Reinhardt sends Wayne baseball to state thanks to walk-off hit, Blue Devils win third straight district title; state begins May 17

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Following back-to-back years  of traveling to Hastings for postseason baseball, May 8 - 9 showcased district action at Hank Overin Field in Wayne.

The top-seeded Blue Devils hosted the C-5 District and began with a dominant 12-1 victory over #4 Louisville last Thursday. Wayne High then used late-game heroics to win 2-1 against #2 Auburn the next night and become district champion for a third consecutive year. WHS is now 19-8 on the season.

"Just really proud of the boys for sticking with it...we didn't get too many good swings early on and our guys just kept battling," said head coach Adam Hoffman. 

In Thursday's victory against the Lions, Wayne began with four runs in the home half of the first inning. 

The Blue Devils added a single run in the second inning thanks to a RBI base knock by sophomore Adrian Contreras bringing in Redden. 

Wayne High tacked on three more runs in the third to go up 8-0. Kneifl used a RBI bunt single to allow Parker Patefield to cross the plate while Redden tacked on a two-RBI base hit driving in both junior Brodey Munter and Kneifl.

WHS closed scoring with four more runs in the home half of the fourth. Senior Calvin Ankeny doubled in senior Brayden Rajaee-Hallgren, Parker Patefield reached on an error allowing Ankeny to score, Reinhardt grounded into a fielders choice bringing in Parker Patefield as Redden used a RBI grounded driving in Kneifl. 

Louisville plated their lone run of the game in the top of the fifth.

Final by run rule favored Wayne High winning 12-1 while outhitting the Lions, 11-4. Louisville committed two errors compared to one error by WHS.

Gavin Redden singled twice, drove in three runs and scored twice; Parker Patefield singled twice, drove in two runs and scored twice as Chase Sturm singled twice and drove in two runs. Calvin Ankeny also doubled, drove in a run and scored.

Adrian Contreras (76 pitches) picked up the complete game victory in five innings allowing an earned run off four hits while striking out five batters and walking one.

Moving into championship Friday, it was a pitchers showdown with three straight scoreless innings between Wayne and Auburn.

The visiting Bulldogs posted their lone run of the game in the top of the fourth.

Following a scoreless fifth, Wayne High answered with a single run in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game at 1-1. Rodriguez posted a RBI ground out driving in Reinhardt. A sac-bunt by Redden allowed Reinhardt to advance to second along with a single by Contreras to put the game-tying run 90' from home.

The Blue Devils then used a walk-off victory when Reinahrdt drove in Parker Patefield in the home half of the seventh.

Parker Patefield led off the inning with an infield single which allowed the Blue Devils to advance him over to second on a sacrifice bunt by Munter before Reinhardt did the rest.

"One of their goals as a team was hard 90s," Hoffman added. That was kind of a resemblance of that, hitting a ground ball into the 5-6 hole and just beating that out since we got out of the box quick. Really proud of Parker for buying into that and doing it."

Final favored Wayne High winning 2-1 while outhitting the Bulldogs, 7-5. Both teams recorded an error.

Reinhardt singled twice, drove in a run and scored; Parker Patefield singled and scored as Alex Rodriguez accounted for a RBI.

Gavin Redden (94 pitches) picked up the complete game victory in seven innings allowing an earned run off five hits while striking out 10 batters. 

"He doesn't let things affect him and obviously in that inning (sixth) it showed with second and third, nobody out and not giving up a run," Hoffman mentioned. 

Wayne High earned the #6 seed of the 2025 NSAA Class C State Baseball Championships which begin on Saturday, May 17 at Fricke Field in Papillion. 

"For three years we've had great groups and they've bought into what we wanted them to do," said Hoffman. "It's easy to coach when  you have kids that buy into what you want to do. Some days are not always fun for them, it's just a joy as a coach to watch kids experience this. Then to obviously win it  in the bottom of the seventh at home is even better at home is pretty awesome."

The Blue Devils will face #3 Adams Central (21-6) at 7 p.m. Saturday with the winner to advance to a 7 p.m. game or a loss would drop WHS to a 1 p.m. elimination game both on Monday, May 19 at Tal Anderson Field (UNO). The opponent would either be two-time defending Class C state champion #2 Malcolm (24-2) or #7 Mount Michael Benedictine (11-17).