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HARTINGTON — The Hartington Post 4 Legion Juniors are just one win away from a trip to this weekend’s Nebraska Class C Junior American Legion Tournament in Malcolm after three wins to open up the Area Tournament being played at Felber Park.
Post 4 opened the Area 1 tournament with a tight 3-2 win over Ponca then blasted Creighton and the Wakefield Post 81 Bullsnakes 16-1 and 13-2 to earn a trip to the finals on July 15.
Hartington and Plainview played Tuesday. Since Hartington entered the game undefeated, Plainview needed to beat Hartington twice to earn the trip to State.
In the win over the Bullsnakes, Post 4 exploded for seven runs in the fourth inning after leading 6-1 after three.
Hartington used five walks, three hits and a hit batsman to plate seven runs in the frame.
Sam Wiebelhaus and Hudson Whitmire singled and Micah Cattau rifled a double into left field to pace the attack.
Cattau earned the win on the mound allowing five hits, the two runs, two walks while striking out six Wakefield batters.
Easton Hochstein scored three runs on the night, Tate Fischer, Hunter Bensen and Grady Haberer each crossed the plate twice.
It was an eight-run second inning that propelled Hartington in the big win over Creighton.
Post 4 plated four runs in the first then blew the game open in the second to head to the third in front, 12-1.
Hartington would add a run in the third and three in the fourth as the game ended by the 15-run rule in the bottom of the inning.
Hudson Whitmire was 2-for-2 at the plate, scored twice and drove in a couple of Post 4 runners. Tate Fischer was also 2-for-2 and scored twice.
Puppe, Hochstein and Cattau each registered two RBI’s.
Cattau smacked a couple of doubles, Hochstein and Fischer also hammered two-baggers and Puppe clobbered a triple.
Fischer got the win on the mound, allowing just one hit in just over two innings of work. Puppe came on in relief to close out the game.
Ponca came into the first-round game with Hartington with just two wins for the entire summer, but gave Post 4 all it wanted.
Hartington posted a 3-1 lead, but Ponca scored a run in the top of the seventh and had the tying run on board before Dawson Dresden got the final Ponca batter to ground out.
The state tournament is set for July 19-23 at Malcolm.
Hartington def. Wakefield 13-2. WAK00101XX-251 HAR1237XXX-1370 WP: Micah Cattau LP: Landon Newton. 2B: Easton Hochstein, Hunter Bensen, Micah Cattau (H); Matthew Metzler, Tanner Thompson (W). 3B: Tate Fischer (H). Lineup AB R H RBI BB SO Hudson Whitmire 3 1 1 1 0 0 Dawson Dresden 1 0 0 0 0 1 Tate Fischer 3 2 1 0 1 0 Hunter Bensen 2 2 1 0 1 0 Grady Haberer 1 2 1 2 2 0 Drey Puppe 2 1 0 1 0 2 Easton Hochstein 1 3 1 0 2 0 Micah Cattau 1 1 1 4 1 0 Sam Wiebelhaus 2 0 1 1 0 0 Gavin Klug 2 0 0 0 1 0 TEAM 18 13 7 9 8 3 Hartington Post 4 def. Creighton 16-1. CRE0100XXX-114 HAR 4 8 1 3 X X X - 16 12 1 WP: Tate Fischer LP: NA 2B: Micah Cattau (2), Easton Hochstein, Tate Fischer (H). 3B: Drey Puppe (H). Lineup AB R H RBI BB SO Hudson Whitmire 2 2 2 2 1 0 Dawson Dresden 0 1 0 0 0 0 Tate Fischer 2 2 2 1 1 0 Rylan Fischer 1 2 1 0 0 0 Hunter Bensen 4 1 1 1 0 0 Grady Haberer 2 4 1 0 1 0 Drey Puppe 4 1 1 2 0 1 Easton Hochstein 4 1 2 2 0 1 Micah Cattau 3 1 2 2 0 1 Sam Wiebelhaus 1 0 0 0 1 1 Gavin Klug 2 1 0 0 1 0 TEAM 25 16 12 10 5 4 Hartington def Ponca 3-2. PON0100001-252 HAR100011X-341 WP: Dawson Dresden LP: D. Mori. 2B: Tate Fischer (H). Lineup AB R H RBI BB SO Hudson Whitmire 3 1 0 0 1 0 Tate Fischer 3 1 2 0 0 0 Hunter Bensen 3 0 1 0 0 0 Grady Haberer 2 0 1 0 1 1 Drey Puppe 3 0 0 0 0 0 Easton Hochstein 2 1 0 0 1 0 Micah Cattau 1 0 0 0 1 0 Sam Wiebelhaus 2 0 0 0 0 1 Gavin Klug 1 0 0 0 1 0 Dawson Dresden 2 0 0 1 0 0 TEAM 22 3 4 1 4 2
