The Arlington and Fort Calhoun Senior Legion baseball teams shared weekend plans, May 24 through Sunday.
The lineups of coaches TJ Stosich and Jerry Wellwood competed in the Jim Sake Sr Memorial Day Tournament. The Zig Drywall Pioneers hosted as did the ETC Knights at Elkhorn Mount Michael with 10 teams participating overall.
Fort Calhoun (3-4 overall), ultimately, went 2-2, while the Post 71 Eagles (2-3) earned a 1-2 tourney record. To get their weekends started, Post 348 hosted Arlington.
Eagles rout Post 348
Fort Calhoun Senior Legion base runner AJ Duros scored on a Post 71 error to start the May 24 Jim Sake tourney opener, but Coach Stosich's squad ended up scoring many more, 17-4, during the six-inning game.
“We just played clean,” Arlington's Andy Misfeldt said. “Were able to get some hits going.”
The Eagles scored two runs during the fourth inning, four in the fifth and 11 in the sixth to put the game away by run-rule.
“This game, we got really into it,” Misfeldt said. “We were seeing pitches well.”
Infielder Blaine Vogt led Post 71 with four RBIs.
“It was nice to get some pitches that I liked,” he said. “Built some confidence into the weekend and for the rest of the season.”
Dallin Franzluebbers started the Eagles' scoring with an RBI double during the fourth inning. Luke Ott hit into an error next for a 2-1 advantage.
Arlington then pushed the lead to 6-1 on fifth inning swings by Vogt, Tyler Ott, Franzluebbers and Luke Ott.
Fort Calhoun's Carter Christensen scored next on a Post 71 pitch in the dirt, but the Eagles weren't done. Their 11-run sixth frame was the result of Vogt's RBI single, Luke Sharp's RBI double, Misfeldt's two-run double, a Tanner Kyllo RBI single and Vogt's two-run knock in his second at-bat of the inning. Plate appearances by Tyler Ott, Luke Ott and Jackson Stosich resulted in runs, too.
Christensen plated two runs during the bottom half of the final inning, but it wasn't enough to extend the first-round tourney game any further.
It was a strong start to the weekend for Arlington, but Misfeldt knew it was only the beginning.
“We've got two tough games going into tomorrow,” he said.
Vogt knew what he felt the Eagles should do to continue their success.
“From now on, we're just trying to have some fun,” he said. “I think we play our best when we have some fun and play loose.”
Teams each play twice Saturday
Tournament play continued Saturday with the Washington County teams combining to go 1-3.
Zig Drywall claimed its first win of the summer against the ETC Knights Red, 6-2, scoring five runs during the second inning. AJ Duros plated the first with a single before both Colin Bolay and Josh Miranda notched two-run knocks.
In their second game of the day, the Pioneers lost to Gretna East, 7-5. The home team fell behind 5-0 before battling back into it with a four-run bottom of the fifth frame. Andrew Namuth notched a bases-loaded sacrifice fly before Charlie Boumstein and Sam Genoways RBI swings.
Arlington, meanwhile, went 0-2 Saturday in Fort Calhoun. Post 71 lost a late lead to the ETC Red squad, falling 7-6 in six innings. Tim Halley, Vogt, Luke Ott and Sharp all plated runs in defeat alongside Misfeldt.
Against Gretna East, though, the Eagles didn't score a run. A five-run bottom of the fourth inning pushed the Griffins past Arlington by run-rule.
Calhoun wraps up tourney
Calhoun closed out the Jim Sake Sr Memorial Day Tournament on Sunday with a 5-2 win against the Millard Sox Black. The Pioneers' opposition scored first before the home team took its own lead during the bottom half of the first inning.
Josh Miranda walked and, eventually, evened the score, reaching home plate on a wild pitch.
Declyn Otte and Kenny Wellwood earned back-to-back two-out walks next before JT Mlnarik was hit by a pitch to load the bases. From there, Christensen drew a bases-loaded walk on a full count pitch for the lead.
Ahead 2-1, Zig Drywall's lead grew to the final margin with runs during the third, fourth and fifth innings, too.
Pioneers continue play Tuesday
The Pioneers' summer schedule continued on Tuesday, though, with a home game against Valparaiso.
Zig Drywall fell behind 4-0 during the top of the third inning, but responded with four runs of its own during the bottom half before outscoring its opposition 7-1 the rest of the way.
Christensen led Post 348 with four RBIs on three hits, while Miranda notched two hits, too. Boumstein earned the pitching win, throwing four frames without surrendering an earned run.
SENIOR LEGION LINE SCORES
Tuesday
Fort Calhoun 11, Valparaiso 5
VALPO 0 0 4 0 0 1 0 — 5
FC (3-4) 0 0 4 1 2 4 X — 11
Sunday
Fort Calhoun 5, Millard Sox Black 2
MSB 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 — 2
FC (2-4) 2 0 1 1 1 0 X — 5
Saturday
Gretna East 7, Fort Calhoun 5
GE 0 0 0 4 1 0 2 — 7
FC (1-4) 0 0 0 0 4 0 1 — 5
Gretna East 10, Arlington 0, 4 inn.
ARLO (2-3) 0 0 0 0 — 0
GE 4 0 1 5 — 10
ETC Knights Red 7, Arlington 6, 6 inn.
ETC 0 0 2 1 0 4 — 7
ARLO (2-2) 1 4 1 0 0 0 — 6
Fort Calhoun 6, ETC Knights Red 2, 6 inn.
ETC 0 0 0 0 1 1 — 2
FC (1-3) 0 5 0 1 0 X — 6
May 24
Arlington 17, Fort Calhoun 4, 6 inn.
ARLO (2-1) 0 0 0 2 4 11 — 17
FC (0-3) 1 0 0 0 1 2 — 4
