Memorable season for many Sidney sports teams

Baseball

There are 144 American Legion senior teams in Nebraska and Sidney found itself among the final few in its chase for a state championship.

This perspective notwithstanding, Post 17’s season came to halt in the end of July as it suffered its second loss in the state’s double-elimination tournament at Gering’s Oregon Trail Park. The end came after 28 wins, heart stopping victories, miraculous comebacks and even a few disappointing losses.

But only one team gets to call itself a Class B state champion - but so too do only seven teams get to call themselves district champions. Sidney is one of the select few.

“This is the most fun I’ve ever had playing baseball,” said Devon Sullivan who has been one of the teams most vocal leaders all season.

Girls Golf

The Sidney Red Raiders golf team apparently found cold and wind just a little more to its liking than the combination of cold, wind and rain, as the squad moved up a spot to finish the 2013 Class B State Championships in fifth place in drier conditions.

Six players from Sidney made the trip including one alternate to Class B State Golf Championships at Holmes Golf Course in Lincoln in October.

“We reached our goal for the season by making state,” said Raiders Coach Jody O’Connell. “We didn’t want to be left home for the second year in a row.”

Under O’Connell, the Raiders have made it to state in seven of eight years, with last season being the lone exception.

Football

A narrow 24-17 loss to top ranked Gretna closed out a memorable season.

It’s hard to know exactly how Class B’s top ranked football team in the state viewed the Red Raiders before their quarterfinal playoff game in early November. But there was no mistaking how the host Gretna Dragons felt afterwards.

“I don’t think they knew what we had coming into this game but we gave them a run for their money,” said Raiders quarterback Lane Harvey. “We believed we could win and we prepared to do just that. They just came out on top in the end, that’s all.”

Cross Country

Sidney’s four state qualifiers— girls Maddi Stafford, Abbi Heller, and boys Hayden Lienemann and Jachob Wiedeburg—each bested times recorded earlier in the fall on the difficult course. Yet each was disappointed in their finish at the state meet in Kearney in October.

“Mostly horrible,” is how Heller described her 21:52.5 run, placing her in 64th position, two spots behind Stafford’s 21:46.9. On the boys side, Lienemann crossed the line 46th, with a time of 17:57.9. Wiedeburg followed in 59th, clocking an 18:19.6.