Local baseball teams are busy on the diamonds

HARTINGTON — There may not be a state championship to play for in 2020, but the Hartington American Legion teams still have plenty to prove to themselves before this summer’s action comes to a close.

Despite having to battle the opposition and a bigger foe in the COVID-19 virus, the Senior, Junior and Pony teams all still have a lot to accomplish with only a few more games left to play.

The Senior team traveled to Creighton this weekend for its lone tournament of the summer since the state field was cancelled this year.

“We have seven official seniors on the roster and four of these boys will age out this year,” Legion leader Don Whitmire said. “There have been some discussions about them being granted one more year to compete. I am hoping this is done as these boys have worked for many years in order to make a run at a state championship.”

The Seniors were 3-3 heading into a Sunday game late at Creighton, in it’s final outing of the tournament, having gone 1-1 up until that point.

Earlier in the week, they fell to Crofton 11-10.

“Typically, we have 30 games under our belt by this time of the year,” Whitmire said. “We saw some of the early season jitters come out in this game in terms of confidence in the field. We gave Crofton a few extra outs and played a little conservative, which allowed Crofton to stay in striking distance and they took advantage of it.”

Crofton scored five times in the bottom of the seventh to rally for the win while Jaxson Bernecker drove in four runs for Hartington while Brett Kleinschmit finished with a teamhigh three hits.

The Seniors opened up tourney play with a 12-1 win over Wisner, as Owen Dendinger and Bernecker each had a team-high two hits from the nine-hit team attack.

Hartington scored six times in the first inning Friday to set the tournament in positive fashion as Ted Bengston pitched a complete game five-hitter, striking out five for the win.

PWG SR Blue Ducks scored six times in its first at bat to set the tone in an 8-4 win over Hartington on Saturday.

The Seniors play 7 p.m., Thursday, at home against Neligh.

The Hartington Juniors are 3-1 after a 16-3 rout of Crofton last week.

The squad scored seven and six times in the third and fourth innings to wrap the shortened victory.

The Juniors only had seven hits, but walked nine times to record the win as Carson Noecker had four RBI to lead the team.

“Our focus is doing the small things and being mentally prepared to play baseball,” Whitmire said. “We also challenged the kids to be aggressive defensively and at the plate, to which they responded well. With the pandemic the Junior team does not have any form of end of season tournament. However, every opportunity we gain this year will get us in better shape for making a run at the state tournament next year.”

They host Plainview at 7 p.m., Tuesday.

The Ponies are now 1-5 after they dropped an 11-4 decision at Creighton Thursday.

“They continue to get better, game by game,” Whitmire said. “You can see them focusing on strengthening their fundamentals including developing more knowledge of the game. The last two games have been decided by two big innings, and if you take away those innings, we have a chance to win both.

“I like the progression of this team and we should be stronger come the post season than we were at the start of the season.”

The Ponies have a double elimination league tournament that begins immediately following the final game of the season, which is Thursday at home against Summerland. The tournament will be held at Neligh.

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