COLUMBUS — In their first four games of the Class B, Area 4 Seniors tournament, the Wayne American Legion Post 43 Seniors had scored a total of 26 runs in 28 innings.
On Tuesday, they bettered that mark and punched their ticket to state.
Wayne’s bats were on fire Tuesday at Pawnee Park as they slugged out a combined 27 runs in just 10 innings, posting mercy-rule wins over host Columbus Lakeview (15-3) and top-seeded Battle Creek (12-0) to earn a trip to this week’s Class B state tournament, which begins Saturday in Pierce.
Wayne scored five runs in the first inning and Jase Dean had a career-high five RBI’s to help the Seniors to the late-afternoon win over the host team.
Kaleb Moormeier had three of Wayne’s 13 hits in the opener, including a double and three RBIs. Dean had two hits, as did Devin Anderson. Anderson and Jaxson Kneifl both had doubles in the win.
Wyatt Heikes threw 22 of his 57 pitches in the first inning, but settled down after that to get the complete-game win and send Wayne to the championship game.
Wayne’s bats were still smoking in the finale against Battle Creek. Three hits, three walks and an error chased starter Kaleb Kummer as the Post 43 Seniors put up seven runs in the opening frame.
Wayne took advantage of seven Battle Creek errors, four coming in the fifth when a three-run inning put the game on ice.
Gavin Redden needed just 64 pitches to throw a two-hit shutout, striking out five and allowing no walks as he got a spotless defensive effort behind him. He helped his cause with two hits, including a double, and two runs scored. Heikes also had two hits and scored twice, and Devin Anderson and Aiden Liston both scored twice and drove in two runs apiece.
Unofficially, Wayne (23-8) is set to play York Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. in Pierce. The double-elimination tournament runs through Wednesday.
Complete highlights in this week’s edition of The Wayne Herald.
