2014 League standings and full schedule -- click here
2014 KNZA & KMZA Legion Baseball broadcast schedule -- click here
2014 McDonald's "Players of the Game" on Kanzaland Radio -- click here

2014 Zone Tournament Pairings (all Zone's - Winners listed on site) --- click here

2014 Junior Legion State Tournament (at Leavenworth) -- Bracket (click here)

Late offense pushed Sabetha too the Zone 5 AA tournament championship victory of Seneca on Friday night winning 6-3 and earning a spot at the State tournament. 

The Sabetha Raptors took the early lead with a one-out walk in the first inning paying dividends as Keegan Schumann blasted a RBI double to make it 1-0 and the Raptors added another in the second frame behind two walks, a Seneca error and passed ball, moving the lead to 2-0. But Sabetha's offense went quiet through the third through six innings with only four base runners in those frames.

Offense broke through for Seneca in the bottom of the third inning behind three hits, walk and hit batter they tied the game at 2-2. Cody Rottinghaus produced an RBI double in the inning and Andrew Oller followed with an RBI single.

Seneca took the lead for the first time in the game in the bottom of the fifth as Devin Henry drew a lead-off walk and a two-out RBI single by Alex Rottinghaus made it 3-2 Seneca lead through five innings.

In the sixth both teams had a base runner, but could produce any runners moving the game into the seventh with Seneca leading 3-2. Sabetha down to their final three-outs in the top of the seventh, got five guys straight on base with one-out and then another hit with two-outs produced four runs, giving Sabetha the 6-3 lead. Dustin Boeckman delivered a two RBI double that gave Sabetha the lead in the inning, while Gaven Schumann and Adam Herl each had RBI singles.

Headed to the bottom of the seventh with one final opportunity for Seneca the inning started with a triple by Justice McKernan. Seneca appeared to score a run on a fly-out but a failure to tag up at third resulted in McKernan being out and Seneca was down to their final out. Cody Rottinghaus produced a two-out double but the next batter would fly out to center ending the game with Sabetha winning Zone 6-3.

Sabetha with the win improved to 27-15 on the year and are headed to the State tournament for the sixth time in the last eight years (hosted three of those years). Keegan and Gaven Schumann each finished with two hits, as Keegan was 2-3 with an RBI, run scored and walk and Gaven tallied a 2-4 game with an RBI. Blake Popkess got the start going four strong innings giving up three runs on five hits, three walks and a hit batter, while Tyler Hackney and Taylor Bauman finished the game in relief. Bauman pitched the seventh for his third save of the Zone tournament and was 1-2 offensively with a run scored and two walks, earning him McDonald's "Player of the Game" on Kanzaland radio.

Seneca with the loss closes out their season 14-8 and Zone runner-ups. Alex Rottinghaus led Seneca offensively going 2-2 with an RBI and hit by pitch, while Oller and Cody Rottinghaus each had two-hits, also. Oller finished the night 2-4 with an RBI and Cody Rottinghaus was 2-4 with a run scored, RBI and walk.

Sabetha will now continue their season next week along with fellow NEKL team, Doniphan County in the AA State tournament in Wathena starting Wednesday, July 30th.

Doniphan County Junior's Suffer First Loss at State Tournament

A win and Doniphan County Junior Legion would be one win shy of winning that State title but the Junior’s will now have to do it the hard way, as they suffered the 7-5 loss to Andover Central in a winner's bracket game.

Doniphan County found themselves constantly battling back into the game as Andover Central scored first in the top of the first with a run, but Doniphan County answered in the bottom of the inning. In the third inning Andover Central plated three runs, but Doniphan County scored three also in the bottom of the fourth making it 4-4. In the top of the Andover Central plated two more to lead 6-4 and never let the lead slip after that, as Doniphan County got a run back in the bottom of the sixth making it 6-5, but ultimately fell by that score.

Earlier in the day McPherson and Salina stayed alive in the State tournament winning their elimination games. McPherson beat Paola 7-3 and Salina beat Manhattan 8-0. In the nightcap McPherson eliminated Salina winning 4-2.

With the loss, Doniphan County will need three wins to win the State title and first have to beat McPherson on Saturday, July 26th at noon. With a win Doniphan County would play at 2:30pm versus Andover Central, needing two wins to win the State title, while a loss to McPherson would give the Doniphan County Junior's a third place finish at State.