Sabetha advances to state after defeating Nemaha Central 14-10 in the Seneca Regional championship on Thursday afternoon.

The Bluejays got the scoring started in the bottom of the first inning with an RBI single from third baseman Chase Frey.

They added to their lead with four more runs in the second inning with RBI singles from sophomore second baseman Mitchell Kramer, senior shortstop Matthew Garber and a second one from Frey.

The Thunder added a run in the third and three more in the fourth to get the score to 5-4, but Sabetha then added six more runs in the fourth inning to secure more cushion.

Nemaha Central kept hanging around as they scored four additional runs in the fifth inning, but they were canceled out by three more runs from the Bluejays in the bottom half of the inning.

Thunder second baseman Evan Olberding was the only player on his team to have a multi-hit game as he went 2-for-4 with two runs.

For Sabetha, only two players in the starting lineup didn’t have multiple hits. Junior center fielder Marcus Bauman, senior catcher Josh Hermann and Kramer all had three hits with Bauman getting an RBI.

Garber led the team with three RBI with a two-RBI single in the fourth inning. Junior first baseman Jacob Grimm had a pair of RBI and Nathan Voos got two RBI with one swing of the bat with a pinch-hit single.

In total, the Bluejays had 20 hits in their championship victory on Thursday afternoon.

Although it wasn’t a great day for pitching, Sabetha starting pitcher Christian McAfee was solid. He pitched four innings and got the win allowing three hits, five earned runs, six walks and struck out five.

The bullpen was steady for the Bluejays as Frey and Hermann combined for three innings of work giving up just four hits, one earned run and no walks.

Sabetha awaits their seed in the Class 3A State Baseball Tournament which will be held at Tointon Family Stadium on the campus of Kansas State University in Manhattan. It will begin on Thursday, May 25th and will conclude on Friday, May 26th.

The other teams in the field are Wichita Collegiate, Humboldt, Columbus, Goodland, Bishop Ward, Central Plains and Santa Fe Trail.