Sidney pummels Alliance

For an inning and a half at Legion Park on Tuesday night, Alliance held an advantage over Post 17. But after the home side piled on 7 runs in the bottom half of the second and another 6 in the fourth, the outcome was never in doubt.

Sidney posted a lopsided 13-3 district win. The game, however, was not without moments of drama.

The start was delayed by almost half an hour when one of the umpires suffered a temporary health issue. Then Sidney starter Travis Garska surrendered a long home run to Alliance lead off hitter Kellon Hall.

"Hat's off-that's all you can say," Garska noted. "It was a great swing."

He gave up two more hits and another run in the opening frame. But then Garska clamped down, striking out six and walking just one over the next four innings, allowing just one meaningless run along the way.

"When you get behind like that it makes me angry," he reported.

In his vernacular, "angry" implies a fierce sense of purpose, a laser focus on the goal of shutting down the opposition.

"I get angry and I play better baseball," he added.

Up and down the lineup, Sidney's Legion seniors could say the same. Eight different players scored on the night and five drove home runs.

Skyler Arent started the parade in the 7-run second, when he ripped a double over Alliance center fielder Gaige Lehl's head, plating Kyle Burton. Keaton Wakefield drew a walk, Arik Doty reached on an infield error, Garska was hit by a pitch.

With two out, Colton Onstott looped a fly to shallow right. When Hall, the Alliance second baseman, collided with right fielder Branson Stinnette, knocking the ball loose, three more black jerseys crossed the plate.

Before the onslaught was over, Burton returned to the plate for a second time and clubbed a double down the line, bringing two more home.

"I was seeing the ball good tonight," Burton explained. "It was a good night for everyone."

Onstott had doubled with two down in the first, but was stranded. In the third he came to the plate with two out again-and with bases loaded: Garska on first, Wakefield on third and Mitch Rolls standing in the middle. He tore into a fastball, shooting it on a line to center. Unfortunately Alliance  reliever Hall's face was in the line of sight, as was his glove, thrown up in self defense.

In the final inning, Sidney's catcher extracted his revenge singling in Jaden Sears and Garska to secure the 10-run win.

"You just want to make a statement before districts," Onstott said of his performance, and the teams. "We played great tonight."

Sidney committed just two errors on the night, putting together a near flawless performance. The visitors' first was clipped after two runs  when Onstott fired to second baseman Sears, catching Alliance's Colton Williamson napping. In the second, Rolls and Doty engineered a rare 8 to 6 double play. Two innings later, Sears sprinted after fly to shallow right, making a diving grab.

"That was a great play," Garska said in admiration.

When Alliance threatened to whittle the score back to single digits in the fifth and final frame, Garska fanned Jeff Heusman and Jordan McCracken to end the game.

Sidney, now 11-7 on the year, is back in action at Legion Field on Thursday evening, when they host district foe Gering. The Juniors-who lost the opener on Tuesday-start at 5 p.m. with the Seniors to follow. Post 17 then travels to Gordon on Sunday for a triangular.

Following a tough weekend, where Sidney lost badly on two occasions but managed a split, Tuesday night's pummeling of Alliance seemed to confirm a team coming together.

"It was a turnaround point for us," Burton said.

Linescore

Alliance 200 01 – 3

Sidney 070 6x – 13

WP- Garska

LP- Heckman

Sears 2b 3 1 0

Garska p 2 1 0

Goble pr 0 1 0

Onstott c 4 1 2 2rbi

Hagerman pr 0 0 0

Phillips rf 3 1 0

Burton 3b 2 2 1 2rbi

Arent 1b 3 2 1 1rbi

Wakefield lf 1 2 0

Rolls cf 2 1 1 1rbi

Doty ss 1 0 0 1rbi

Sidney Hitting Leaders

Avg. (Min. 30 PA)

Colton Onstott .351

Scott Phillips .327

Bradey Holtz .327

2B

Colton Onstott 4

Bradey Holtz 4

3B

Colton Onstott 2

HR

None

Runs

Bradey Holtz 17

Scott Phillips 15

Colton Onstott 12

RBI

Colton Onstott 13

Scott Phillips 9

Keaton Wakefield 8

SB

Bradey Holtz 10

Lane Harvey 6

Austin Pile 4

BB

Keaton Wakefield 15

Bradey Holtz 13

Kyle Burton 10

Sidney Pitching Leaders

ERA (Min. 12 IP)

Colton Onstott 1.11

Travis Garska 2.25

Lane Harvey 3.00

W

Travis Garska 4

Kyle Burton 3

Colton Onstott 2

SV

Colton Onstott 2

K

Travis Garska 38

Colton Onstott 22

Kyle Burton 15

Lane Harvey 15