Herrera's heroics give Sidney a ninth inning comeback victory over Alliance

With one out in the bottom of the ninth inning of a tie game and the potential winning run on first base, Sidney third baseman Tyson Herrera stepped to the plate. In front of a home-town crowd that had endured cold, wind, lightning and rain and was now eager to go home happy, Herrera thought to himself his familiar refrain, "I've done this before."

A moment later there was likely another familiar refrain uttered by the Alliance center fielder: "Oh no!"

When Herrera turned on a fastball at 11:13 p.m. and sent the game-winning shot deep into the dark night over the center fielder's head, Colton Onstott easily scored from first base.

Before Onstott had even reached home the entire dugout had emptied to greet the pair.

"I was actually trying to go to right," Herrera said. "Their right fielder was playing shallow and there was a big gap in right center."

So he pulled it just a tad. But as hard as Herrera hit the ball, it mattered little what flight path it took.

Herrera's game-ending double gave Sidney a 7-6 nine-inning win to complete what was a double-header sweep--of sorts--over Alliance. Earlier Sidney had finished what it started on a sodden May 28, by defeating Alliance 4-2. Post 17's record now stands at 11-6.

The postponed game at Alliance had been halted in the fifth inning when torrential rains delayed the finish until last night. As the game finished at 4-2 three weeks ago, so it finished at 4-2 last night as neither team could plate additional runs. Lane Harvey came back to finish what he started to earn the complete-game victory.

Harvey also took the mound in the scheduled game to pitch 3 1/3 innings in relief of Devon Sullivan. Harvey (3-1) was the winning pitcher in game two to complete a rare pitching feat--collecting two wins in one night.

When the regulation game started, Harvey took up position at shortstop while Sullivan stepped atop the mound. There was another change too.

Harvey, who normally bats second, was moved up to leadoff. Sullivan in turn was shifted from leadoff to the cleanup spot while Onstott batted second.

"They just wanted to mix it up a little," Sullivan said. "I've never batted cleanup before but I loved it. It was fun."

The move paid immediate dividends. After Onstott and Herrera singled before him, Sullivan drove in the first run of the game with a hard single to left field. Overall the new-look lineup produced 14 hits including a combined 10 for 17 from the top four spots.

Harvey collected three hits, Onstott two, Herrera three (plus a hit-by-pitch) and Sullivan was two-for-three with a walk.

Another wrinke in the lineup was Scott Phillips getting the start at first base. Phillips had been red hot as Coach Tim Herrera's first option off the bench the past few weeks. He collected a hit in four at bats and scored a run to keep his average above .400.

"They kept on throwing me curve balls then (I struck out) on a high fastball," Phillips said of his last at bat.

After Sidney took its 1-0 lead in the first inning, they extended their advantage with another run in the second and two more in the second. Barrett Brown drove in the second run with a long sacrifice fly to score Phillips. Kane McLaughlin and Austin Pile added RBI in the second inning.

Pile's RBI came as a result of a hard-hit double.

Post 17 looked like they held a safe 4-1 lead after three innings, considering their ace pitcher was on the hill. Sullivan entered the contest with a 1.30 ERA while leading the team with 27 innings pitched. But in the fourth Alliance scored two runs on a hit, an error and a hit batter.

In the fifth inning Alliance took the lead with two more runs after two Sidney errors and two hits.

Alliance's Andy Garza had the big blow with a one-out RBI double. Sullivan stopped the bleeding by striking out the final two batters of the inning.

"I was really tired by then," said the normally hard throwing Sullivan. "I think I was throwing 70 mile-per-hour fastballs."

Sullivan yielded one more run in the sixth before being pulled in favor of Harvey. Though Sullivan surrendered a total of six runs, only three were earned.

Now trailing 6-4 as they took their turn in the bottom of the seventh, Sidney was in need of some heroics. Despite the team's predicament, the dugout was alive and confident.

The squad, including the coaching staff, couldn't have appeared any looser. Considering all the laughter and one liners coming from the Sidney side of the field, it sounded as if Post 17 was up by two runs.

Lane Harvey opened the inning with a single and was replaced on the base paths. Onstott who hit into a force. Sullivan then drove a two-out single following a Herrera strikeout.

After McLaughlin singled Pile hit a high chopper to the shortstop that couldn't be handled and Onstott scored. Sullivan then came home on an errant throw to tie the game.

The ninth inning opened up just like the seventh. Harvey singled and Onstott took over at first after hitting into a force. Herrera took care of the rest.

The Sidney juniors also found itself in a late hole and fought back in their last at bat. Trailing 10-4 entering the home seventh, Jason Hagerman and Kyle Burton opened with singles. After Jake Heeren was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Zack Means singled to drive in two. Keaton Wakefield added another RBI with a ground out before the rally stalled.

The juniors and seniors stay busy with a trip to Ogallala today for a double header. The juniors get started at 5 p.m. with the seniors to follow. The teams are back home on Thursday to face Gering in a junior-senior doubleheader beginning at 5 p.m.