Post 17 struggles at Scottsbluff

SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. – After the Sidney American Legion senior team gathered for a lengthy talk after a lopsided loss to Class A Westco Tuesday night, it met in a tight circle and shouted, "family!"

Despite the 13-1, five-inning loss, the seniors made a strong appearance of unity afterwards with a mind toward leaving the events of the night on the field in Scottsbluff.

Though the seniors yielded eight walks and committed five errors, they left the field with their focus on a district game against Gering at home on Wednesday night rather than brooding over the tough loss.

"You look at the board and we have two hits and they have two hits and they're way ahead," said Post 17 head coach Ray Witt. "We gave up some walks and you combine that with errors and that's what you get. After that jump (Westco) had in the first couple of innings, the team just went flat and were never able to get it back."

In the opener, the juniors fared little better as they were also bitten by control problems from the hill. Three juniors pitchers combined to surrender 17 walks in an 11-4 setback.

The Zephyrs jumped on the seniors with nine runs in the first two frames and never looked back. Though Westco managed just four hits in the contest, they parlayed the eight free passes and five Sidney errors into a run-scoring parade.

Ben Goble scored the only tally for Sidney after he opened the third inning with a single to right field. He later scored on a passed ball. Besdies Goble, the only other Post 17 players to register a hit were Jake Heeren and Keaton Wakefield.

"I think Ben Goble sparked a fire today," Witt said. "He played with intensity, he played with heart and that's how everybody on the team needs to play. He's fighting for playing time right now and the whole team needs to play as if they're fighting for a starting spot. It shouldn't be thought of as 'this is my position and I'm going to keep it no matter what.'"

The southpaw Wakefield started the game and took the loss while Trevor Garcia went the distance for the Zephyrs to get the win.

"I heard a lot of things in the huddle afterwards with a lot of kids looking at themselves and talking about the kind of things they're doing wrong and the attitude they have," said Witt. "They know they need to change. I think we're heading in the right direction and we can't let a night like this ruin our season."

Though the juniors outhit the Westco Express in the opener 6-5, they too struggled to keep runners off the base paths. Among the six Sidney hits, Arik Doty and Connor Langrell provided the biggest blows with a double each. Langrell (1-for-1) was not retired on the night as he picked up a pair of walks and was hit by a pitch in four plate appearances.

Sidney scored a single run in the second inning and three more in the third to tie the contest at 4-4. Soon after, however, the game got out of hand. Garrett Langrell scored the lone second-inning run after spanking a one-out hit and coming home on Brett Jaggers' sacrifice fly RBI.

The first four batters for Sidney all eventually scored in the third. Zack Means opened the frame by reaching on an error and then Connor Langrell and Logan Sircy followed with walks. Spencer Ellwanger picked up the first RBI after being plunked with a pitch. Ellwanger was hit twice in the game. Zach Holtz also picked up an RBI in the inning. Doty, the starting pitcher, was charged with the loss.

The juniors open up the Wednesday night doubleheader against district opponent Gering at 5 p.m. The seniors will follow at about 7:30.