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2015 League Standings & Full Schedule - click here
2015 McDonald's "Player of the Game" Honors on KNZA & KMZA - click here
Class A (Junior Legion) State Tournament (at Salina) bracket - click here
Class AA State Tournament (at Colby) bracket - click here
Class AAA State Tournament (at McPherson) bracket - click here
Two Northeast Kansas League senior legion earned spots at State on Thursday night, while three others saw their season come to a close in Zone tournament play.
AA Zone tournament action continued and wrapped up at Somerset Park in Sabetha with another late night of baseball. Seneca staved off elimination in the first game by topping Hiawatha 12-2 in five innings, to set up another show down with Doniphan County and would need another win for force a winner take all championship game. It was a tight contest and need extra innings to decide the winner as Doniphan County came from behind to earn the 3-2 10 inning win and earn a spot at the AA State legion tournament in Colby.
Oskaloosa is headed to State at the AAA level as they stayed alive twice yesterday to finish runner-up at the AAA Zone in Atchison, by beating Atchison 10-5 and then topping Chanute 4-2. The two wins secure a spot at State at the AAA level in McPherson next week.
The Junior legion State tournament continued to roll along in Salina yesterday and Doniphan County remains alive after a pair of wins. Doniphan County ended Atchison's season with a 12-2 four innings and then eliminated Paola with an 8-0 win. With those two wins Doniphan County is assured a top three finish at State for the second straight year and will take on McPherson at 10:00am Friday morning and with a win would play Arkansas City after words (would need a win over Ark City to force winner take all championship game)
Doniphan County Tops Seneca to Win AA Zone Title at Sabetha
It was another crazy night of baseball at Somerset Park in Sabetha and ultimately it was Doniphan County earning their seventh trip to State in the team’s history.
The night started off with an elimination game between Seneca and Hiawatha and Seneca struck first with a run in the first and second inning to lead 2-0, before Hiawatha made it 2-1 with an RBI single in the bottom of the third by Brendan Steele. The fourth inning proved to be when things opened up for Seneca as they loaded the bases and Hiawatha was a strike away from getting out of the jam until Dustin Rottinghaus delivered a three RBI double and Kurtis Niehues followed with an RBI single to plate runs and make it 6-1 Seneca. Then things unraveled for Hiawatha as Seneca used three hits, two walks, a hit batter and an error to score six in the sixth and lead 12-1. Hiawatha needing runs in the bottom of the fifth got a lead-off double by Christian White and he scored but that would be it as Hiawatha fell to Seneca 12-2 in five innings.
 Dustin Rottinghaus led Seneca with a 3-4 performance at the plate with a double, three RBI's and two runs scored to earn McDonald's "Player of the Game" honors on Kanzaland radio, while Justice McKernan was 2-2 with two runs scored and a hit by pitch. Devin Henry earned the win on the mound pitching three innings, while Hiawatha only had four hits and used five pitchers. Seneca with the win moved on to take on Doniphan County in the nightcap, while Hiawatha wrapped up their season with a 10-19 record.
In the nightcap it was a game to remember as Doniphan County came from behind despite their offensive struggles to earn the 3-2 win in 10 innings over Seneca. Opportunities were limited throughout the game for both teams but Seneca took the early lead on a run in the third on an infield single, error and passed ball and added another in the fourth to make it 2-0, while Cody Rottinghaus was mowing down Doniphan County batters until the sixth. In the sixth Doniphan County worked the bases loaded on a pair of hits and a walk and then a passed ball changed the game allowing Doniphan County to score a pair of runs, tying the game at 2-2. After that sequence which included a close play at third base Cody Rottinghaus and Seneca manager, Jeremy Stallbaumer were both ejected from the ball game after some arguments with the home plate umpire.
The seventh went down as a scoreless frame for both teams as Dustin Rottinghaus took over pitching for Seneca and Jeffrey Watts continued on the mound for Doniphan County and to extra's the game went. The best opportunity came in the tenth as Chris Winkel hit a lead-off single for Doniphan County and Watts with two-outs then delievered at the plate with the walk off RBI single to give Doniphan County the 3-2 win.
 Watts earned McDonald's "Player of the Game" on Kanzaland radio pitching 10 innings giving up just two runs (one earned) on six hits, three walks and 10 K's and a 3-5 performance at the plate with the game winning RBI single. Chris Winkel added a 2-5 performance with two runs scored, while Alex and Dustin Rottinghaus each went 2-5 for Seneca in the loss. Dustin pitched the final four and one-third innings giving up just one run on four hits, a walk and struck out seven, while Cody Rottinghaus went five and two-thirds giving up two runs (one earned) on three hits, four walks and struck out 12.
The loss finishes Seneca at 27-7 as they won the Northeast Kansas League regular season title, while Doniphan County improved to 28-3 and is headed to Colby for the AA State tournament.
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