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2018 KNZA “McDonalds Player of the Game” selections – click here

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2018 Legion Baseball Zone Tournament Bracket –
     AA Zone (at Wathena), AA Zone (at Russell), AAA Zone (at Topeka)

The AA Zone Tournament from Wathena continued Monday night with two winners bracket games, and Doniphan County along with Silver Lake each advanced to the semifinals.

Doniphan County overcame five errors to hold on and beat Sabetha 9-6, while Silver Lake had to use extra innings to take down Corning 4-3 in walk-off fashion in 10 innings.

Doniphan County Scores Big Early to Beat Sabetha

Despite being swept in the season series with Sabetha, DC didn’t seem fazed in the winner’s bracket contest scoring two runs in the first inning on a walk, two hits and a fielder’s choice to jump out to a 2-0 advantage.

Sabetha came right back though with a run in the bottom of the first thanks in part to a couple Doniphan County errors, while Braden Argabright delivered an RBI on a groundout.

Doniphan County took firm control of the contest with a five-run top of the second inning, as DC used three walks and four singles to take a 7-1 lead. Zeb Speer delivered the big hit of the inning plating two on an RBI single, while Levi Watts followed suit with a two-RBI single of his own.

Sabetha did get a run back in the bottom of the second, but squandered a chance to add more after grounding into a double play to end the inning leaving two runners on base.

After both teams went scoreless in the third Doniphan County tacked on another run in the fourth after two hits, a walk and a hit-by-pitch before both teams picked up runs in the fifth as Doniphan County led 9-3 heading into the seventh.

Sabetha tried to stage a comeback scoring three runs in the seventh to pull within 9-6, but Doniphan County’s Brock Blair struck out two Raptor batters with runners at second and third to end the game.

Levi Watts was named the McDonald’s “Player of the Game” on 103.9 KNZA, as he tossed 6.1 innings of solid baseball while also going 2-for-3 at the plate with three RBIs. Zeb Speer also had a big night at the plate for DC going 3-for-5 with three RBIs, while Clayton Ridout was also 3-for-3 with two runs scored.

The win improves Doniphan County’s record to 20-10 on the year and pushes DC into the winner’s bracket semifinals Tuesday night at 8:00, while Sabetha dropped to 26-10 on the year and into the loser’s bracket Tuesday at 6:00.

Silver Lake Needs Extra Innings to Take Down Corning

The final game of the night Monday wasn’t quite as exciting as the first early on as it settled into a pitchers dual after a couple early runs.

Silver Lake jumped out to a 2-0 lead after one inning of play as Justin Keller delivered an RBI single while another run scored on the play after an error. Silver Lake tacked on another run in the third to lead 3-0 after a triple by Mitchell Flanagan and an RBI single from Josh Boyd, but couldn’t add anything more from there leaving two runners on base.

The Corning offense wasn’t able to get anything going off Silver Lake starter Reid Walker early, as he worked fairly easily through the first five innings allowing just three hits.

Corning finally was able to chase him out of the ballgame with a run in the sixth to pull within 3-1, before eventually tying the game in the top of the seventh thanks to two walks and a clutch two-RBI single by Trent Flentie.

Silver Lake then failed to score a run in the bottom of the seventh to win the game forcing extra innings, and neither team was able to find the scoreboard in the eighth or ninth as the score remained 3-3 heading into the tenth.

After Corning went down fairly quietly in the top of the tenth Silver Lake didn’t take long to put an end to the ballgame. Jake Lindstrom batted for the first time and led off the bottom half of the tenth with a walk, and after a stolen base scored the game-winning run on a Corning error.

Lindstrom earned McDonald’s “Player of the Game” on 103.9 KNZA for his late-game heroics, as he not only scored the winning run but also got the win on the mound tossing the final three innings for Silver Lake allowing just two hits while striking out six.

Justin Keller and Josh Boyd also collected two hits apiece for Silver Lake, while Corning was led by Quinn Buessing who finished 2-for-2 with singles, two walks and a run scored.

Silver Lake picked up their 30th win of the season and advance to take on Doniphan County in the winner’s bracket semifinals Tuesday night at 8:00, while the loss dropped Corning to 4-14 on the year and into the loser’s bracket where they will take on the winner of Sabetha and Seneca Wednesday night at 6:00 in Wathena.