The Wayne American Legion Seniors split their first two games in the Yutan Tournament on Saturday, beating Auburn 5-3 before losing to Arlington 11-2.
The Auburn game was a back-and-forth affair before the locals scored two in the bottom of the sixth to break a 3-3 tie and go on to the win.
Wayne trailed early but tied the game in the second on Caden Korth’s sacrifice fly that plated Tucker Nichols. Wayne trailed 2-1 in the third before taking the lead on RBI singles by Ben Klein and Korth to make it a 3-2 game.
Auburn tied the game in the fourth, but Wayne came through with two in the sixth for the win. Klein led off with a single and moved to third on a bunt single by Nichols. Nichols moved to second on a Korth groundout, and Adam Bentjen came through with a suicide squeeze that plated Klein, with Nichols hustling around from second and beating the throw home for an insurance run.
Auburn loaded the bases in the top of the seventh, but Tyler Lutt came on in relief and got the last strikeout to give Wayne the win.
Klein and Justin Dean each had two hits to lead a nine-hit effort. Nichols scored two runs and Korth and Bentjen each had two RBI’s. Bentjen got the win with Lutt earning the save.
In the second game, Arlington jumped on Wayne early and scored in each of the first four innings, ending the game on the eight-run rule after five innings.
Wayne’s only runs came in the second, as Zane Jackson doubled and scored on a Dean single, while Nichols had an RBI on a sacrifice fly.
Jackson and Dean had Wayne’s only hits. Lutt went the distance and took the loss.
Wayne, 14-11, closes the regular season Sunday with a 1:30 p.m. matchup against Fort Calhoun. They host the Class B Area 5 tournament beginning Friday at Hank Overin Field.
