103.9 KNZA Broadcast (Game 2 of DH) - click here to listen 

A pair of teams that enjoyed strong baseball seasons in 2016 opened the 2017 high school baseball season against each other marking the third straight year they've opened a season against one another. The defending 3A State Champion Nemaha Central Thunder played host to the Troy Trojans who placed third in Class 2-1A last year and the Trojans earned the doubleheader sweep with 7-0 and 14-2 wins. 

Game one of the doubleheader saw some early offense for Troy as they got the bats swinging early and took advantage of a few Nemaha Central errors to plate three runs in the first and two in the second against Thunder starter, Ryan Hasenkamp. An Alex Martinez double highlighted the first inning for Troy, while Tyler Franken notched a double in the second inning. Troy added another run in the third and fourth innings to extend their lead with the run in the fourth coming on a solo home run by Reid Greaser. The pitching was strong for the Trojans too as Brody Winder started and allowed only five base runners in six innings pitched as Wil Smith finished the game tossing the seventh inning helping the Trojans secure the 7-0 win. 

Winder earned the win on the mound going six innings without surrendering a run giving up just three hits, a walk and a hit batter while recording 11 strikeouts. Cuttar Huss led the offense with a 2-4 game, while Troy took advantage of six free passes. 

In the loss Hasenkamp and Trent Henry each notched a double for the Thunder, while Paul Enneking pitched three innings of relief and Mitchell Henry finished the game on the mound for the final two frames. 

Game two saw Nemaha Central take early control but a late offensive outburst by Troy gave them the win by a lopsided margin. Austin Gerety took to the mound for the Thunder to start game two and struck out the side to start the game and the Thunder got a one-out double in the bottom of the first by Luke Reitz but was unable to score. In the second Nemaha Central broke through offensively as Hasenkamp reached on an error and Chase Kramer brought him home on an RBI double, while Derek Uphaus delivered a RBI single to score Kramer making it 2-0 Thunder after two innings. The Trojans couldn't muster much offense until the fifth when Gerety hit two batters and walked another to load the bases and then walked in a run for Troy leading to a pitching change for the Thunder. Wyatt Huss the starting pitcher in game two for Troy delivered at the plate after the pitching change notching a two RBI single and the Trojans added another to lead 4-2 headed into the bottom of the fifth. The lead continued to grow from that point on as Troy plated five runs in the sixth and five more in the seventh using 11 hits in the two innings to grab the 14-2 win. Wyatt Huss who started for Troy on the mound allowed on five baserunners for Nemaha Central after the second inning with the Thunder leaving the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth. 

Wyatt Huss earned the win on the mound going all seven innings giving up two runs on five hits with one walk and five strikeouts, while also going 3-4 at the plate with a double and four RBI's. Smith added a 2-4 game with three runs scored, a double and two RBI's. Cuttar Huss, Winder and Marcus Martinez each had a two-hit game. 

In the loss Gerety tossed four and one-third innings striking out nine but issued three walks and hit three batters giving up four runs, while Trevor Holthaus and Brent Heideman finished the game on the mound. Offensively Kramer's RBI double and Reitz double highlighted the contest for the Thunder. 

With the doubleheader sweep Troy opens the season 2-0 and Nemaha Central starts the year 0-2. Both teams hit the diamond again on Monday as the Thunder welcome ACCHS to town for a Big Seven League doubleheader and Troy travels to Mid-Buchanan.