A late explosion by O’Neill helped put the Irish into the winners bracket third round as they posted an 8-3 win over Wayne in Saturday’s action at the Class B Area 5 American Legion Seniors tournament at Hank Overin Field.
Wayne got on the board in the first inning with two runs, thanks to an RBI single by Zane Jackson that scored Mason Lee, and some crafty baserunning by Payten Gamble, who stole third and then came home on a throwing error.
O’Neill came back with three in the third, as Josh Cuddy stroked an RBI double and two runs came home on a wild pitch and an error on a pickoff.
The wheels fell off for Wayne in the sixth, as O’Neill took advantage of a couple of errors to put together a five-run inning to put the game out of reach.
O’Neill moves on to Sunday’s 7 p.m. winners bracket matchup with Lakeview, while Wayne faces Neligh in a 4:30 p.m. elimination game.
In other Saturday matchups:
Wild finish sends top seed to losers bracket – Lakeview blew a seven-run lead, only to come back in the bottom of the second with two runs to outlast top-seeded West Point 9-8. Lakeview batted around in the first and scored five runs. They led 7-0 before West Point came back, scoring two in the top of the seventh to take an 8-7 lead. Lakeview got a hit batter and a walk and tied the game on a two-run double by Cade Hansen. An intentional walk loaded the bases and Dom Penne singled to center to give Lakeview the comeback win. West Point will take on Ponca in an elimination game Sunday at 2 p.m., while Lakeview will face O’Neill at 7 p.m.
Three-run fifth helps Ponca eliminate Schuyler – Ponca broke open a close game with three runs in the fifth to eliminate Schuyler with a 6-2 decision. Hunter Schweers had an RBI double and Jorge Cabrales added an RBI single to highlight the big inning. Schuyler cut a 2-0 deficit in half in the fourth when Cody Zrust scored on an error. They got a run in the fifth when Mason Kovar doubled and scored on a groundout. Schweers had two doubles and Derek Touney had two hits and two runs for Ponca, who plays WestPoint/Lakeview on Sunday.
Class B Area 5 at Hank Overin Field
(Seeds in parenthesis)
Friday, July 21 Results
Game 1 — (1) West Point bye.
Game 2 — (4) Lakeview 3, (5) Neligh 1
Game 3 — (6) Wayne 5, (3) Ponca 0
Game 4 — (2) O’Neill 17, (7) Schuyler 1 (5 inn.)
Saturday, July 22 Results
Game 5 — Neligh bye.
Game 6 — Ponca 6, Schuyler 2 (Schuyler eliminated)
Game 7 — Lakeview 9, West Point 8
Game 8 — O’Neill 8, Wayne 3
Sunday, July 23 Schedule
Game 9 — West Point vs. Ponca, 2 p.m. (loser eliminated)
Game 10 — Wayne vs. Neligh, 4:30 p.m. (loser eliminated)
Game 11 — Lakeview vs. O’Neill, 7 p.m.
Monday, July 24 Schedule
Game 12 — Loser Game 11 vs. Winner Game 9, 5 p.m. (loser eliminated)
Game 13 — Winner Game 10 vs. Winner Game 11, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, July 25 Schedule
Game 14 — Championship, 5 p.m.
Game 15 — If needed, 30 minutes after Game 14 completion.
