WISNER – After being limited to two hits the previous evening, Wakefield's bats exploded for 16 hits as the Post 81 Seniors stayed alive with a 16-6 rout of Stanton in the Class C, Area 2 American Legion Seniors tournament Sunday at Wisner City Park.
Wakefield trailed 2-0 early in the game, but scored four runs in the second inning to take the lead. Julio Sanchez, Parker Lehmkuhl and Ben Klein all had RBI singles and Lehmkuhl scored on a wild pitch to help Wakefield take the lead.
Stanton touched starter Jose Sanchez for four runs in the fourth, forcing the Post 81 Seniors to got to the bullpen. Isaac Camarena got Wakefield out of further damage, striking out two batters and getting an inning-ending groundout to keep the score at 6-4.
It was all Wakefield after that, as the Post 81 Seniors responded with five runs in the fourth and seven more in the fifth to end the game on the 10-run rule.
In the fourth, Micah Sprouls had the big hit with a two-run triple to the gap in right center. Noah Braun also had an RBI single and Julio Sanchez had an RBI single.
In the fifth, Wayne sent 10 batters to the plate as Stanton's pitching and defense fell apart. Sprouls had a two-run single and Sanchez had an RBI single. Sanchez and Daniel Nuno scored on passed balls to end the game.
Klein, Sprouls and Sanchez each had three hits to lead Wakefield's 16-hit attack. Sprouls scored three times while Caden Korth, Braun, Jose Sanchez and Camarena each scored twice.
Wakefield will play West Point in action Monday. Game time will be either at 5 p.m. or 7:30 p.m., depending on the outcome of West Point's game with Wisner-Pilger-Dodge-Howells. WPDH will play Pender, an 8-5 winner over Tekamah-Herman in the other losers bracket matchup Sunday.
