The Wayne American Legion Juniors came from behind to force extra innings, only to see the momentum slip away in a 4-3 loss to Waverly in the opening round of the Class B American Legion Juniors state tournament at Clemmy Holmes Field in Nebraska City.
Waverly put up three runs in the third inning to take the early advantage, but Wayne broke the ice in the fourth when Josh Lutt hit into a fielder’s choice, bringing home Tyrus Eischeid, who ran as a courtesy runner for pitcher Trevor DeBoer.
Wayne had chances to score later but left the bases loaded in the fifth and sixth innings. They came through in the seventh with RBI singles by Reid Korth and Tyler Gilliland, scoring Eischeid and Gunnar Jorgensen, to tie the game at 3-3 and send it into extra innings.
In the eighth, Kaleb Anderson got on with a bunt single and an error, then advanced to third on a wild pitch. Unfortunately, Wayne was unable to bring him home, and Waverly used a single, an error and two passed balls to score the winning run.
Jorgensen and Blake Bartos each had two hits to lead a seven-hit attack. DeBoer pitched well for seven innings, giving up four hits and five walks while striking out three. Jacob Kneifl was the hard-luck loser.
Wayne, 17-12, faces Alliance in a 2 p.m. elimination game on Sunday.
