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Regular season of the Legion baseball is underway for most of the Northeast Kansas League teams as they squared off against each other in double-headers on Sunday.

Seneca and Doniphan County Split Twinbill in Seneca

Seneca behind the pitching of Dustin Rottinghaus started their season off with a win in game one of the double-header against Doniphan County by earning the 8-5 win, while the pitching of Nathan Gaarder helped Doniphan County earn the series split with a game two 8-3 Doniphan County win.

In game one it was a three-run homer by Kurtis Niehues in the bottom of the fifth inning with two-outs and two-strikes against him that helped push Seneca past Doniphan County in game one, 8-5. Dustin Rottinghaus earned the win on the mound for Seneca going five innings giving up two runs, while also notching a pair of hits in the game. Cooper Leach started the game but only went an inning and a third and Phoenix Keller finished the game in relief. Offensively in the loss Doniphan County was led by Reid Greaser who went 2-3 with a two-run homer and Keller was 3-4.

Game two was dominated by Nathan Gaarder who pitched all seven innings giving up three runs (two earned), striking out eight and walking only one as Doniphan County won 8-3 over Seneca. Seneca mustered only five hits in the game and Cody Rottinghaus took the loss on the mound. Doniphan County had only six hits, but Keller was 2-4 and Greaser had another two-run homer in the contest.

With the series split Doniphan County and Seneca start the season 1-1. Doniphan County hits the diamond again on Tuesday as they host Falls City (NE) and then play Atchison in a double-header on Wednesday at home (6:00pm game will be on 103.9 KNZA). Seneca will be action again on Wednesday at Frankfort for a League double-header.

Atchison Sweeps Hiawatha in Double-Header at Home

Atchison hosted Hiawatha and it was a tale of two different games in the final tally as Atchison won them both picking up a 3-0 and 13-2 victory.

Hiawatha who had not had much practice time logged before getting to game action struggled only mustering three hits in game one, but held Atchison to just three runs on eight hits as Taylor Jacobsen and Shawn Green each pitched three innings of action. Atchison got a run in the bottom of the first and second innings and added another in the fifth and behind the pitching of Harry Trotter who went all seven innings to earn the win, striking out four, got the 3-0 win. Lane Fry led the Atchison offense with two hits.

In game two the offensive woes continued for Hiawatha has they were held to two-hits, while Atchison only had five hits but took advantage of free passes and four Hiawatha errors to score 13 runs and win 13-2, using a nine-run bottom of the third to deliver the big blow. Jake Schmidt and Noah Baniewicz each had a pair of RBI's for Atchison, while Jacobsen had both RBI's for Hiawatha.

With the pair of wins Atchison starts the season 2-0 and Hiawatha 0-2 and both teams will be back in action Wednesday at Doniphan County for a double-header (6:00pm game will be on 103.9 KNZA) and Hiawatha will host Jefferson County on Wednesday for a twin bill. 

Jefferson County Joins NEKL and Sweeps Sabetha to Open Season

It was 17 free passes and nine errors by the Sabetha Raptors that plagued them against Jefferson County and in the River Bandits first Northeast Kansas League double-header they would sweep Sabetha with 8-3 and 8-0 victories.

Jefferson County took an early 4-0 lead against Sabetha by plating four in the bottom of the first and despite only six hits in game one went on to grab the 8-3 victory. Florence pitched four and two-thirds innings for the River Bandits and Sullivan led the offense with a pair of hits. Dustin Boeckman and Gaven Schumann each had a pair of hits in the loss for Sabetha.

Game two was much of the same as Jefferson County had six hits but took advantage of multiple errors and free passes to earn the 8-0 win, as they held Sabetha to just three hits in the contest. Burghart struck out nine in four and two-thirds for the River Bandits while Morson had two hits and two RBI's in the win.

The pair of wins starts Jefferson County off 2-0 this season and Sabetha falls to 1-6 on the year. The Sabetha Raptors will be back in action on Tuesday night at Marysville for a double-header starting at 6:00pm, while Jefferson County will travel to Hiawatha on Wednesday for a double-header.