WISNER – Wakefield scored in Saturday's matchup with Wisner-Pilger-Dodge-Howells, but it was all WPDH after that as the tournament hosts posted a 9-1 win over the Wakefield Post 81 Seniros in the Class C, Area 2 tournament Saturday at Wisner City Park.
Wakefield got in the board in the bottom of the first when Ben Klein stroked a leadoff double in the gap in left center and came home on Noah Braun's one-out suicide squeeze to give the locals the early 1-0 advantage.
WPDH responded with two runs in the top of the second inning and never let Wakefield score again after that, riding the masterful two-hit pitching of Jeremiah Mauch, who struck out five and hit two batters on his way to the win.
Wakefield had a chance to retake the lead in the bottom of the second after WPDH took the lead for good on a two-run double by 36. Julio Sanchez and Noah Lamprecht both were hit by Mauch and advanced an extra base on a balk, but Mauch settled down and struck out the next two batters to get out of the jam.
Klein walked and was stranded at third in the third inning, and Wakefield left two runners on after Braun reached on an error and Jose Sanchez doubled to left to account for the only offense of the night for the Post 81 Seniors.
In other Area 2 games Saturday, Pender eliminated Madison with a 16-0 win in the losers bracket, while top-seeded West Point shut out Tekamah-Herman 10-0.
Pender will face Tekamah-Herman in a 2:30 p.m. elimination game on Sunday, while Wakefield and Stanton meet in the other losers bracket game at 5 p.m. West Point will face WPDH at 7:30 p.m., with the winner guaranteed a spot in Tuesday's championship game.
