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HARTINGTON — Several LCC athletes are again playing big roles for the Hartington American Legion baseball team.
With a bit of a lull in the Ralph Bishop League schedule, the Hartington Post 4 Senior Legion team hit the road for three games against competition it normally doesn’t see in a summer.
The blue-clad Post 4 nine defeated the Hi-Line Bulls Post 290 Seniors 20-5 on June 21, the Loomis Seniors 16-0 on June 20 in Loomis and dropped a 3-2 decision to the St. Paul Legion Post 119 Seniors in St. Paul on June 19.
Earlier in the week, Hartington dropped a league game to RBL North Division leading Wayne Supply Post 43, 8-1, in a game played at Hank Overin Field in Wayne in June 18.
“We started our road trip with a tough loss to St. Paul in a game that was called due to lightning with us trailing 3-2 after leading 2-0, they got a big hit and scored three runs in the fifth and the game was called,” said Post 4 Seniors skipper, Don Whitmire. “We left a few runs on the bases there, which has been a struggle for us at times. In the other two games, our bats came alive and our pitching continued to do well.”
In the final game of the road trip, Hi-Line took the lead at the end of the first inning, 4-2, but Post 4 erupted for eight runs in the second frame to basically put the game out of reach.
Hartington hitters pounded out a dozen hits. Brady Hochstein, Grady Haberer, Koby Detlefsen, Micah Cattau and Mav Heine all rapped doubles on the night while Hochstein and Hunter Bensen both went deep.
Bensen scored four times in the game, Breiton Whitmire and Detlefsen each scored three times, Haberer, Hochstein and Heine scored twice each.
Hochstein did it on the mound in the second game of the trip south.
Meanwhile, the Post 4 attack was hitting on all cylinders.
Haberer and Detlefsen hit doubles in the game while Brady Hochstein, Easton Hochstein and Cattau all circled the bases with home runs.
Brady Hochstein drove in five of the 16 runs Hartington scored and Dylan Taylor and Bensen each scored three times.
In the 3-2 loss to St. Paul, Post 4 was cruising along with a 2-0 lead with a run in each of the first and third frames.
Whitmire and Taylor walked to open the game then Bensen rifled a line shot into centerfield to score Whitmire in the first inning for a 1-0 lead.
Heine walked to open the Post half of the third then Whitmire laced a double down the right field line leaving runners at second and third with nobody out.
Taylor followed with a hot shot to the shortstop which plated Heine, but that was the end of the threat and the teams went into the fifth with Hartington still in front, 2-0.
In the showdown of Ralph Bishop League North Division Leaders, Wayne took advantage of some timely hitting and a great performance from Gavin Redden on the mound to send Post 4 back to Hartington with the 8-1 defeat.
Detlefsen was locked in a pitcher’s duel with Redden and the teams went to the bottom of the fourth with Hartington in front 1-0 after Bensen doubled in the first inning to chase home Taylor who had singled with one out.
Kalen Moormeier opened the Wayne fourth with a double and an intentional walk, a single and another double plated three runs to put Wayne in the lead.
Wayne scored five more in the fifth then held on for the seven-run win.
Post 4 was set to continue the season, still on the road, when Hartington traveled to Pierce for a make-up game to take on the Pierce team on June 23.
Hartington will be heading to West Point to take on the Senior Legion Bombers on June 25.
The Tri County Titans will be in Hartington June 27 as the teams prepare for the Ralph Bishop League Tournament, which gets underway next week.
