Local baseball, softball teams have busy week on the diamonds
WAUSA — The past week the youth of the community were busy as there were games every night of the week.
The work of the ball fields the past two years was well worth it as there was at least two nights of games played in the rain. The fields held up to the test and were such an improvement to what they had been in years past. Usually with rain the fields were muddy and very slick. Now the fields stay dry enough to be played on and the only slick spot is the base itself!
On Monday, the younger baseball age groups traveled to Winside. The 5/6 baseball team started off the night on fire. The little boys are entertaining to watch, Dillon Bruckner is doing a great job with them as their head coach. Lane Grone and Kyle Korth also assist with the coaching duties as that age group is full of energy and of course are still young and are learning the game. The weather was a factor that night in Winside as the 7/8 baseball game had to be called for lightening before the game could finish in the 1-hour time limit. The 7/8 boys ended the game tied at 8.
The 9/10 boys did not get to play that night due to the weather.
The 11/12 PeeWee boys were in Wausa and played Neligh. The rain held off for the game but unfortunately the boys could not come up with the win. The final score was 5-19.
The 13/14 Ponies game started in the rain and it would start and stop a few times throughout their game. Jake Munter started out pitching for the boys. During the first inning, Jake would have one strikeout. Cade Wakeley caught a pop fly at second base and Jake threw a ground ball to first for the next two outs.
The boys had a hard time getting their bats going and ended up scoreless the next two innings. Vinnie Vanness would come pitch during the third inning and earned two strikeouts. The third out came from Koy Kraft at short stop throwing to first base.
The hits started to come around for the boys in the third and fourth innings. Despite the beginning of a comeback the boys could not make up the deficit, falling 18-9.
On Tuesday night the softball girls would play. The 5/6 girls would have a fun night with the 16/18 girls. Fun was had by all the girls.
The 7/8 girls traveled to Bloomfield and came home with the 9-2 win.
The 11/12 softball team traveled to Laurel for a double-header. The Lady Vikings lost both games with scores of 5-9 and 11-12. The Lady Vikings 11/12 softball team improved from their first game and put up a good fight in the second game.
Kennedy Gillilan was the pitcher for the Lady Vikings during the first game. The Lady Vikings went to work early in the first inning by bringing home Taylor Dawson and Reagan Gillilan to score. Laurel would answer with three runs of their own in the first and second inning. The Lady Vikings would not be able to score in the second inning but did bring another three runs home in the third inning, including Elle Brazel, Avery Stevens, and Kennedy Gillilan to end the game with a loss of 5-9.
Avery Stevens would pitch the next game. The Lady Vikings were ready to bat as they would score runs every inning besides the 2nd. During the 5th and open inning, 5 runs came home. Taylor Dawson, Isabelle Seagren, Reagan Gillilan, Elle Brazel, Avery Stevens, and Lexi Wright would help contribute to the 11 runs scored by the Lady Vikings. It was a great effort at the end to finish the game 11-12.
The Lady Vikings 16/18 softball team had a double header at home against Wakefield. Blair Wakeley would start out pitching for the first game. She was able to hold the Wakefield team to one run including two strikeouts the first two innings but then the strike zone would not work in her favor. In the third inning Blair started out pitching but then Sienna West would come in to finish the inning. Wakefield was able to get in seven runs that inning. The Lady Vikings struggled getting runners home despite their best efforts as the defenders for Wakefield would be very tough. Peyton Privett, Hadley Vanness and Addi Sporleder would be able to score runs in the first three innings. During the fourth inning, Peyton hit a triple and was able to score another run. Sienna would end the game with one strikeout as the Lady Vikings lost the first game 4-10.
During the second game the older girls of the team would play. Charlie Price would start off as pitcher and would get one strikeout the first two innings. Wakefield would start off very hot the first inning scoring six runs. These would be the only six runs Wakefield would score as the Lady Vikings defense and pitching would shut them down. Jaide Kaiser would finish the game as pitcher and tally another strikeout. The Lady Vikings would also start strong on batting too. In the first inning with bases loaded and no outs, Morgan Kleinschmit hit a double to bring in three runs. The Lady Vikings got a total of 10 runs during the game to win 18-6.
Baseball was home again on Wednesday taking on the Osmond Tigers. The 5/6 boys would tie their game again. They are improving each game and sure are entertaining.
The 7/8 boys would be up next, and they took home the win with a score of 15-1.
The 9/10 boys would take the field next. There were a few sprinkles during their game, but they were able to continue to play because of the new aggregate on the field. Ashton Baue would start the night off pitching and did very well for their first game. He was able to hold the Osmond Tigers. The bats for the Vikings were active. During the 1st inning Dawson Kraft and Levi Suhr would come home to score 2 runs for the Vikings. During the 2nd inning both Trace Wakeley and Noel Kumm would start the inning off on base. Dawson Kraft would hit a double to bring home Trace for another run. Ashton would finish the 2nd inning as pitcher earning 6 strikeouts. Ben Barta would come in as pitcher for the 3rd and 4th inning and earn five strikeouts. Dawson Kraft would finish the night in the fifth inning as pitcher and get all 3 outs with strikeouts. The boys brought home a win with a final score of 3-0 just in time too as the lightening struck just as they got done.
On Thursday, the softball games got moved from Verdigre to Wausa because the ball field is still completing improvements in Verdigre.
The 7/8 Lady Viking softball team started out the night with a big 11-3 win over Verdigre. Wausa does not have a 9/10 team so the 11/12 Lady Vikings were up next.
Verdigre ended up calling the game in the top of the third inning due to rain. Kennedy Gillilan pitched the first two innings. Verdigre scored two runs during the first frame but the Lady Vikings answered with two runs home from Elle Brazel and Taylor Dawson. The second inning was score less for both teams. During the third inning the rain got to be heavy, and the players were cold, so Verdigre would call the game and the final score in that game was tied at two.
The 13/14 Lady Vikings would go on to play despite the rain but suffered a 7-3 loss.
The 16/18 Lady Vikings would be next. Jaide Kaiser would start the game as pitcher. She would hold the Verdigre Stingers in the first two innings to two runs despite three strikeouts. The first two innings for the Lady Vikings would be difficult in runs as they would be three-up and three-down. Sienna West came in to pitch in the third inning and held the Stingers to one run. During the third inning, both Morgan Kleinschmit and Blair Wakeley were able to score runs for the Lady Vikings. Sienna and her fellow teammates on the field would hold the Stingers scoreless for the remainder of the game. Sienna earned four strikeouts for herself. During the fourth inning, Christina Martinson hit a solid base hit to center field to get on base. Then Morgan came up to bat with Christina on first base and hit the ball hard to right center for a home run. Morgan came across the plate to give the Lady Vikes their fourth and winning run, making it 4-3.
The 13/14 Pony Viking baseball team traveled to Hartington that night also. Their field conditions were not good and battled muddy fields and heavy shoes. The boys battled hard, but the game was finally called for weather as one of Hartington’s players pulled a muscle due to the slick conditions. The Vikings lost 9-0. Colton Baue was the pitcher for the full game.
All teams will be back in action every night this week so we hope you can get out to watch these young athletes.
Stay in the know!
To get news alerts on your cell phone, get the Cedar County News app in the ITunes store or in the Google Play Store.
