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#1 Westside Sweeps To Wildcat Invite Title Sunday, April 12, 2009 |
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The top-ranked Westside Warriors combined pitching, fielding and timely hitting to defeat three Top Ten Class A teams en route to winning the championship of the 2009 Wildcat Invitational. It wasn't always pretty or perfect, but in the end the Warriors prevailed.
Exhibit "A" on the "not always pretty" list would be Friday's opening round 6-5 win over Lincoln Southeast in which the Warriors committed three errors on their home turf. The game was rescheduled and relocated due to rain Thursday evening. Southeast jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning and led 5-1 after 4 1/2. Westside battled back with three runs in the bottom of the fifth to close within a run, and then Chris Williams tied the game with a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the sixth. With one out and Josh Scheffert at first in the top of the 7th, Jaydee Jurgensen grounded into what looked to be a game-ending double play as Westside sophomore second baseman Dan Dunn fielded the ball and prepared to throw to second to force Scheffert. Dunn's throw was wide of the mark, however, extending the inning and allowing Scheffert to advance to third. The Husker signee tried to score on a high chopper to third, but third baseman Jory Goldstrom threw to catcher Bear Opitz for a bang-bang out at the plate. Another ground ball to Goldstrom then ended the inning, tied six all.
Andrew Dahir led off the seventh for the Warriors and fouled off a series of pitches before reaching on a base hit. Goldstrom moved Dahir to second with a sacrifice bunt, bringing Dunn to the plate for a chance at redemption. The young ballplayer had already won one big game for the Warriors with a walk off, inside-the-park-home run against Prep earlier in the season. The lefty-hitting sophomore came up big again with the game on the line, driving a Tyler Philpot fastball up the middle to score Dahir from second for the winning run.
Ryan Tomlinson went the distance for the Warriors, allowing five hits and striking out four.
That win, combined with a 12-2, six-inning win by Millard West over Millard North, set up a head-to-head semi-final matchup between the #1 Warriors and the host #2 Wildcats at Millard West Friday evening. The Wildcats had thrown their ace, Tyler Niederklein, against the Mustangs but still had Tyler Hinkle ready for the Warriors. Meanwhile, Westside countered with their #1, Chris Williams. Williams was shaky early as three first-inning hits resulted in two quick runs for the Wildcats. Westside responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning, and then Williams settled in, retiring the Wildcats in order in the top of the 2nd. In the bottom of the second, with bases loaded and a full count, Williams grounded to third for what looked to be the end of a shutout inning for Hinkle. But with the runners going on the pitch, a bad throw to first rolled to the fence of the expansive ballpark, allowing three runs to score to put the Warriors up 6-3.
Williams went into cruise control the rest of the way, allowing only two hits over the final six innings. The costly three-run error seemed to take the fight out of the Wildcats, as the Wildcats tacked on three more runs in the fourth and another in the sixth to win 10-2.
Williams threw a complete game five-hitter, striking out eight, to earn his fifth win of the season. Ryan Tomlinson drove in two runs to go with his win earlier in the day.
Saturday evening's championship pitted the Warriors against Millard South who had advanced through the winners' bracket with a rain-shortened 6-1 win over Lincoln East on Thursday, then came back to win, 5-4, against Elkhorn Friday night with two runs in the bottom of the seventh, one on a costly error on a routine fly ball that would have ended the inning in a tie. The match-up in Saturday's championship looked to favor the #3 Patriots as they had their ace, Dylan Vogt, ready to go. In a March 29th game, Vogt held the Warriors to a single hit in a tough-luck 1-0 loss.
But instead of that crisp, well-played pitcher's duel, this game was marred by pitching struggles and twelve errors (seven by Westside, call this Exhibit "B") as the two lineups combined for twenty-six hits. Westside got to Vogt early, scoring four times in the first inning with the help of Tomlinson's two-run triple. The Patriots battled back with two runs in the bottom of the inning, but the Warriors answered with a Kyle Hartman's two-run double in the second. The Patriots battled back from a 7-3 deficit with a five-run fourth to take an 8-7 lead. But again Westside countered, this time with three runs in the top of the fifth, and single runs in the sixth and seventh to offset single runs by the Patriots in the bottom of the fifth and sixth to claim a 12-10 win and the championship.
Kyle Hartman had three hits and three RBIs for Westside. Jake Rupp added two hits and two RBIs and picked up the win in relief, allowing no earned runs in 3 1/3 innings of relief. Millard South's Brad McKewon, who was impressive on the mound Friday night against Elkhorn, drove in three runs, and Alex Duncan and Andy Peacock both drove in two to lead the Patriots offensively.
Williams, widely regarded as the top unsigned player in the state, had a nice tournament, going 7-for-11 at the plate (.636) with a home run, three RBI's and six runs scored. On the mound, he allowed only four hits in seven innings, striking eight and walking only one against the hardhitting Wildcats. Other top performers for the tournament champs included:
In other action on Saturday in the Millard West Tournament, Millard North prevailed in the seventh place game with a 9-0 win over Lincoln East, Southeast prevailed over Bryan, 15-8, to claim fifth, and Millard West blanked Elkhorn, 10-0, in six innings for third.
In the four-team Lincoln North Star Gator Classic at Sherman Field in Lincoln, Lincoln Southwest went 2-0 by beating Bellevue East ace Matt Tew as Adam Peters picked up his fourth win of the season and then defeating a stubborn host team, 4-1, behind a complete game two-hit performance by Ty Kuper. Adam Lavelle had a big day for the Silver Hawks with two doubles and two RBI's against Bellevue East and a two-for-three performance against North Star with two RBI's and two runs scored. Dusty Block also doubled and tripled in the first game, and Mark Korsakas added a triple. Vince Flynn was two-for-four with two RBI's in the North Star game.
Lincoln High (4-8) showed considerable spunk in the tournament, battling ten innings with North Star before falling 3-2, in the opening game. The Links rallied back with a 2-1 win over #10 Bellevue East in the Consolation Game. The Chieftains were winless on the day.
In triangular action around the state, Papillion LaVista South (12-2), continues to roll, scoring thirty runs in two games to defeat both Lincoln Northeast and host Grand Island in a triangular at Ryder Park in Grand Island. The Titans' Eli Nelson was the winning pitcher and had two hits and three RBI's in the 14-1 win over GI, and then had a home run and drove in four runs in the 16-5 win over Northeast. Papio South broke that game open with eleven runs in the first. The Islanders earned a split on the day with an 11-7 win over the Rockets, who finished 0-2.
Columbus came away with two wins at a triangular at Omaha Northwest, defeating the host Huskies 7-4 in nine innings and then breaking open a close 5-4 game against Gross with Michael Blatchford's grand slam in the top of the sixth. The Cougars intentionally walked future Husker Kurt Farmer to load the bases, and Blatchford responded with the big blast. The Discoverers went on to post a 16-5 win. Gross then rebounded to keep the host team winless on the day with a 9-3 victory over the Huskies. Vinni Orsi had three hits in support of Eric Brooner's five-hitter. |
