The Wayne High baseball team is heading into districts on an upbeat note after ending the regular season with an exciting 6-5 win over Arlington Monday at Hank Overin Field.
The Blue Devils got on the board in the first when Jacob Kneifl walked and later scored on a wild pitch. Arlington’s pitching continued to struggle in the second as Wayne took advantage of five walks and an error to score three runs and take a 4-0 lead. Reid Korth scored on a wild pitch to start the inning, Blake Bartos came home on a bases-loaded walk and Brennen O’Reilly scored when Zane Jackson reached on an error.
After Arlington got on the board in the fourth, Wayne added another run when O’Reilly doubled in the gap in left center and came home on a sacrifice fly by Kneifl to make it a 5-1 game.
Arlington came back to tie the game, scoring a run in the fifth, two in the sixth and one in the top of the seventh to make it a 5-5 game, but Wayne would have the final say.
Jackson led off the inning with a single, moved to second on a balk and was advanced to third on a Gunnar Jorgensen sacrifice. Trevor DeBoer hit a line drive to third base, but an error by the Eagles allowed Jackson to come home with the winning run, giving Wayne its eighth straight win.
Arlington outhit Wayne 7-5 in the contest. O’Reilly had a double and Jackson, Korth, Bartos and Hagan Miller all added singles.
Josh Lutt threw four innings, allowing one run on three hits with five walks and one strikeout. Tyler Gilliland pitched an inning in relief of Lutt before turning the ball over to Jackson as he got the win.
Wayne takes a 12-5 record into the B-2 district at Omaha Home For Boys, located at 4343 North 52nd St. The third-seeded Blue Devils will face Ralston in a 12 p.m. semifinal on Saturday, with the winner advancing to the finals on Monday at a time to be determined.
