The Wayne American Legion Seniors’ regular-season home finale with Omaha Central on Thursday ended in wild fashion, as the two teams combined for 19 runs in the final three innings before Wayne salvaged a split with an 11-10 win.
Omaha Central took the opener 6-2, scoring five runs in the third inning to take control of the game. Wayne put up runs in the fourth and sixth innings, with Tyler Lutt scoring on a Zane Jackson double in the fourth and Jackson sending Lutt home with a sacrifice fly in the sixth.
Payten Gamble had two of Wayne’s six hits in the contest. Adam Bentjen took the loss on the mound.
The nightcap proved to be a wild one with Wayne winning on a walk-off bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the seventh after they squandered a four-run lead in the top of the seventh.
Wayne tied the game at 1-1 in the fourth when Gamble stole second, moved to third on an error and came home when Jackson reached on an error.
Omaha Central scored three in the top of the fifth to take a 4-1 lead, but Wayne came back with four in the bottom of the inning to reclaim the lead at 5-4. Mason Lee brought home Caden Korth with a sacrifice fly, Lutt singled home Bentjen and scored on a Jackson single, and Gamble came home on a Justin Dean single to highlight the inning.
Omaha Central tied it up in the sixth, but Wayne put up four more runs to take a 9-5 lead into the final inning. Lee got the inning started by reaching safely on a suicide squeeze, scoring Korth. Jackson followed with a two-run single, scoring Lutt and Lee, and Jackson came home on a wild pitch.
Central scored five runs in the top of the seventh to retake the lead, but their pitching struggled as Wayne took advantage of three walks to load the bases. Bentjen was hit in the head by a pitch to score Tucker Nichols with the tying run, and Brennan O’Reilly scored when Lee drew a walk on a 3-2 pitch to end the game and help Wayne (13-8) salvage the split.
Lutt, Gamble and Jackson each had two hits to highlight a 10-hit attack. Jackson drove in four runs and Lee brought home three. Bentjen got the win in relief.
Wayne closes the regular season next week with a Wednesday matchup at South Sioux City and a tournament in Yutan July 15-16. They host the Class B, Area 5 tournament July 21-25 at Hank Overin Field.
