Sidney teams swept by Buckley

Despite signs of improvement from the two teams' previous encounter, the Sidney senior American Legion team's defensive lapses Sunday foiled any hopes the locals had of beating the Buckley Bombers,.

Though Post 17 lost 10-1 in their earlier meeting last month, it narrowed the difference to 6-3 Sunday night at Legion Field, and seven errors compromised any chance Sidney had of claiming victory. The loss drops Post 17 to 2-6 on the year.

Meanwhile the juniors (4-3) struggled to get going offensively until they finally broke up a no-hitter in the final inning of a 6-2 loss.

Buckley pitcher Brendan Mayden was sailing along through six innings before Brett Jaggers led off the final inning with a sharply struck single down the left-field line. Connor Langrell later singled home Jaggers and later scored on a double by brother Garrett Langrell.

"The juniors played real well," said Sidney head coach Tim Herrera. "They were playing a team that was a little older than they are. Both Buckley outfields are really good. They have a lot of speed, they have good arms and they're well coached. Having said that, I think our team is one of the best in the district."

In the seniors' contest, Kyle Burton took the hill and took the loss after giving up just two earned runs. In all, he gave up six runs, three hits and three walks and struck out five. Jake Heeren came on in relief and pitched two scoreless innings. With two on base in his final inning, the hard-throwing righthander struck out the last three batters.

"We know if we make a lot of errors, we're not going to win," Burton said. "It's a lot of mental errors we're making. I think we're trying to go too fast. It's like we're throwing the ball before we even get it. We need to clean that up."

Sidney drew first blood by taking a 3-0 lead in the second inning. Heeren led off with an infield single and moved to second on a Keaton Wakefield single to left. Burton then laid down a perfect sacrifice to advance the runners. Zack Means delivered a big blow when he ripped a double to deep center to score Heeren and Wakefield.

"I was seeing the ball out of his hand pretty well," Means said referring to Buckley pitcher Chance Dunker. "He had a good curveball that was well disguised and a fastball and knuckleball. With two in scoring position, I knew he wasn't going to miss with a curve so I was thinking fastball all the way."

Means later scored on an infield hit by right fielder Ben Goble, who came in for Jason Hagerman. The 3-0 lead was short-lived, though, as Buckley put up four runs in the top of the third. Four errors in the inning helped the Bombers' cause.

"We were trying to bunt a little bit and move runners around, but you don't want to run on their catcher," Herrera said of Bombers' backstop Ryan Nolin.

In the juniors' contest, Wakefield went five innings and surrendered three runs on nine hits and struck out three. Connor Langrell pitched the final two innings and gave up three unearned runs on two Sidney errors in the final frame.

Post 17 is back in action on Tuesday when Sidney hosts district opponent Alliance at Legion Field. The juniors open the action at 5 p.m. with the seniors to follow. The road game schedule for Torrington, Wyo., on Wednesday has been canceled.

LEGION BOXSCORES

Juniors

Buckley 6, Sidney 2

Buckley 101 010 3 – 6 9 1

Sidney 000 000 2 – 2 3 3

Buckley: B. Mayden and T. Walker. Sidney: Keaton Wakefield, Connor Langrell (6) and Garrett Langrell.

2B – T. Walker (B), T. Mayden (B), B. Mayden (B), Garrett Langrell (S).

Seniors

Buckley 6, Sidney 3

Buckley 004 110 0 – 6 5 0

Sidney 030 000 0 – 3 6 7

Buckley: Chance Dunker and Ryan Nolin. Sidney: Kyle Burton, Jake Heeren (6) and Bradey Holtz.

2B – Zack Means (S).