Sidney Legion seniors shut out by Gering

Offensive woes plagued the Sidney American Legion seniors at Legion Field Wednesday night as they managed just five scattered hits in a 6-0 loss to Gering in a district contest.

Zack Means led the offense with three hits in as many at bats while Jake Heeren and Arik Doty were the only other Sidney players to get a hit.

Means was the starting pitcher and took the loss despite a solid outing amid some control issues. He went five innings and surrendered a pair of runs – just one earned – on four hits, eight walks and four strikeouts.

While the seniors record slipped to 2-5 on the season, the juniors season mark advanced to 4-2 after they throttled Gering 10-2 in five innings. Except for a second inning during which he threw 29 pitches, starting pitcher Connor Langrell was efficient in going to distance to get the win. Brett Jaggers was a strong offensive force as he had a pair of hits, including a double in a two-run third.

On several occasions in the seniors' contest, Means dug himself some small holes, but showed a knack for wriggling off the hook. In the fourth inning, Means surrendered a walk and an infield hit before getting three quick outs. Means opened the fifth by yielding a walk, an RBI double and another free pass, but settled in to retire the side with just the lone run scoring.

"I was a little wild when I came from the wind up because my leg was too high which is what [assistant coach] Jaden [Sears] told me," Means said. "So in the end I went from the stretch to throw strikes and was able to get outs more consistently that way."

Gering plated an unearned run in the first inning before scratching out another in the fifth. They added two runs in each in the final two innings after Kyle Burton and Heeren relieved Means. When Sidney took to the bat, it struggled to sustain any consistent offense.

The only time Post 17 managed two hits in an inning came in the fourth when Heeren and Means led off with singles. Both were left on base, however, as Gering hurler Brent Barge silenced Sidney with three quick outs. Barge went the distance to get the shutout win.

"We're getting a hit from the second hole or the fifth or the eighth hole and we're not stringing any hits together and we have to do better than that," said skipper Tim Herrera. "If we could string some hits together and get some good steals around those, we could generate some offense. We can't just get up to five and six hits a game, we'll have to get about 10."

Despite their early-season struggles, the young seniors are remaining upbeat.

"People feed off each other so we need to be energetic and stay positive," said right fielder Ben Goble. "We've been keeping up a good attitude pretty well this year. Eventually we're going to lock in and start winning games."

In the juniors' contest, Post 17 scored a run in the opening inning and never trailed. Jaggers' two hits were complimented by another pair by Arik Doty, who also scored three runs. Spencer Ellwanger and Garrett Langrell had Sidney's other two hits.

Connor Langrell surrendered four hits and one earned run. He struck out three.

On Sunday, Buckley will visit Legion Field with a junior-senior doubleheader. The juniors will take on the team from Chappell at 3 p.m., with the seniors to follow at about 5:30. The games were originally scheduled for earlier in the day.

The senior' triangular on Saturday in Shelton has been cancelled.