The Wayne American Legion Post 43 baseball teams made it four in a row to start the season after both teams came home with wins Tuesday at West Point.
In the Juniors game, Wayne jumped out to an early lead and pulled away late for a 15-5 win over the West Point nine.
The Post 43 Juniors jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the first, thanks to a two-run double by Reid Korth and an RBI single by Jacob Kneifl, who later scored on a West Point error.
Wayne got three more in the second on a two-run single by Gunnar Jorgensen and an RBI double by Korth, but West Point responded with five in the bottom of the inning to close the gap to 7-5.
That’s as close as the home team would get, as Wayne regained momentum in the third on Josh Lutt’s RBI double to right. They put up four more in the fourth on an RBI double by Jorgensen and RBI singles by Korth and Brock Hopkins, and Kneifl scored on a fielder’s choice to make it 12-5.
In the fifth, Wayne reached the 10-run rule as Jorgensen had a two-run single and Blake Bartos closed out the scoring with an RBI single to help the Wayne Juniors improve to 4-0.
Wayne cranked out 14 hits in the game, as Korth had four hits and three RBI’s and Jorgensen added three hits and four RBI’s. Lutt added two hits and two RBI’s, Hopkins had two hits and an RBI, and Jorgensen and Tyrus Eischeid each scored three runs, with Korth and Kneifl both coming home twice.
Trevor DeBoer pitched four innings and allowed three hits and two walks while striking out four before Victor Kniesche mopped up with an inning of unscathed relief.
In the Seniors matchup, Zane Jackson was 4-for-5 and Payten Gamble added three hits and three RBI’s to help the Wayne seniors to a 10-6 win to match the Juniors’ 4-0 start.
West Point led 1-0 going to the third before Wayne took the lead for good. Justin Dean doubled to drive in two runs, Brennan O’Reilly added an RBI double and Gamble singled home two to make it a 5-1 game.
Wayne added single runs in the fourth and fifth, thanks to an error and a bases-loaded walk, then put the game out of reach with three more in the sixth with the help of a Gamble RBI single and a two-run double by Jackson.
Tucker Nichols added three hits and Dean stroked two to help a 16-hit attack for the Wayne Seniors. Kneifl scored three times and Nichols and Tyler Lutt each scored twice. Lutt got the win on the mound, striking out five and allowing seven hits and a walk over five innings before Gamble and Adam Bentjen finished things off in relief.
The Wayne Seniors were to play at Arlington on Wednesday and be home Friday for a matchup with Wakefield. Both teams will host Lincoln Parkview Christian on Saturday.
