2017 Northeast Kansas League Legion Baseball Standings - click here

2017 KNZA McDonald's "Player of the Game" selections - click here

AA State Tournament (at Marysville) bracket - click here

AAA State Tournament (at Ottawa) bracket - click here

The AA legion baseball State tournament rolled along on Friday with a pair of elimination games and two winner’s bracket contests too.

Doniphan County after a first round victory took on Iola in the Winner’s bracket Semifinals and at the end of the contest suffered a tough heartbreaking 7-6 loss in eight innings.

After a scoreless first two innings Doniphan County broke through first plating four runs in the top of third using four-hits to post the runs with a two RBI double by Chris Winkel and two RBI triple by Levi Watts highlighting the inning. Iola got a run in the bottom of the third, but Doniphan County matched it with a run in the top 4th making it 5-1. In the bottom of the fifth Iola batted around and with six-hits scored four runs to tie the game at 5-5. Iola threatened to take the lead in the bottom of the sixth but left the bases loaded and Doniphan County then looked to take the lead in the top seventh but left the bases loaded and after a one-two-three bottom of the seventh the contest went to extra innings. In the top of the eighth a leadoff walk came into score for Doniphan County on a RBI triple by Reid Greaser to give them the 6-5 lead. Iola in the bottom of the eighth got a leadoff double by Kane Roger and two batters later he came into score on an RBI single and then with two-outs a RBI hit to by Daylon Splane to lift Iola to the 7-6 walk-off extra inning win.

Iola in the win had a 3-3 performance from Roger with two doubles, while Isaac Vink was 3-5. Derek Bycroft pitched seven innings for Iola while Cal Leonard tossed the eighth inning.

In the loss Doniphan County had a 3-4 game from Greaser with a triple, double, RBI and run scored, while Wil Smith was 2-3 with a run scored. On the mound Greaser worked five innings giving up five runs on 10 hits and two walks, while striking out four and Watts finished the game giving up two runs on four hits and one strikeout.  Greaser with his performance in the contest earned McDonald’s “Player of the Game” on KNZA.

The loss pushes Doniphan County to 23-9 on the season and into an elimination contest on Saturday at noon against Beloit who stayed alive on Friday with a win at State. (game will be broadcasted on 103.9 KNZA) 

OTHER AA State First Round Results

Russell won 17-7 vs. Hoisington (elimination game) – After a tough first round one-run loss Russell put on an offense show scoring plenty in a 17-7 six inning run-rule win over Hoisington. Russell jumped out to a 9-0 lead but Hoisington came back and got right back into the contest scoring seven runs in the third making it 9-7. Eight runs came over the final two innings played for Russell and they secured the 17-7 win with Brandon Ridgley earning the win on the mound. With the win Russell remained alive in the State tournament and will take on Garnett at 10:00am in another elimination game on Saturday, while Hoisington wrapped up their season.

Beloit won 16-6 vs. Marysville (elimination game) – Marysville suffered a gut wrecking loss on Thursday in the opening round while Beloit struggled to find runs but hit the ball in their loss. On Friday Beloit continued to hit the ball but unlike Thursday scored plenty of runs winning 16-6 in four innings via the run-rule. Marysville scored in the top of the first inning but Beloit plated eight-runs in the bottom of the first and eight more in the third to earn the win. Nick Meier led the Beloit 12-hit attack with three hits, while Davis Dubbert had three RBI’s as Luke Hesting three all four innings. In the loss Jacob Latta had two hits for Marysville, while Hunter Warnick recorded two RBI’s. The win moves Beloit on in the State tournament and they will face Doniphan County at noon on Saturday, while the host Marysville finished their season with the loss.   

Hays won 8-3 vs. Garnett – Late run production earned Hays the win over Garnett 8-3 in the Winner’s bracket Semifinals on Friday. Each team got on the board in the first inning with a run and then Garnett took the lead with a run in the bottom of the second going up 2-1. It remained 2-1 until a four-run top of the fifth by Hays; Garnett got a run back in the sixth but a three top of the seventh helped Hays secured the 8-3 win. Tate Garcia tossed five innings and had two hits to help lead Hays, while Luke Ruder had three RBI’s. Five errors hurt Garnett in the loss. The win moves Hays into the Winner’s bracket final against Iola at 6:00pm on Saturday, while Garnett falls into the Loser’s bracket and will face Russell at 10:00am on Saturday.