 & Grand Island Home Federal
Losers' Bracket: Norfolk Nebraska Central Railroad & Fremont First State Bank
Area 7: In the four-team Area 7 tournament at Duncan Field in Hastings, Kearney Runza (37-11) is in the driver's seat with a 2-0 record in the winners' bracket. Kearney will play North Platte today at 2:00 for the right to represent Area 7 in the National Division State Tournament at Millard North.
Winners' Bracket: Kearney Runza
Losers' Bracket: North Platte First National
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Comeback Cougars Do It Again to Win A-4; Elkhorn Sweeps Bears in A-1
July 29, 2008
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Cooling It. Elkhorn bench players beat the heat with wet towels and shade during the 4:00 championship game against the NMC Bears.
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B-a-a-a-a-a-ck! An unidentified Elkhorn baserunner dives back to first on a pick-off attempt as Kyle Lynch of NMC Bears reaches with the tag.
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Elkhorn outifielder Tadd Johansen (left) gets twisted up on a fly ball but makes the catch. Eric Dreessen (right) threw 8 innings on a hot day for the game 1 win, allowing only 4 hits. Both runs were unearned. Dreessen was even hotter at the plate, driving in 9 runs in two games on 4 hits and a sac fly.
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After trailing 9-4 after 7 innings in game 2, Elkhorn scored 3 runs each in the 8th and 9th for a 10-9 win, giving the Antlers their first Class A Area Championship since moving up to Class A seven years ago. Elkhorn qualified for state last year as a site host.
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Git 'er Dunn! Associated Fire Protection's Anthony Dunn goes down low to move runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt.
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Fence!! AFP first baseman Mark Harris goes to the fence for a foul ball. Although this ball went out of play, Harris made a nifty grab later on a similar play.
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On Boro-ed Time. DiGiorgio's Brian Boro (center, hidden) is mobbed by teammates at the plate after sending the game into extra innings with a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth inning.
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Cardiac Cougars. DiGiorgio's rallied from big deficits in both championship games to sweep AFP in extra-innings on consecutive nights. The Cougars came back from 6-0 to win 7-6 in 11 innings Monday night after coming back from a 9-0 deficit to win 10-9 in 10 innings on Sunday.
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"I guess this is what you would call 'snatching victory from the jaws of defeat'," observed a hoarse-throated Mike Filipowicz after his DiGiorgio's team came charging back once again from a late-inning deficit against Associated Fire Protection to win the Area 4 Championship, this time scoring six runs in the final three innings of regulation to tie the game before winning it in the eleventh. "It's exciting to win this way but we've got to be more consistent. We can't continue to spot leads to good teams like this," added the veteran Gross skipper.
In Sunday's heart-stopper between DiGiorgio's and AFP, the Cougars came back from 9-0 by scoring 10 runs in the final four innings to win in the tenth and force a second championship game. In Monday night's winner-take-all game, DiGiorgio's once again dug themselves into an early hole and trailed 6-0 coming to bat in the bottom of the seventh. The Cougars finally got on the board with two runs in the inning and then added three more in the bottom of the eighth to get within one. In the bottom of the ninth, Brian Boro, who came on to pitch in the top of the inning, drove a fly ball over the left field fence to tie the game and send it into extra innings. Boro held the Titans in check with three innings of strong relief, giving the Cougars a chance to get the winning run across. After Adam Kresl drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the eleventh, Brandon Winkelmann hit a ground ball through the infield between short and third, moving Kresl into scoring position. John Dostal then laid down a sacrifice bunt to put runners on second and third with one out. With first base open, Tom Van Haute was intentionally walked, bringing Chris Lewis to the plate. With the infield drawn in for a play at the plate, Lewis hit a hard grounder to the right side which was knocked down without a play as Kresl sprinted home for the winning run. Kresl led the DiGiorgio's offense with three hits on the night.
The win puts the Cougars in a very strong eight-team field in the National Division State Tournament at Millard North where they will be paired against Papillion Pinnacle Bank in the 9:30am game on Friday. Associated Fire Protection takes the Area 4 Runner Up slot in the American Division State Tournament in Norfolk and will play PrimeTime Patriots at 11:00 on Friday.
While the Cougars and AFP were playing the rubber match in their best-of-three series, over at Seymour Smith another stubborn South Omaha team, Nebraska Medical Center Bears, was fighting back from an 11-2 loss in the 4:00 Area 1 Championship Game against Elkhorn Post 211. In the "if necessary" second championship game, the Bears forged a 9-4 lead going into the 8th inning, needing only to hold the Antlers to fewer than five runs over the final six outs. Jake Ritzdorf led off the 8th for Elkhorn by getting hit by a pitch and moved to second on Ben Zahm's infield hit. A balk by Bears' pitcher Lars Trizila moved the runners to second and third with Eric Dreessen at the plate. Dreesen then ripped a single that scored both runners. Dreessen moved to third on walks to Josh Bullocks and Jake Long and then scored on Patrick Johnson's sacrifice fly. Reliever Andrew Simpson held the Bears scoreless in the bottom of the eighth to make it 9-7 heading into the top of the ninth.
In the ninth, Jon Henne walked, Ritzdorf reached on a fielder's choice, and Zahm singled to put two runners on for Elkhorn with Dreessen coming to the plate. Dreessen lashed a line-drive double into the gap in left-center to tie the game at nine. Tadd Johansen then singled Dreessen home for what would be the winning run. Simpson pitched around a two-out walk and a single, striking out the last batter for the win.
Dreessen drove in 9 of Elkhorn's 21 runs scored on the day with four hits and a sacrifice fly. He was also the winning pitcher in the 4:00 game, throwing eight innings and allowing only four hits. In the first game he singled and doubled to drive in four runs. In that game Jake Ritzdorf also had three hits and scored three times, and Jake Long tripled.
In the second game the Antlers pounded out 18 hits, including a double and a single by Dreessen and Henne, four singles by Zahm, a pair of base hits by Ritzdorf and Long and an RBI double by Patrick Johnson. The Bears tallied fifteen hits in the game.
The win sends Elkhorn to Norfolk to play in the American Division State Championship with their game to be played at 2:00 on Friday against the Area 6 Runner Up. The Nebraska Medical Center Bears will stay at home to play in the Millard North state tournament with their opening round game against the Area 6 Champion, which will be decided tonight when GI Home Federal and Fremont First State Bank square off in South Sioux City. Grand Island is the undefeated team in that tournament, so it would take two wins by Fremont to send the Feds to Norfolk in the Area 6 Runner Up slot. Fremont defeated host team South Sioux City Post 307 by a score of 12-5 to qualify for a state tournament berth.
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Kearney Post 52 Repeats as State Juniors Champ with win over PrimeTime, Advances to Regionals
July 31, 2008
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The Legion Way. Players, umpires and fan honor America during pre-game ceremonies prior to Wednesday evening's Class A Junior Legion State Championship.
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Don Kiviniemi, Jr., American Legion Athletic Chairman for the Metro Area looks on during pre-game festivities at Skutt. Skutt Head Coach Keith Engelkamp and parent volunteers had the ballpark looking festive for the event.
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Lead Off Bomb. Quentin Urban gets the Patriots on the board early with a lead off home run to start the game. Urban's big blast scored the only run for the Patriots in the 5-1 loss. Urban had two of the Patriot's four hits, finishing 2-for-2 with a walk.
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Legging it Out. Long-legged Tyler Shields strides through first base to reach on a throwing error in the top of the 4th. Pinch runner Brandon Landanger, running for the pitcher Shields, scored Post 52's first run on Josh Redman's double.
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Patriots' shortstop Blake Headley (left) was solid on defense gobbling up ground balls. However, seven defensive errors by the Patriots contributed to the loss. A proud mom (right) wears her loyalty to the Post 52's on her back.
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The Post 52 batboy (left) had some wheels! Good hustle, kid. Heat and exhaustion are reflected in the face of PrimeTime's Kyle Honeycutt (right). The Patriots played back-to-back championship games, defeating Grubb & Ellis in the first, 4-3.
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Post(52)-Game Celebration. Post 52 players celebrate the 5-1 win over PrimeTime Patriots after recording the final out in the bottom of the 7th. The win earned Kearney the Class A State Championship for the second straight year.
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To the Victors . . . Kearney centerfielder Alex Johnson and his bleach-blonde teammates receive championship medals from Post 52 head coach Brad Archer. Kearney improved its record to 46-5 with the win.
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Kearney Post 52 broke open a 1-1 tie with four runs in the top of the 6th that lead to a 5-1 win Wednesday evening over PrimeTime Patriots and a repeat performance as the Class A Junior Legion State Champions. The game was the third in the tournament between the two teams as the Patriots battled back in the losers' bracket from a 15-1 first-round loss to the defending state champs to defeat Kearney 9-5 on Monday. The Patriots earned their way into the Championship Game with a 4-3 win over Grubb & Ellis in Wednesday's 4:00 game despite going hitless in the contest.
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Kearney Post 52
2008 Nebraska Class A Junior Legion State Champions
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Quentin Urban put the Patriots on top early with a lead-off home run. That would prove to be the only run on the day for the Millard South team as Kearney starting pitcher Tyler Shields allowed only three more hits the rest of the way, including a single by Urban. The 6'4" sophomore-to-be struck out seven and allowed only one walk. Shields also had a base hit, reached on an error and was credited with a run when pinch-runner Brandon Landanger scored on Josh Redman's fourth-inning double that tied the game at one apiece.
PrimeTime starting pitcher Ricky Kojdecki held the potent Kearney offense in check through 5 2/3 innings, surrendering only the one run on three hits, but Post 52 scored four runs with a two-out rally in the sixth on three hits and three Patriot errors. Alex Quintano and Brandon Pacheco had RBI doubles in the inning, and Trey Nygren, who was 2-for-3 in the game, drove in a run and scored a run. The Patriots hurt themselves with a total of seven errors in the game.
The win extends Post 52's lengthy post-season road trip as the champs move on to Regional Tournament action that begins today in Blair and runs through next Monday. The Blair Junior Legion team, runners up to Gretna in last night's Class B Junior Legion State Tournament in Nebraska City, will host an eight-team Regional Tournament at Veteran's Field in Blair. Post 52 will play the Missouri Junior Legion state champion today at 5:00 to be followed by Blair vs. the North Dakota state champion at 8:00. In earlier match ups today, it will be Texas vs. Nevada at 10:00 and Kansas vs. Minnesota at 1:00. | Tournament Bracket |
Post 52 started the post-season at the other end of the state two weeks ago on July 17 in the Area 7 Area Tournament in Scottsbluff. That tournament ended on the 20th, and the team and its entourage came to Omaha to begin play in the State Tournament at Skutt on the 25th. After a quick trip home after wet field conditions on Tuesday delayed the Championship by one day, the team returned to the Metro area on Wednesday, won the Championship and then headed to Blair where they could possibly remain through next Monday, August 4.
Congratulations to Coach Archer and his team for an impressive 46-5 season and repeating as state champs. Best wishes in Blair. Perhaps win #50 can be attained there.
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Associated Fire Protection ends Oakview's season at Norfolk, 11-5, advances in Losers' Bracket
August 2, 2008
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Oakview Construction starting pitcher John Beutler delivers to the plate in Sunday's elimination game at Norfolk against Associated Fire Protection. Beutler has fully recovered from a concussion suffered earlier in the season during a collision in the outfield.
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Associated Fire shortstop Kendall Wehrle prepares to tag Oakview's Andrew Gard on a steal attempt. Gard was out on the play.
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| Oakview shortstop John Elliott smothers a ground ball to keep it from going into the outfield. |
Associated Fire's Brian Donohoe gets a two-strike bunt attempt down in fair territory to advance runners to second and third.
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Oakview second baseman Jaime Johnson goes high to snowcone a high throw on Donohoe's bunt. Johnson was covering first on the bunt coverage.
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Johnson comes down with the ball on a very athletic play. He then threw to second in an effort to double off a runner who was scrambling back to the bag after initially breaking for third on the apparent overthrow.
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| When Oakview shortstop John Elliott received Johnson's throw he rifled the ball home to catcher Corey Stringer who put the tag on the runner from third, Eli Nelson, who tried to score when the throw went to second. Nelson was out on the play. |
Oakview centerfielder David Gottschalk lays out to spear a sinking liner. Gottschalk was able to glove the ball for the out.
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Associated Fire rightfielder Eli Nelson makes a sliding catch on a hard-hit liner off the bat of John Elliott. The exceptional catch was a pivotal play in the game as it helped to limit damage in Oakview's 4-run sixth inning.
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Oakview rightfielder Tom Ruzicka makes a catch on a fly ball. |
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Andrew Gard (left) hits the ball for Oakview. Beutler and Zach Kroonquist look on as Oakview rallies in the sixth.
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David Gottschalk and Oakview teammates put on their rally caps.
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In an effort to aid the hitter, the Associated Fire dugout performs their traditional two-out, two-balls, two-strikes ritual by rubbing two fingers along the bills of their ballcaps . . . . . .
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. . . . which concludes with caps turned skyward.
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Elkhorn Stays Alive with 13-3 Win Over Norfolk
August 2, 2008
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Norfolk fans in attendance included Ken Sidlinger (2nd from left) and crew from Norfolk sponsor, Nebraska Central Railroad.
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Tad Johansen of Elkhorn goes through his pre-game preparation with a wad of Double-Bubble.
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| Elkhorn coach Jerry Frerichs keeps an eye on his defense and his clipboard. |
A.J. Spanel of Norfolk strokes a double.
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Josh Bullock of Elkhorn returns the favor with a double of his own. Jake Benne and Patrick Johnson both homered for the Antlers. Benne also had a 3-run triple.
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Norfolk rightfielder Andrew Rutten dives for a sinking liner.
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| Tanner Lancaster throws in relief of starter Brant Ristau (left). The umpire crew stays hydrated on a hot day. |
An Elkhorn player has a hydration technique of his own (left). Lefty reliever Patrick Johnson has little trouble warming up on a ninety-five degree afternoon.
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Norfolk infielder Geoff Bennett makes the play on a ground ball.
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Elkhorn's Johansen gets tagged out trying to score from third on a ball hit to the left side. |
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ALL-CLASS CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Saturday, August 9, 2008 - Roddy Field, Bellevue
3:00 pm: Weatherguard Systems Pride 3, Wakefield 2
6:00 pm: NP Dodge Wildcats 11, Associated Fire Protection 3
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Tournament Champs Honored at Banquet of Champions Hosted by Bellevue Post 339
August 8, 2008
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Players from Class C State Champs Wakefield relax before being escorted in to their seats at the Banquet of Champions Friday evening at Cascio's.
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Members of the Class A National Division Champs NP Dodge (Millard West) are introduced as they are led into the banquet room. |
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Class B State Champions Weatherguard Systems Pride (Omaha Roncalli) make their entrance . The Pride will play Wakefield at 3:00 today in the Championship Series at Roddy Field, Bellevue.
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Class A American Division Champs Associated Fire Protection (Papillion LaVista South) get ready to dig into some steaks. AFP will play NP Dodge today at 6:00 in the Championship Series for the Class A State title.
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(left) NP Dodge players autograph a ball as a momento for their coaches; (center) the winners of today's games will receive a handsome Championship trophy; (right) Legion Athletic Committee member Don Kiviniemi, Jr. served as Master of Ceremonies for the banquet. At the conclusion of the event, Kiviniemi was recognized and given a standing ovation for his many efforts on behalf of Legion Baseball.
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Nearly 300 players, family members and guests were on hand for the Banquet of Champions.
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Championship Series commemorative t-shirts for the will be on sale today at Roddy Field for $15 each. |
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(left) Legion Post 339 Color Guard presented the Stars and Stripes; (center) Creighton University Head Baseball Coach Ed Servais was the Guest Speaker and talked to the players about playing with enthusiasm, energy, passion and commitment; (right) Katie and Todd Bircher, editor and webmaster, respectively, of www.pridebaseball.org, received the prestigious and highly-coveted Mojo Cup from BaseballNebraska, recognizing the Roncalli baseball website as the best high school baseball team website in the state.
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Team Nebraska Competes Well in Chicago-area Showcase
August 4, 2008
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Front Row: Brad Benes, Omaha Central; Erik Buckallew, Omaha Burke; John Mulgrue, Lincoln Southwest; Michael Blatchford, Columbus; Matt Tew, Bellevue East; Vince Flynn, Lincoln Southwest.
Second Row: Adam Lovell, Lincoln Southwest; Logan Ehlers, Nebraska City; Tyler Splichal, Bellevue East; Travis Peterson, Nebraska City; and Clint Ohnoutka, Wahoo. Third Row: Coach Scott Hodges, Omaha Burke; Josh Samuelson, Omaha Central; Jimmy McDonald, Omaha Burke; JayDee Jorgensen, Lincoln Southeast; Chad Piersma, Sioux City North; Coach Kevin Koch, Omaha Burke.
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Burke assistant coach Scott Hodges and a team of high school players from eastern Nebraska has returned from a successful trip to Plainfield, Illinois where they competed as "Team Nebraska" in the eight-team Midwest Classic Baseball Tournament. It was fourth annual trip to the Chicago-area showcase for a Hodges-coached Nebraska team after former Pius coach Jim Hansen had taken teams to the tournament for about five years prior to Hodges.
The tournament provides the players with an opportunity to be seen by coaches from a number of midwestern colleges and universities, including most Big 10 schools. Teams from Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Ohio and Nebraska participated in the event. Team Nebraska compiled a 3-2 record in the tournament with wins over Kentucky, Wisconsin and Minnesota and losses to Ohio and Iowa. Hodges was assisted by Burke head coach Kevin Koch.
Michael Blatchford of Columbus had a big opening day on Saturday for Team Nebraska, driving in six runs in two games on two home runs. Josh Samuelson of Central and Eric Buckallew of Burke each hit a home run in the tournament. Samuelson also won two games on the mound.
Scores and highlights:
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Nebraska 11, Wisconsin 6 |
Blatchford - 3-for-4 with a grand slam HR and 2 runs scored; Buckallew - 2 RBI double; Ehlers - 2 RBI hit; Jurgenson - 2 hits, RBI; Benes, Lovell and Piersma - each a single. Pitching: Ehlers - no hits in 2 innings; Samuelson (WP) - 4 hits in 2 innings; Buckallew - one inning; Tew - 3 hits in 2 innings.
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Nebraska 5, Kentucky 4 |
Blatchford - 2 run HR; Samuelson - 2 run HR; Chad Piersma - double; Vince Flynn - 2 singles; Mulgrue - single. Pitching: McDonald - 5 hits, 4 runs in 3 innings; Jurgensen - 1 hit, 3 K's in one inning; Flynn, Blatchford and Peterson (WP) - each an inning.
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Ohio 7, Nebraska 1 |
Ohio scored 6 runs on 6 hits in the final inning for the win. Tew - RBI single; Batchford - 2 hits. Samuelson, Splichal and Piersma - singles. Pitching: Ohnoutka - 1 hit, 2 K's in 2 innings; Ehlers - 2 hits, 3 K's in 2 innings; Tew - 2 hits, 2 K's in 2 innings; Flynn (LP) - 6 hits, 6 runs in one inning.
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| August 2 |
Nebraska 6, Minnesota 2 |
Tew - 2-for-3 with an RBI triple and 2 runs scored; Lovell - RBI double; McDonald - RBI single; Buckallew - double; Mulgrue & Jurgensen - each a single. Pitching: Samuelson (WP) - 2 hits, 2 runs in 2 innings; Buckallew - 3 K's in 3 innings; Jurgensen - 2 hits, 2 K's in 2 innings.
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Iowa 10, Nebraska 3 |
Buckallew - HR; Splichal - double; Jurgensen, Peterson and Blatchford - each a single. Pitching: Ehlers - 2 runs, 2 hits, 3 K's in 1 inning; Peterson (LP) - 4 runs, 3 hits, 2 K's in 2 innings; McDonald - 2 runs, 4 hits, 2 K's; Ohnoutka - 2 runs, 4 hits in 2 innings.
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Class A Division Champs, Class B and C State Champs to be Crowned Tonight; NP Dodge and Crofton Enjoy Advantage
August 5, 2008
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Union Bank (31-20) has stood tall in the post-season, going 5-1 to win Area 5 and posting three wins so far in the American Division State Tournament at Norfolk to earn a berth in tonight's 8:00 Championship Game. Three teams in the tournament have 3-1 tourney records: Union Bank, Associated Fire Protection and PrimeTime Patriots. PrimeTime and AFP will play at 5:00 this evening with the winner advancing to the winner-take-all second game against Union Bank.
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Championship Tuesday is HERE! Weather permitting, Class B and C Champions will be crowned tonight at St. Paul and Gibbon, respectively, while at Memorial Field in Norfolk and Millard North High School the two Class A Division titles will be awarded. The Class B and C Champions will then clash in the 3:00 game of the All-Class Championship Series on Saturday at Roddy Field in Bellevue for the right to represent Nebraska in the Central Plains Division II Regional Tournament in Pratt, KS, August 14 - 17. The two Class A Division Champions will play at 6:00 on Saturday at Roddy to determine the 2008 Class A State Champion. Both the Champion and the Runner Up in Class Awill advance to Regional Tournament play, August 14 - 18.
In Class C, Crofton has the edge over Wakefield by virtue of being undefeated in the tournament, including a 7-2 win over Wakefield on Sunday. With one loss already in the tournament, Wakefield's season would end if Crofton prevails in tonight's 5:00 contest. If Wakefield defeats Crofton in that game, the two teams would square off again in an 8:00 game with the winner taking the crown.
Defending Class B State Champ Weatherguard Systems Pride (Omaha Roncalli) saw its fifteen-game Class B post-season win streak come to an end last night with a 10-5 loss to Wayne. Roncalli posted eight straight post-season wins last summer, holding opponents to a total of 3 runs, and had won seven straight this year in Area and State tournament action. Despite the loss, Roncalli earns the right to play in the 8:00 Championship Game against the winner of the 5:00 game between Gretna and Wayne. The Class B State Champs will then move on to Saturday's 3:00 game against the Class C Champs for a shot at the berth in the Regional in Kansas.
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NP Dodge Wildcats teammates greet Jesse Vervelde (#14) at home plate after Vervelde's three-run home run against DiGiorgio's Sunday night. The Millard West team will have two chances, if necessary, to defeat DiGiorgio's tonight for the National Division title.
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The field in Class A's sixteen-team, two-division State Tournament narrowed to five last night with the elimination of Papillion Pinnacle Bank and Deeb Mustangs in the National Division State Tournament at Millard North and Fremont First State Bank from the American Division tournament in Norfolk.
NP Dodge Wildcats (Millard West) is in the driver's seat in the National Division with a perfect 4-0 record, including a 11-1 win Sunday night over challenger DiGiorgio's (Omaha Gross). The Wildcats eliminated a hard-fighting Papillion Pinnacle Bank, 6-4, last night to advance to the Championship. With the prior loss to the Wildcats, DiGiorgio's must defeat NP Dodge twice tonight to win the Division title. The Gross team was in a similar position in the Area 4 Tournament and pulled off two impressive come-from-(way)-behind wins over Associated Fire Protection to win Area 4. The Wildcats have been solid in phases of the game so far at the Millard North tournament and have conserved pitching by getting complete games from their first three starters and 8 1/3 innings from the fourth, Danny Marcuzzo, last night.
Unlike the National Division where an undefeated team will match up with a one-loss team, in the American Division tournament at Norfolk, three one-loss teams will contend for the championship. Union Bank, previously unbeaten in the tournament, suffered a 15-5 loss to Associated Fire Protection (Papillion LaVista South) last night which created the three-team log jam with PrimeTime Patriots. PrimeTime and AFP will square off at 5:00 with the winner advancing to the winner-take-all 8:00 game against Union Bank.
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Season Ends for Deeb Mustangs with 5-4 Loss to DiGiorgio's in State Semifinals
August 5, 2008
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DiGiorgio's Dan Cordwin threw 8 2/3 innings, allowing four runs, to earn the win. Brandon Winkelmann earned the save by throwing three straight strikes.
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Second baseman Chris Lewis tries to find the handle on the ball as speedy Blake Brisson slides safely into second.
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Deeb Mustangs starter Eric Ringblom (left). The Mustangs have been without lefty starter JR Rehmann (right) for most of the summer after suffering an arm injury that required "Tommy John" reconstructive surgery.
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DiGiorgio's head coach Mike Filipowicz (left) barks defensive instructions to his players. In addition to getting the save, Winkelmann (right) also drove in the winning run with a fifth inning sacrifice fly.
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Mustangs reliever Ryan Muehling held DiGiorgio's scoreless over the final 3 1/3 innings.
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A DiGiorgio's batter bunts a runner into scoring position.
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| Mustangs senior shortstop Brady Hohl had a big night at the plate, going 4-for-5 with two singles, a double and a triple (above). |
Hohl, a UNO recruit, also made some nifty defensive plays, including this bare-handed grab on a slow roller behind the mound.
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| Brisson strokes a ball to left field as the Mustangs mount a late-inning threat. |
Jesse Parker makes a nice running catch on the drive by Brisson that was tailing away from him. |
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The 2008 Mustangs leave the field for the last time. Both the summer team (20-18) and the spring team (24-5) reached the state tournament semifinals. Departing seniors include: Brady Hohl (#2), Brett Koehn (#15), Ben Homer (#12), Brent Benson (#5), Eric Ringblom (#22) and JR Rehmann (#11).
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NP Dodge Wildcats Run the Table to Win National Division Championship; advance to State Championship Game
August 6, 2008
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Steve Jensen (top) runs in from right field to put the exclamation point on the NP Dodge post-game dogpile following the Wildcats 8-0 win over DiGiorgio's in the National Division Championship Tuesday evening. The win was the Wildcats' eighth straight in the post-season as the Millard West team went undefeated in both Area and Division tournaments, outscoring opponents 76-16.
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NP Dodge head coach Frank Ryan proudly holds the National Division Champion plaque, joined by assistant coaches Jason Rohde (left) and Darrell Parks (right).
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Danny Marcuso slides into third base safely with a triple in the bottom of the fourth inning. Marcuso later scored the first run of the game on a base hit by Brett Bass and was 3-for-4 on the night with a walk.
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DiGiorgio's second baseman Chris Lewis shows good technique in recording an out on a ground ball.
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DiGiorgio's will lose a stellar senior class but talented young players like Paul Rosales will return. Rosales moved up from Junior Legion to play in the tournament and had one of only three DiGiorgio hits on the night.
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Tyler Niederklein (left) went the distance for the Wildcats, throwing a shutout and allowing only three hits. The Wildcats' bullpen threw only 2/3 of an inning in the tournament as four of the five starters threw complete games. Brian Boro (right) started strong for DiGiorgio's but ran into trouble in the 7-run fifth inning.
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DiGiorgio's first baseman Tom Van Haute (left) chases a foul ball to the dugout as teammate Ryan Crnkovich protects himself with the pitching chart. The ball went into the dugout out of play. Right fielder Steve Jensen (right) battles the sun to glove a fly ball.
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| NP Dodge second baseman Brett Bass (right) starts a 4-6-3 double play by grabbing a ground ball . . . |
. . . and flipping it to older brother Brandon (#10), the Wildcats' shortstop. Brett will be a junior next year, and Brandon will be a senior. |
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| NP Dodge first baseman Kyle Fredrickson flattens the ball for a fourth inning base hit. |
Centerfielder Bryce Johnston makes a sliding catch on a pop to short center that required a long run. |
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After finishing as runners-up to Grand Island in the spring state tournament, the Millard West players were fired up about winning a plaque that says "Champion." The eight post-season wins improved the Wildcats' record to 35-16. Runner-up DiGiorgio's finished its year at 38-16.
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The Class A National Division Champs celebrate on the field immediately after receiving their medals and plaque. With the win, NP Dodge earned a spot in the Class A State Championship game against Associated Fire Protection at 6:00pm Saturday evening at Roddy Field in Bellevue.
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Faces of the Game
August 7, 2008
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Dario Melendez
Gretna Post 216 (Srs)
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Matt Bond
PI Midwest (Srs)
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Ethan Schroeder
Associated Fire Protection-Jrs
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Ryan Crnkovich
DiGiorgio's (Srs)
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Dave Tuttle
Umpire
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Brett Bass
NP Dodge Wildcats (Srs)
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Des Roberts
Heartland / DC (Srs)
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Future Junior Bluejay
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Cory
Columbus Blues (Jrs)
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Matt Klein
Deeb Mustangs (Jrs)
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Daniel Favor
Grubb & Ellis (Jrs)
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Andy Peacock
PrimeTime Patriots (Jrs)
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Tad Johansen
Elkhorn Post 211 (Srs)
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Brady Hohl
Deeb Mustangs (Srs)
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Derek Petrich
Prep Jr. Bluejays (Jrs)
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Tom Hansen Constr. Fan
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Brent Learch
Grubb & Ellis (Jrs)
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Sean Wetterberg
Norfolk NE Central RR (Srs)
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Eric Schleppenbach
Union Bank (Srs)
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Jake Ritzdorf
Elkhorn Post 211 (Srs)
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Larry Bock
Scout, Atlanta Braves
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DiGiorgio's Fan
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Dion Jones
Deeb Mustangs (Jrs)
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Blake Johnson
Kearney Post 52 (Jrs)
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Ryan Schuetz
Gretna Post 216
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Trevor McGill
Sandhills Publishing (Jrs)
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Bill McGuire
Umpire
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Alec Wedige
PrimeTime Patriots (Jrs)
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Yawning Bench Player
Norfolk NE Central RR (Srs)
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Jesse Vervelde
NP Dodge Wildcats (Srs)
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Let's Hear it for the Fans!! Thanks for your support of Nebraska baseball!!
August 8, 2008
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NP Dodge Earns State Championship, Trip to Central Plains Regional with 11-3 Win Over Associated Fire Protection
August 10, 2008
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The ceremonial first pitch, or rather, pitches, were thrown out by the Associated Fire Protection batboys, Cade and Colin, twin sons of Head Coach Bill Lynam and wife, Kim. Both boys grooved fastballs down the heart of the plate from about 55'. Here Colin makes his throw while Cade supplies a little body English.
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NP Dodge shortstop Brandon Bass (left) receives a throw from catcher Jesse Vervelde to snuff a steal attempt by Associated Fire's Bo Suponchick. The Wildcat infield committed 3 errors in the first inning but escaped without giving up a run.
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| With baserunner Kendall Wehrle on 3rd base in the first inning, Associated Fire's Eli Nelson hits a hot grounder that gets past the Wildcats' infield. |
Wehrle tries to score on the play but is gunned at the plate to end the inning as Vervelde applies the tag. Despite having two base runners on and three Wildcat errors, the Titans come up empty. |
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| The Wildcats get on the board in the bottom of the 1st on Steve Jensen's two-run homer. |
After a bumpy first inning, the Bass brothers, 2nd baseman Brett and shortstop Brandon (above), played solid defense in the middle of the infield. |
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| Mathias Godsil puts the ball in play for Associated Fire. |
Third baseman Danny Marcuzzo makes a nice play for the Wildcats. |
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Second baseman Bo Suponchick charges a ground ball.
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With two runners on, Kendall Wehrle fielded a bunt by Danny Marcuzzo in the bottom of the fifth, trailing 2-0. Wehrle's throw to first sailed high and wide and allowed two runs to score and Marcuzzo to reach third. Marcuzzo scored when the next hitter, Brett Bass, got a base hit. Anthony Dunn came on in relief shortly thereafter.
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The Titans got their first run in the top of the fifth when Dunn came home from third base on a pick-off attempt from Vervelde that sailed into the outfield. As many hitters did, Dunn wore sunglasses when hitting due to the tough angle of the sun.
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Kyle Fredricksen is picked off at second base on a nice play by Dunn and Wehrle, now playing short. |
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| Mark Harris gets in position to field a ground ball at first base. |
Nick Standish put in a strong performance on the mound for the Wildcats, giving up only 3 runs to the Titans in 8 innings before yielding to closer Steve Jensen.
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| Bryce Johnston slides safely into third ahead of the throw in the bottom of the seventh and later scored the Wildcat's 7th run. |
A good-size crowd (estimated at 600 by the World Herald) was on hand for the sun-drenched contest. |
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Cricket anyone? Getting the prize for "fans who traveled the greatest distance to watch the game" were members of Titan Evan Connell's family who were visiting from England.
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The Titans receive their runner-up trophy. The Associated Fire team will play in the Mid-South Regional in Enid, Oklahoma beginning on Thursday. Their first game will be 8:00pm against host team, Enid (OK) Post 4.
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Head Coach Frank Ryan and Danny Marcuzzo (center) prepare to receive the Championship trophy from State Legion Commander Bill Crosier.
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The Wilcats went a perfect 9-0 in the post-season to improve their record to 36-16 on the season. |
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Head Coach Frank Ryan is victimized by a perfectly planned and executed ceremonial dousing of ice water.
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The Wildcats move on to the Central Plains Regional Tournament in Minot, North Dakota which will also begin on Thursday. They will play in the opening game at 9:30am against the South Dakota state champion. |
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NP Dodge Wildcats
2008 Class A Senior Legion State Champions
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Brandon Bass Hits for the Cycle to lead NP Dodge in Region 6 Opening Win
August 15, 2008
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The NP Dodge Wildcats (37-16) continued their post-season hot streak with a dominating 13-0 win over the South Dakota state champs, Aberdeen (40-17), in the opening game of the Central Plains Region 6 Tournament in Minot, North Dakota on Thursday. The win advances the Wildcats to a 4:30 match-up today with the Minnesota state champions, Apple Valley, a 17-5 winner over Dickinson, North Dakota yesterday.
The Wildcats wasted little time in getting their offensive machine cranked up. Brandon Bass opened a five-hit, three-run first inning with a leadoff home run, followed by consecutive singles from Bryce Johnston, Steve Jensen and John Schneider. Johnston scored on a walk to Marcuzzo, and a two-out base hit by designated hitter Alex Miller scored Jensen.
The Nebraska champs broke the game open in the fourth with five runs on six hits to go up 8-0. After hitting a lead-off triple in the second, Bass doubled in two runs in the fourth, and younger brother Brett Bass drove in a pair with a two-out base hit. Bryce Johnston accounted for the other run with a sacrifice foul fly. Alex Miller, Steve Jensen and Jesse Vervelde all contributed base hits and scored in the inning while Danny Marcuzzo doubled and came home on Brett Bass's base hit.
The Wildcats picked up a run in the top of the 6th on a solo leadoff homer by Bryce Johnston, and then piled on four more runs in the top of the 7th, all scored with two outs. Jesse Vervelde got the final rally started with a two-out base hit, followed by a base hit by Brandon Bass which completed a reverse-order cycle (home run in 1st, triple in 2nd, double in 4th, single in 7th). Johnston singled to score Vervelde, and then Steve Jensen had the big hit of the day, a three-run home run, to finish the scoring. The game ended early on the 10-run mercy rule.
The Wildcats hit better than .500 on the day, pounding out 21 hits in 40 at bats (.525). The top of the order was particularly potent as the first three hitters, Brandon Bass, Bryce Johnston and Steve Jensen, went a combined 11-for-14, driving in 9 runs, scoring 9 runs and each hitting a home run.
On the mound Tyler Niederklein threw six innings in the shutout, allowing only four hits and striking out four. Tyler Ware was perfect in relief, with two strike outs and a ground out in the seventh to close it out. The Wildcat defense was error-free on the day.
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Associated Fire Protection Advances in Mid-South Regional on Bougher's 3-run Double
August 15, 2008
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Stephen Bougher
3-run double, 1 run scored
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Kendall Wehre
CG, 7 hits, 6 K's
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Associated Fire Protection (Papillion LaVista South) made it a 2-0 opening day for Nebraska teams in Regional Tournament play on Thursday with a 4-2 win over a very good host team, Enid Post 4 (50-11), in the Mid-South Region 4 Tournament at Enid, Oklahoma. Despite being handcuffed at the plate most of the day by Enid pitcher Tobin Mateychick the Titans (35-14) put all of their offensive production into one inning, using all three of their hits, a walk and a wild pitch to score four runs in the pivotal fifth inning. Stephen Bougher (boo-yer) had the big hit of the game, a bases-loaded double that scored three, advancing to third on a throw to the plate. Bougher then scored on a wild pitch to the next hitter, Bo Suponchick.
Mateychick held the Titans hitless and allowed only two walks until Eli Nelson's one-out infield single in the top of the fifth. Mark Harris then doubled to center, advancing Nelson to third. After Mathias Godsil popped out to second, Bob Greco drew a two-out walk to load the bases for Bougher. Bougher's three-run double to center and dash to the plate on the wild pitch put the Titans up 4-0 over the host team. Mateychick retired Titans in order the rest of the way, except for hitting Michael Albert with one out in the top of the ninth.
Enid got a run back in the bottom of the sixth when Caleb Nine lead off the inning with an infield single, advanced to second on a hit batsman, moved to third on a sacrifice fly and scored on a fielder's choice. The host team rallied for another run in the bottom of the ninth when shortstop Padilla-Pointier hit a one-out double and came home on Zachary Sells' basehit.
Despite being held to three hits, a strong outing by Kendell Wehrle helped keep the Titans in the game. Wehrle went all nine innings, scattering seven hits and striking out six.
Associated Fire advances to play Tupelo, Mississippi at 8:00 today in Game 8 of the tournament. Tupelo defeated New Orleans Post 125 yesterday, 8-4. Other winners yesterday were: League City, TX, 13-2 over Jonesboro, AR and Midwest City, OK, 8-4 over Owensboro, KY.
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Wildcats Continue to Roll with 12-1 Win over Minnesota; Titans Falls to Tupelo, 8-7
August 16, 2008
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The NP Dodge Wildcats (Millard West) put on another impressive post-season offensive display with a 17-hit, 12-1 seven-inning win against the Minnesota state champs, Apple Valley, in the Central Plains Region 6 Regional Tournament in Minot, North Dakota on Friday evening. In two games, the Nebraska champs have outscored the state champions from South Dakota and Minnesota by a combined score of 25-1. And, importantly, the two seven-inning games have helped the Wildcats preserve pitching for games yet to come.
Brandon Bass and Steve Jensen remained on fire at the top of the order but also got more help from the middle and bottom of the order. It was another big night for Jensen, going 4-for-4 with a home run and two runs scored. He was also the winning pitcher, going all seven innings, scattering six hits and striking out six. Jensen is 8-for-9 at the plate in two games (.889) with two home runs, five RBI's and five runs scored. Leadoff hitter Brandon Bass is just a tick behind, going 6-for-7 (.875) with five RBI's and six runs scored in the tournament thus far. Bass was 3-for-3 last night with another home run, two RBI's and 3 runs scored. Bass has amassed 16 total bases in eight at bats for an incredible 2.000 slugging percentage.
Four other hitters had multi-hit nights for the Wildcats as Danny Marcuzzo, Brett Bass and Jesse Vervelde all went 2-for-4 and Alex Miller went 2-for-3. The middle third of the order drove in three runs and scored twice while the bottom third scored four runs and drove in a pair.
The win puts the Wildcats into tonight's pivotal winner's bracket game at 8:00pm against Blue Springs, Missouri. The winner is guaranteed a spot in Monday's championship game. The Wildcat's will have Saturday's State Championship Game winner, Nick Standish, on the mound.
Meanwhile, in the Mid-South Region 4 Regional in Enid, Oklahoma, the Associated Fire Titans (Papillion LaVista) rallied from an 8-5 deficit with two runs in the top of the ninth on Mark Harris's one-out triple, but after Harris was picked off at third, a game-ending strike out left the Titans with an 8-7 loss and facing elimination. Stephen Bougher took the loss for the Titans, allowing nine hits in six innings of work while striking out six.
Harris had three RBI's on the night with the triple and a walk. Kendall Wehrle and Michael Albert were both 2-for-5 on the night.
The loss drops the Papillion-LaVista squad into an elimination game this afternoon at 5:00 against Jonesboro, AR. Jonesboro survived elimination yesterday with an 8-0 win over Owensboro, KY that sent the Kentucky champs home.
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Wildcats Take the Driver's Seat in Region 6 with 14-4 Win Over Missouri; Clinch Spot in Championship
August 17, 2008
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A 14-4 win over the Missouri state champs, Rod's Sports (Blue Springs), Saturday night assured the NP Dodge Wildcats (Millard West) of a spot in Monday night's championship in the American Legion Central Plains Region 6 Tournament at Minot, North Dakota. The Wildcats are one of four teams still alive in the tournament and the only unbeaten team still standing. The Nebraska champs will play the Iowa champs, Dubuque, at 8:00 this evening. Dubuque was a 19-12 winner in an elimination game yesterday against the North Dakota champion, Dickinson after being sent to the losers' bracket with an 8-7 loss to Rod's Sports on Friday. Rod's Sports will play Apple Valley, MN in the 3:00 elimination game today. Of the three other teams remaining, NP Dodge has already defeated two of them, Apple Valley and Rod's Sports, once each.
Two more wins will earn the Wildcats the Regional Championship and a berth in the American Legion World Series in Shelby, North Carolina to be played August 21 - 26. Defeating Dubuque (12-3) tonight would mean that the Wildcats would play the winner of this afternoon's Apple Valley vs. Rod Sports game in tomorrow's championship game at 3:00. If the Wildcats were to lose that game, they would get a second chance against the same opponent at 8:00. If the Wildcats lose today, there will be three teams remaining with 3-1 tournament records: the Wildcats, Dubuque and the winner of the Apple Valley vs. Rod's Sports. Monday's championship would then pair Dubuque against the Apple Valley / Rod's Sports winner at 3:00 with the Wildcats playing the winner at 8:00 for the Regional Championship.
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Nick Standish
Complete Game, 11 strikeouts
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Saturday night's game against Rod's Sports (51-7) saw the Wildcats fall behind for the first time in the tournament when Rod's Sports scored a run in the bottom of the first after a scoreless opening frame by the Wildcats. After a scoreless second, NP Dodge erupted for five runs in the top of the 3rd. Brandon Bass lead off the inning with a double, was moved to third on Bryce Johnston's bunt and tied the game on Steve Jensen's sacrifice fly. Johnston scored on a fielder's choice by Brett Bass after John Schneider reached on an error and Danny Marcuzzo was hit by a pitch. After a walk by Kyle Fredrickson moved the runners up, Schneider came home on a balk call. Tyler Niederklein then stroked a two-run double to score Bass and Fredrickson, putting the Wildcats up 5-1.
After Rod's put up a run in the bottom of the inning, the Millard West team answered with two runs in the top of the 4th on a double by Marcuzzo and were not challenged the rest of the way, adding two more runs in the top of the 5th and five more in the final frame to open a 14-2 margin. Rod's got two unearned runs in the bottom of the 9th to make it a 14-4 final.
Niederklein ended up the night going 3-for-5 with three RBI's. Brandon Bass also had three hits in six at bats with an RBI and scored three times. Steve Jensen remained hot, going 2-for-4 with an RBI, and Bryce Johnston was 2-for-5 with two RBI's and a run scored.
Lefty Nick Standish, a 6'1", 180 lb. senior, went all nine for the Wildcats on the mound, striking out eleven while scattering eight hits. All four of the runs surrendered were unearned as the defense committed four errors. Standish retired the Rod's hitters in order in the 2nd, 6th and 7th innings.
The win extends the Wildcats' post-season win streak to twelve, during which they have outscored opponents by a total of 126-24, or by an average score of 10.5 to 2. The Wildcats have featured strong pitching, solid defense and a relentless hitting attack throughout the post-season. The NP Dodge team pounded out 16 wins last night to go with a 21 hit attack in Thursday's opener and 17 hits in Friday's win over Apple Valley. As a team the Wildcats are 54-for-112 (.482) at the plate in Minot, led by Steve Jensen (10-for-13, .769) and Brandon Bass (9-for-13, .692). Starting pitching has also been a strong point for the Wildcats as Tyler Niederklein, Steve Jensen and Standish have all turned in outstanding performances. During the nine State Tournament and the Regional Tournament games, the Wildcats have only turned to the bullpen for 2 1/3 innings of work.
Congratulations on a tremendous performance in Minot, Wildcats! Every one back here in Nebraska is pulling for you guys to win it all and go on to the World Series.
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CONGRATULATIONS, NP DODGE! CENTRAL PLAINS REGION 6 REGIONAL TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS!
August 18, 2008
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(above left) Winning pitcher Tyler Niederklein and third basesman Danny Marcuzzo (21) leap for joy after Neiderklein gets the final out on a strikeout for an 11-8 win. (above right) NP Dodge players swarm to the infield for the celebratory dogpile after winning the Central Plains Region 6 Regional Tournament in Minot, ND. The team will travel tomorrow to Shelby, NC to begin preparations for the American Legion World Series which begins on Friday. Many thanks to Millard West parent Tim Miller for sending photos from Minot.
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Jesse Vervelde
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Danny Marcuzzo
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Kyle Fredrickson
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Jon Schneider
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Bryce Johnston
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Steve Jensen (MVP)
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Devin Samson
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Mike Smutny
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Chase Saxton
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Alex Miller
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Brandon Bass
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Chris Klosterman
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Tyler Hinkle
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Kyle Kruger
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Brett Bass
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Tyler Ware
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Tyler Niederklein
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Nick Standish
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NP Head Coach Frank Ryan (center) flanked by assistants Jason Rohde (left) and Darrell Parks (right) Not shown are assistants Don Story and Tom Giles.
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TORRID WILDCATS DRAW TOUGH OPPONENT IN FRIDAY'S ALWS OPENER
August 21, 2008
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Donn Roach
Game 1 Starting Pitcher
Southern Nevada Titans
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Donn Roach, Game 1 starting pitcher for Southern Nevada Titans
- RHP, 6'2", 195 lbs.
- Las Vegas, NV Bishop Gorman HS Gaels Class of 2008
- Committed to University of Arizona
- All State of Nevada First Team, 2008
- BGHS Pitcher of the Year, 2008
- Spring 2008: 8 wins, 1 loss, 1.723 ERA, 65 innings pitched
- Summer 2008: 4 wins, 1 save, 2.33 ERA, 30 K's, 10 BB's in 24 innings
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The NP Dodge Wildcats, after playing inspired baseball to win the Central Plains Region 6 Regional Tournament in convincing fashion, begin play on Friday at 9:00AM CDT in the eight-team American Legion World Series in Shelby, North Carolina. When you get to this level, you can expect the competition to be pretty strong, and that is certainly the case with the Wildcats' opening round opponent, the Southern Nevada Titans (70-7-1), champions of the Western Regional. The Titans are comprised primarily of players from Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas which won its third straight Nevada state championship during the spring (41-3) and finished the season ranked #2 in BaseballAmerica/High Baseball Coaches Assocation Top 50 poll. The Titans are led by all-everything Jeff Malm, a 6'3", 235 pound 1B/LHP who has verbally committed to play for the University of Southern California following his graduation in 2009. Malm was the Nevada Gatorade Player of the Year, a MaxPreps First Team All-American, a Collegiate Baseball First Team All-American and a USA Today All-American.
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Central Plains Regional Tournament MVP Steve Jensen of the NP Dodge Wildcats poses with the team's championship trophy. Photo by Tim Miller
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Despite the glossy resume, Malm, who is hitting .543 on the season, hit only .250 in the Western Regional and produced only two RBI's in five games. Malm also made four limited appearances on the mound, presumably in a closer role, allowing two hits and striking out eight in 4 1/3 innings. Meanwhile, teammate Scott Dysinger, the Regional Tournament MVP, put up some strong offensive numbers in Regional action, going 11-for-19 (.579) with eight RBI's and seven runs scored. A 2007 graduate, Dysinger also posted a 1.59 ERA on the mound, throwing 5 2/3 innings, allowing eight hits with no strike outs and three walks. Donn Roach and Paul Siewald, both compiled 2.25 ERA's while throwing eight innings each, allowing ten and nine hits, respectively. Roach and Siewald, along with teammate Joey Rickard and Malm, were All State of Nevada First Team selections in 2008, with Rickard and Malm repeating from 2007.
Top offensive producers for the Titans in Regionals, in addition to Dysinger, were Johnny Field (.476), Matt Hall (.444), Sewald (.444) and Rickard (.346).
In addition to Malm's commitment to USC, fellow 2009 classmate Rickard and RJ Santigate have committed to the University of Arizona and Long Beach State (the "Dirtbags"), respectively. Commitments from the 2008 class include Roach (University of Arizona) and Sewald (University of San Diego).
Meanwhile, the Wildcats counter with some pretty impressive performers of their own, including Steve Jensen, the Central Plains Regional Tournament Most Valuable Player. Jensen was 14-for-23 (.609) with four home runs, two doubles, nine RBI's and ten runs scored in five games. The 2008 graduate also threw seven strong innings to earn a win, allowing six hits and striking out six.
Normally, a .609 batting average is going to be good enough to rank #1 among hitters in a Regional Tournament, and would have been so in all of the other Regionals except for one. But Jensen's .609 wasn't even the highest on his team! That honor went to the Wildcats' leadoff hitter, Brandon Bass, who was a torrid 16-for-24 (.667) with two doubles, a triple, two home runs, 10 RBI's and 13 runs scored. Bass also managed the nifty trick of hitting for the cycle in the Wildcats' Regional opener.
Far from being a two-man show, however, the Wildcats had five other hitters at .400 or better: Danny Marcuzzo (.556), Alex Miller (.500), Jesse Ver Velde (.500), Tyler Niederklein (.455) and Chase Saxton (.400). Plus, the Wildcats' starting rotation of Niederklein, Jensen, Nick Standish and Tyler Ware compiled a 1.62 composite ERA, striking out 41 while allowing only twelve walks.
The Titans will be bringing a sixteen-game win streak into Friday morning's game to counter the Wildcat's fifteen-game post-season win streak. As they say, "something's gotta give." It's too bad that this match-up had to come so early in the tournament, but both teams probably have enough horses to fight back from a first-round loss. But of course, there are six other strong teams who have something to say about that, too.
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Jonesboro Starting Pitcher Cade Lynch was Mid-South Regional Tournament MVP
- LHP
- 9-0 on the summer
- struck out 24 in two games in Regional Tournament, allowing 12 hits in two complete games
- Jonesboro (AR) Valley View High School
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WILDCATS FALL, 7-5, TO NEVADA IN ALWS OPENER; FACE ARKANSAS IN LOSER'S BRACKET 9:00AM SATURDAY
August 22, 2008
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Missed opportunities against a tough opponent foiled a bid by the NP Dodge Wildcats to post what would have been a huge opening win over the Southern Nevada Titans in the opening round of the American Legion World Series Friday morning as the Wildcats fell to the Western Region champions, 7-5.
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Danny Marcuzzo
3-for-5, RBI, Run
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After going hitless against starter Donn Roach until Danny Marcuzzo's two-out base hit in the third inning, the Wildcat's loaded the bases in the bottom of the fourth, trailing 3-1, when Kyle Fredrickson led off with a base hit, Tyler Niederklein reached on a fielder's choice and Jesse Ver Velde reached on an error, bringing to the plate Brandon Bass, the top hitter in the Central Plains Regional. Bass hit a hard liner -- but right into the glove of Titan's second baseman Johnny Field. Field then fired to first to double off Ver Velde, and Roach struck out the next hitter, Bryce Johnston to escape the jam. Illustrating the old adage that baseball is often a game of inches, Bass's hard liner could have plated at least two runs had it been placed just beyond the reach of Field. Instead, the Wildcats came up empty at a pivotal point in the game.
Two scoreless innings later the Titans scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning on three doubles to extend the lead to 6-1 and appeared to be in control. However, the spirited Marcuzzo, who had thrilled the Wildcat faithful earlier with a pair of stellar defensive plays at third base on sharply hit line drives, ignited a four-run eighth inning with a leadoff single, his third hit of the day off Roach. Brett Bass then followed with a base hit that ended Roach's outing. Fredrickson reached on a fielder's choice against reliever Paul Sewald when Bass was forced at second, followed by a base hit by Niederklein that scored Marcuzzo and moved Fredrickson to third. Ver Velde then singled home Fredrickson, advancing Niederklein to third. Niederklein then scored on a wild pitch, and Brandon Bass drove in the fourth run of the inning when Ver Velde came home on his groundout to Field. So, after things looked pretty bleak for the Wildcats as Roach cruised along with a five-run lead, it was suddenly a one-run game going into the final inning.
Tyler Ware, who came on to relieve starter Nick Standish in the top of the eighth, retired the first two hitters in the top of that inning before issuing a two-out walk and getting Matt Hall to fly out to center. It appeared that the ninth inning would follow the same pattern as Ware issued a two-out walk to catcher Erik Van Meetren. With pinch runner Tyler Wagner on first for Van Meetren, short stop Corey Lafler lifted a fly ball to right that looked to be headed into Steve Jensen's glove for the third out. However, the ball had more distance than Jensen had expected and sailed over his head, bringing Wagner home for an important insurance run before Lafler was thrown out at third base trying to stretch his double.
Up 7-5, the Titans brought in ace closer Jeff Malm who retired the Wildcats in order to end the game. Standish took the loss for the Wildcats, allowing ten hits in seven innings, while striking out one and walking one.
Offensively, the lower part of the Wildcats' order provided the highlights with Danny Marcuzzo going 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored, and Tyler Niederklein going 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI. Number nine hitter Jesse Ver Velde also scored and drove in a run on a base hit.
The loss puts the Wildcats into a 9:00AM elimination game Saturday against Jonesboro, Arkansas, the team that defeated Nebraska's other regional tournament team, the Associated Fire Protection Titans, 7-6, in the Mid-South Regional to end the Titans' season. No doubt Wildcats' Head Coach Frank Ryan has been on the phone today with the Titans' Head Coach Bill Lynam to get the scouting report on the Arkansas team. | Box Score / Play-by-Play | Video Highlights (requires Flash player) |
Note: (courtesy of Westside assistant coach Jim Simons) Jonesboro played in the Millard West pool of the annual 48-team Decker Sports CWS Tournament hosted by the Westside / Grubb & Ellis baseball program here in Omaha. Jonesboro played NP Dodge on Thursday, June 19 with the Wildcats winning that game 11-7. Jonesboro went 1-2 in the tournament with losses to the Wildcats and Dublin, OH (13-2) and a 9-5 win over Denver (CO) Mullen. Our readers may recall that DiGiorgio's (Omaha Gross) was one of the Co-Champions of the tournament with an 11-10 ten-inning win over Coeur d'Alene, ID. The other Co-Champion was Greensboro, NC, a 10-4 winner of PI Midwest (Prep).
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SEASON COMES TO AN END FOR NP DODGE WILDCATS, NEBRASKA BASEBALL WITH LOSS TO JONESBORO
August 24, 2008
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Five months and ten days after it started on March 13, the 2008 combined High School / Legion baseball season has come to an end. The NP Dodge Wildcats' 13-8 loss Saturday morning to the Jonesboro (AR) Ricemen eliminated the Wildcats from the American Legion World Series in Shelby, North Carolina and ended a magical post-season run by the last Nebraska team still playing. The Wildcats had put together a dominating fourteen-game win streak before losing their first two games in the ALWS. That run included a five-game sweep of the competition in the Central Plains Regional in Minot, South Dakota, culminating in the crowning of the Wildcats as one of eight American Legion Regional Champions in the nation.
The same Jonesboro team that ended the Wildcats' season also eliminated the only other Nebraska team that had qualified to play in a 2008 American Legion Regional Tournament, the Associated Fire Protection Titans (Papillion LaVista South), just a week earlier in the Mid-South Regional Tournament in Enid, Oklahoma by a score of 7-6. With the elimination of the Wildcats, the final Nebraska contender, the baseball season in Nebraska draws to a close, and the Wildcats and other baseball players go their separate ways -- some off to college to compete for roster spots in baseball and other sports and others back to the high school classrooms, football fields and other pursuits.
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A group of NP Dodge Wildcats returns from the ALWS in North Carolina to Eppley Airport Sunday morning after their teammates returned on an earlier flight. From left are: Jesse Ver Velde, Mike Smutny, Chris Klosterman, Jon Schneider, Tyler Ware, Coach Darrell Parks and Nick Standish.
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The Wildcats got off to a good start on Saturday as lead off hitter Brandon Bass singled through the right side. Getting Bass aboard to start a game has been a key to the Wildcats' post-season success and led to the first run of the game after Bass was bunted over to second by Bryce Johnston and scored on an error on a ground ball hit by Jon Schneider. The Ricemen tied the score with a run in the bottom of the third and then exploded for six runs in the fourth on six hits, including three doubles and a triple, off starter Tyler Niederklein, and then tacked on two more on two hits in the bottom of the fifth off reliever Tyler Hinkle, to take a 9-1 lead.
The Wildcats fought back with four runs in the top of the sixth, all with two outs, on hits by Michael Smutny, Jesse Ver Velde and Brandon Bass, a walk to Kyle Fredrickson and a Riceman error -- one of five for the Arkansas team in the contest. That outburst brought the Wildcats back into contention at 9-5, but Jonesboro got those four runs back in the bottom of the inning to stretch the lead back to eight at 13-5.
In the top of the seventh the Wildcats added a run when Jon Schneider scored on a throwing error after walking and advancing on Michael Smutny's base hit. In the eighth Brandon Bass brought Alex Miller home with a sacrifice fly, and Kyle Kruger scored on Jon Schneider's single to make the final score 13-8.
The Wildcats returned to Omaha today from their ten-day road trip a bit weary and ready to get back to school and on to the next phase of their lives. We hope the team and their coaches know how proud Nebraska baseball fans are of them and the fine way that they represented themselves, our state and our region. Congratulations on a job well done, Wildcats.
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