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NEKL Legion Baseball Recap - June 17th-19th
By Mike Smith
Copyright: MSC Sports
06/20/2016

2016 Northeast Kansas League Legion Baseball Standings - click here

2016 McDonald's "Players of the Game" on KNZA - click here

Tournament play, League action and more continued the Legion baseball season over the weekend. Back on Friday the Doniphan County Tournament continued with Atchison beating Silver Lake in the Senior legion game and Atchison beating Hiawatha in the junior legion game. On Saturday the Doniphan County Tournament wrapped up with Falls City edging Silver Lake for third place and Doniphan County beating Atchison in extra's for the Championship in the senior legion action. While the junior legion portion of the tournament Falls City beat Hiawatha for third and Doniphan County topped Atchison for the Championship. 

On Sunday, Corning hosted Leavenworth in a League twinbill while Sabetha traveled to Oskaloosa in a non-league double header. Both double headers ended in splits on Sunday. 

Atchison Snags Win over Silver Lake in Doniphan County Tournament 

Vying for the opportunity to play the host Doniphan County in for the Doniphan County Tournament Championship it was Atchison taking on Silver Lake on Friday night in Wathena. Atchison used a two-run fourth to take the lead permanently and snag the 7-3 win. 

Silver Lake took the 1-0 lead in the first but had a pair of base running blunders spoiling their opportunity for more runs. The lead swayed Atchison's way in the second with a three-run frame, as a two RBI single by James Boatwright highlighted the inning for Atchison. Getting two walks in the third Silver Lake took advantage of those to tie the game at 3-3 but Atchison regained the lead with a two-run fourth and added another run in the seventh. Looking to close out the game Boatwright struck out the side in the seventh to give Atchison the 7-3 victory. 

Atchison junior legion team won 19-5 over Hiawatha in the junior legion portion of the tournament. 

With the win Atchison moved into the Championship game against Doniphan County on Saturday and Silver Lake step themselves up for a matchup with Falls City in the third place game. 

Doniphan County Wins in Extra's & Falls City Edges Silver Lake For Third at Doniphan County Tourney

It was a full day of baseball on Saturday in Wathena as the Doniphan County Tournament wrapped with four games. In the Senior Legion action it was a comeback for Falls City to just edge Silver Lake 5-4 in the third place game and the host Doniphan County topped Atchison in a tough 3-1 nine inning contest. The junior legion portion of the tournament saw Falls City take third with a 15-2 win over Hiawatha and Donpihan County beat Atchison 5-0 in the Championship. 

Silver Lake again took an early lead in a contest plating a run in the second and fourth to lead 2-0 over Falls City but a two-run fourth by Falls City tied the game. Lead tipped back to Silver Lake with a run apiece in the fourth and sixth to lead 4-2, but Falls City responded with a three-run bottom of the sixth and earned the 5-4 win. Silver Lake in the loss was held to just two hits, while Reid Walker took the loss on the mound going six innings giving up five runs on nine hits. 

The loss moved Silver Lake to 7-7 on the season and will be next in action at home on Tuesday against Oskaloosa. 

In the Championship it was the second time this season that Donpihan County and Atchison would go to extra innings and the just like the first time Doniphan County earned the win 3-1 in nine innings to remain unbeaten.

A RBI double by Chris Winkel gave Doniphan County the early 1-0 lead but in the fifth inning with a single, bunt single, wild pitch and RBI groundout Atchison managed to break through against Doniphan County pitcher Nathan Gaarder to tie the game at 1-1. It remained tied until the top of the ninth inning when Tucker Morris drew a walk to start the inning off and then Cuttar Huss was hit by a pitch with one-out giving Doniphan County a pair of base runners and Wyatt Huss and Luke Smith in the next two at bats each delievered RBI singles to give Doniphan County the 3-1 lead. In the bottom of the ninth Brody Winder shut down Atchison and earned the save for Doniphan County, coming in for Gaarder who pitched eight innings giving up just one run on five hits and struck out 14. Atchison had strong pitching in the loss with Noah Baniewicz going four innings with eight strikeouts and James Boatwright went five innings of relief with 11 strikeouts. 

The win gave Doniphan County their home tournament title and kept them unbeaten on the season at 15-0, while Atchison fell to 5-5 on the year. Doniphan County hits the field next on Tuesday at Sabetha, while Atchison doesn't play again until Sunday at Seneca. 

Sabetha and Oskaloosa Split Non-League Twinbill

It was a pair of tight contests in Oskaloosa on Sunday as Sabetha and Oskaloosa each picked up a one-run win for the split. Sabetha claimed game one 8-7, while Oskaloosa responded with a 5-4 win in game two. 

Top of the first Sabetha jumped to a quick 4-0 lead using four walks and a pair of hits, but Oskaloosa responded with a three run bottom of the first on four hits and a walk. Sabetha doubled their score in the third with four runs to take a 8-3 lead and held that advantage until Oskaloosa pushed back in the bottom of the seventh with four runs but came up just short on their come from behind attempt. Trevor Kramer earned the win going six and two-thirds innings, while Dustin Gruber recorded the final out on a strikeout to preserve the Sabetha 8-7 win as Oskaloosa had the bases loaded. 

Game two saw the teams trade runs early in the first inning by behind a run in the second and two in third Oskaloosa led 4-1 going into the fourth. A Seth Burdick single in the fourth for Sabetha made it a 4-2 game but Cooper Thurston doubled home Dalton VanHoutan in the sixth to give Oskaloosa what proved to be the winning run as Oskaloosa led 5-2 at that point. Sabetha made it interesting in the seventh scoring two but Ethan Burghart got a lineout to the shortstop to finish the game for a 5-4 Oskaloosa win. Burghart earned the win tossing a complete game giving up 4 runs on nine hits, while Oskaloosa had six errors. Joe Gruber took the tough luck loss for Sabetha going six innings. 

Sabetha with the split moved to 15-8 on the season and Oskaloosa moved to 5-11 on the year. Sabetha hits the field again on Tuesday as they host Doniphan County, while Oskaloosa travels to Silver Lake on Tuesday to continue their season. 

Corning and Leavenworth Each Pick Up First League Win With Double Header Split

Two teams that have had struggles on the season squared off against each other in League action on Sunday as Corning hosted Leavenworth and both teams ended the day with their first League win of the season with a double header split. Corning took game one 13-5, while Leavenworth won game two 11-4. 

Corning took the early lead in game one leading 2-0 after two innings, but Leavenworth got on the board in the fourth with a run. Things broke open in the fourth for Corning plating seven runs on six hits, two walks and an error with an Adam Kuckelman three-run homer highlighting the inning. Leavenworth cut into the lead with a four-run fifth but Corning finished the contest with three runs in the fifth and another in the sixth to pick up the 13-5 win in six innings. The game featured 25 hits between the two teams with Dalton Boeckman leading the Corning offense going 4-4 with a double, two runs scored and two RBI, while Colton Buessing was 3-4 with two RBI and two runs scored and Kuckelman went 2-3 with a three-run homer, three RBI and run scored. Buessing also earned the win on the mound giving up five runs on 10 hits and a walk with seven strikeouts. In the loss Leavenworth had Kirby Blanke go 3-3 with a home run, two runs scored and two RBI, while Kaleb Karonsky had two hits. 

Game two saw Leavenworth take the early lead with two runs in the first inning on solo home runs by Tanner Morris and Blanke, but Corning with three hits, a walk and error scored three to snag a 3-2 lead in the second. In the third the second homer of the game by Morris helped Leavenworth plate four and then went on to score two in the fifth, two in the sixth and one more in the seventh to win 11-4 over Corning. Game two featured 22 hits between the two teams with Leavenworth leading the offensive showings as Blanke was 3-4 with a home run, two runs scored and RBI, while Morris was 2-5 with two home runs, four RBI and three runs scored. Preston Pfante and Reid Herken each added two hits for Leavenworth, while Herken earned the win on the mound going all seven innings giving up four runs (only one earned) on 10 hits and three walks, while striking out eight. Colton Buessing led Corning in the loss with 2-4 performances with two RBI's.

The split moved Corning to 2-11 on the season and Leavenworth 2-16 on the year and gave each team their first Northeast Kansas League wins on the season. Both teams will be action again on Wednesday as Corning is set to host Seneca and Leavenworth will host Doniphan County.


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