Sidney Post #17 teams get bats going, rout Hershland

HERSHEY, Neb. – With both games ending by way of the mercy rule, it was mission accomplished for the Sidney American Legion teams on Wednesday evening as they swept a junior-senior doubleheader on the road against district opponent Hershey.

The juniors erased a short-lived 1-0 deficit in game one with a six-run second to conquer the Trojans 12-2 in five innings. The juniors record now stands at 10-7 on the season. Though the juniors proved a tough act to follow, the seniors were up to the challenge as they sent 14 hitters to the plate in the first frame and scored nine times on their way to a 15-6 victory in five innings. The seniors upped their mark to 8-10 on the year.

In game one, the force was with Connor Langrell as he was strong on the mound as well as at the bat. He tossed four innings of two-hit ball while giving up two runs (one earned) and did not walk a batter to earn the win. Jackson Witt came on in the fifth and set the Trojans down quietly on two ground balls and a strikeout to end the game.

Offensively, Langrell singled and tripled to drive in four runs from the second spot in the order. Two of his RBIs were aided by leadoff hitter Mitch Rolls, who set Langrell up with a double in the second and a walk in the fifth. Zack Means, Zach Holtz and Logan Sircy collected the other Sidney hits.

"I'm seeing the ball pretty well right now," Langrell said after collecting another pair of RBIs in the seniors game. "I'm being more patient at the plate and waiting for the ball to come to me."

After Bradey Holtz was hit in the elbow by a pitch to open the seniors contest, Sidney had Hershland on the ropes from the start. The first seven batters for Sidney reached safely as they put up nine runs in the opening frame to all but put the game away. Sidney was so efficient offensively in the first inning, its first out was intentional when Ben Goble set down a perfect sacrifice bunt.

While the offense was clicking on all cylinders, Jason Hagerman kept the Trojans off balance most of the night on the mound. Though a couple of walks helped Hershland score a pair of runs in the first and two leadoff hits came around to score in the third, Hagerman was very stingy otherwise. Brett Jaggers threw the fifth to finish off the game.

"I threw all fastballs and two curves," Hagerman said. "One of the curves didn't curve and the other was fouled off. But all I really wanted to do is throw strikes and let them hit it so the defense could do the rest. That worked out pretty well."

After Holtz opened the game by getting hit, Jake Heeren and Zack Means drove in the first of their two runs of the inning. A sharp single by Heeren scored Holtz and another stinger from Means got Langrell home after he had walked before him.

Prior to Heeren and Means knocking in their second runs of the inning, Kyle Burton brought in another with a bases-loaded walk. Rolls then sent home two others after being set up by the Goble sacrifice.

"I've been spending some time in the batting cage and feel like I'm seeing the ball out of the pitchers hand really well," said Heeren, who added a third RBI in the fourth inning.

Arik Doty's long double to deep center, Goble's single to left and a walk by Rolls helped Sidney tack on three more runs in the second. Holtz drove home Doty with a sacrifice fly and Langrell singled Goble to the plate. Rolls made his way home on a throwing error following the Langrell hit.

Besides Heeren's RBI in the fourth, Langrell added another with a sacrifice fly. By the end of the fourth frame, Sidney held a 14-4 advantage. Jaggers scored the final run of the game in the fifth.

The juniors have until Tuesday to prepare for an important district game at Gering. The juniors take the field at 5 p.m. at Oregon Trail Park with the seniors to follow.

Before the seniors head out on the road to Gering, they will host the Sidney Seniors Tournament in a round-robin format on Saturday and Sunday at Legion Park

Sidney will play at 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. on both days. First up are Buckley and Gordon on Saturday, with Gering and Hershey as the opponents on Sunday.

WEDNESDAY’S BOXSCORES

Juniors

Sidney 12, Hershland 2

Sidney 060 33 – 12 6 4

Hershland 101 00 – 2 2 3

Sidney: Connor Langrell, Jackson Witt (5) and Garrett Langrell. Hershland: Brady Roberts and Bennett Floyd.

2B: Mitch Rolls (S). 3B: Connor Langrell (S).

Seniors

Sidney 15, Hershland 6

Sidney 930 21 – 15 12 2

Hershland 202 02 – 6 7 1

Sidney: Jason Hagerman, Brett Jaggers (5) and Bradey Holtz. Hershland: Landan Maassen, Logan Weir (1), Marcus Gutherless (5) and Justin Weir.

2B: Arik Doty (S), Kyle Burton (S). 3B: Logan Weir (H), Landon Maassen (H).