Post 17 senior squad remains unbeaten at home

The Sidney Senior American Legion team once again played the rude host, remaining undefeated at home with a 4-3 victory over Chadron at Legion Field last night.

Sidney's record at home is now 6-0 while its overall record advanced to 14-6.

Though the victory marks the third time this season Sidney has taken down Chadron, none of the wins have came easy. Post 17 squeeked by Chadron at the Gering Tournament on May 25, 3-1. On June 9, Chadron had Sidney by the throat heading into the final inning at Chadron. Trailing 4-0, Sidney stormed back with five runs in the top of the seveth inning.

Unlike their previous meeting there were no late-game heroics on this night. Sidney simply managed to be the steadier of the two teams. Post 17 out hit Chadron 7-3 and played errorless ball, while the visitors committed five fielding miscues.

Lane Harvey (4-1) was credited with the win as he left the game after two innings with a 4-3 lead. He was followed on the mound by Tyson Herrera (three innings) and Devon Sullivan (two innings) who combined for five innings of no-hit baseball - all while Sidney was holding on to a one-run lead.

Sullivan earned the save. Chance Bila went the distance for Chadron and took the loss depite a solid effort.

Harvey's brief outing, he said, was due to tired legs. Though Sidney had not played a game since its 21-1 victory over Gering last week, Harvey spent time at a basketball camp, where he played about eight games in three days.

Harvey's legs were less of an issue offensively as he and Barrett Browne led Sidney with two hits apiece. After Chadron took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, Harvey scored the first run for Sidney in the bottom of the first.

Harvey singled, stole second and scored after a Chadron error.

"We've seen this pitcher before and we were able to hit him better this time around," he said.

Herrera, who reached on an error by the shortstop, scored on an error by the catcher to give Sidney a 2-1 lead.

Chadron went back on top in its half of the second with two runs. The visitors were aided when Harvey began to struggle with his control. He walked three and gave up a double to Bo Westlake.

Harvey settled in to retire the final three batters he faced.

Sidney took back the lead for good at 4-3 in its half of the second with two runs of its own. Ty Ottoson opened the inning with an infield single and moved to third when Browne doubled. Ottoson and Browne were driven home by an Austin Crane base hit.

Browne, who started slowly this season, has proved to be a tough out of late.

"I'm bringing a positive attitude to the park every day now," Browne said. "I'm relaxing at the plate and feeling positive about myself."

Browne, who usually bats in the nine spot, was hitting out of the seven hole against Chadron.

"I like hitting (Browne) in the nine spot because of his speed," said head coach Tim Herrera. "When he gets on and the lineup turns over we continue with more speed at the top of the lineup."

The slight juggling of the order was necessitated by the loss of Colton Onstott. Onstott is in Omaha until Friday as he plays in the Under Armour World Series. Onstott pitched in Omaha on Tuesday and gave up two singles and struck out four in two innings of scoreless work. His team is 3-0-1 so far in the tournament.

Onstott's absence meant that Sullivan got the start behind the plate for just the second time this year. Sullivan had previously caught when Onstott was the starting pitcher.

When Sullivan took the mound in the sixth inning, junior-team standout Kyle Burton stepped in. Burton made his presence felt when he threw out Nate Toof trying to steal second base.

Next on the schedule for Post 17 is Twin Cities at Scottsbluff on Thursday. When Sidney last saw Twin Cities at Legion Field on May 29, it was a nail biter from start-to-finish. Sidney eventually outlasted Twin Cities 2-1. Sullivan went the distance on the hill that night and proved the difference as he was able to get ahead in the count consistently.

Coach Herrera is tentatively naming Tyson Herrera to start Thursday. Herrera will go into the game with a 2-0 record and 2.21 ERA. He leads all Sidney pitchers with 32 strikeouts in just 25 1/3 innings.

In his three innings of no-hit ball against Chadron, Herrera struck out four and walked one.

In the juniors game, Brady Holtz earned the complete-game victory in Sidney's 8-7 win over Chadron. Jake Heeren and Ben Goble picked up a pair of hits apiece including a double. Heeren added two RBI. Keaton Wakefield also doubled. Sidney backed up Holtz with one of its best defensive games of the season so far.

Ironically, every Sidney starter collected a hit except the team's leading hitter, Blake Bayne. Post 17 banged out 10 hits in all.

The juniors will travel with the seniors on Thursday to take on Twin Cities. The juniors will begin the double header at 5 p.m. KSID will broadcast from Scottsbluff.