Senior Legion team struggles, 5th in tourney

The Sidney senior American Legion team struggled through its first two games at the Gering Tournament over the weekend before salvaging the final game against Hershland. After winning the finale, Sidney finished the tournament in fifth among the six teams entered.

Meanwhile, the juniors split a doubleheader with Ogallala on Saturday in which they played the first game with a lineup made up primarily of Sidney Babe Ruth players. They dropped the first game 10-0 before rebounding with an 8-1 victory in the nightcap.

After the seniors’ games were washed out on Friday, Sidney (2-3) opened up against Alliance on Saturday with a 3-0 loss. Buckley (Chappell) then toppled Sidney 10-1 in the second game that forced Post 17 into the fifth-place game on Sunday. The locals rebounded against Hershland 12-0 in a mercy-ruled, three-inning game.

For Sidney it was a reversal from Wednesday night in which Hershey edged the locals, 6-5.

Kyle Burton opened on the mound against Alliance and went the distance. He gave up single runs in the second, fourth and fifth innings. Sidney managed only four hits.

“Kyle pitched a very efficient game but there were some missed pickoffs and some passed balls that hurt us,” said Sidney head coach Ray Witt. “We feel like we should have won the Alliance game.”

In the second game, Sidney yielded four runs in the first inning off starter Bradey Holtz and were never able to recover.

“We were missing Lane (Harvey) and Jake (Heeren) and that didn’t help us,” Witt said. “But really we were just playing flat all day and could never get anything going.”

Harvey will be out of the Post 17 lineup until he returns from playing in Colorado on July 7. Heeren was at a basketball camp.

Zack Means took the hill on Sunday and pitched three strong innings for a complete-game victory. He gave up just one hit and struck out three while throwing only 35 pitches. Holtz and Connor Langrell each had a pair of hits in a game that was ended by Langrell’s RBI-single to right center with the bases loaded.

“We didn’t see their best pitchers like we did the other night,” Witt said. “But, we took advantage of what we saw and our bats were on fire from the start.”

After the rainout on Friday, Sidney was left scrambling to move its personnel between Gering and Sidney where the juniors were playing their doubleheader on Saturday. Since many of the Post 17 players suit up for both the juniors and seniors, Sidney found itself shorthanded for the junior first game against Ogallala.

Most of the players in the lineup for the opener were regulars at the Babe Ruth level. In fact, brothers Garrett and Connor Langrell and Zach Holtz were the only junior regulars who suited up for Sidney in Game 1 against Ogallala.

“When the older guys came back from Gering, there was just a real boost in confidence with the added leadership and experience that came with them,” Witt said. “Connor (Langrell) pitched a good game for us in the opener, but when his pitch count got up there we had to make a change.”

Langrell opened up by yielding three unearned runs in the first frame but settled down with no-hit ball over his next three innings.

Byron Rowley took the hill in game 2 against the Ogallala and pitched five shutout innings before being removed in favor of Brett Jaggers.

The Sidney juniors and seniors will hit the road on Tuesday for a doubleheader against Class A Westco in Scottsbluff. The juniors open the action at 5 p.m. with the seniors to follow about 7:30.