SIDNEY – Waverly pitcher Jonah Reiser kept Wayne’s bats in check and shut down the Post 43 Juniors in a 6-0. decision Saturday afternoon in the opening round of the American Legion Class B Juniors state tournament at Legion Park.
Waverly got all they would need in the first inning with two runs, highlighted by an RBI double by Thatcher Kozal.
Wayne put the leadoff runner in each of the first two innings as Brennan O’Reilly reached on an error in the first and Adam Bentjen led off led off the second with a single. Wayne couldn’t score in either inning, and left a runner in scoring position in the fourth when Bentjen doubled to right but could not find his way home.
Waverly extended their lead in the fifth, using four singles to score two more runs on a Sawyer Schroeder single to right field.
Wayne got a rally going in the bottom of the fifth as Mason Lee and Beau Bowers opened with back-to-back singles and Edgar Ficke-Anderson was hit by a pitch to load the bases with nobody out. Reiser got Waverly out of the jam, though, getting a strikeout and an inning-ending 1-2-3 double play to keep Wayne off the scoreboard.
Waverly added two unearned runs in the top of the sixth, and Reiser shut down Wayne after that, limiting the Post 43 Juniors to six hits and striking out six as Wayne fell to 28-5 on the season.
Bentjen and Zane Jackson both had doubles and Bentjen had two hits to lead the Wayne offensive effort. Ficke-Anderson also had a base hit.
Wayne will face McCook, a 7-2 loser to two-time defending champion Hickman, in an 11 a.m. elimination game Sunday. Other Saturday games include Seward vs. Alliance at 5 p.m. and Sidney vs. Mount Michael at 8 p.m.
