Juniors Have Tough Weekend

Sidney's American Legion Post 17 Junior baseball team traveled for weekend tournament action, and lost three out of four games away from Legion Field. In the first game Sidney was the designated home team, and faced off against the Cheyenne Post 6 Hawks with Sidney's Luke Kasten starting on the mound. After the first two batters reached base on an error and a single, catcher Nolan Hofrock gunned down two consecutive runners stealing third followed by a groundout turned back the Hawks early threat. Hawks pitcher Ty Lobmeyer shut down the Sidney offense in order in the bottom of frame, registering three of his 10 strikeouts on the day.

In the second inning, Kasten gave up a single with one out, and after the runner stole second then advanced to third on a groundout, the Hawk's Maddox Pollard connected for a single on the first pitch to give the Cheyenne team a 1-to-0 lead. After giving up another single, Kasten was able to get a groundout to end the inning and limit the damage.

Sidney could not break through on the score board in the bottom of the second, but Ben Hashman was able to get Sidney's first hit of the night. The top of the third had the Cheyenne team applying pressure with a lead off double, and ended their half of the inning with a 4-to-0 lead. Sidney finally broke through on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third when Jaeden Dillehay reached base on an error and was driven home by a Jacob Dowse single to bring the score to 4-to-1 at the end of three.

But that was all the offense the Sidney juniors could muster, and fell by a final score of 10-to-1 to the Hawks. Luke Kasten gave up nine runs (four earned) on 10 hits over 5 innings, and the Sidney defense committed five errors in the game. Cheyenne's Ty Lobmeyer went the full six innings, scattering four hits and a walk while fanning 10 batters in the victory.

Sidney next faced the WESTCO Express Junior A team, and got a great start when Luke Kasten belted a triple to lead off the game. Nolan Hofrock was able to drive the runner home with a sacrifice fly, and the Sidney squad led 1-to-0 after its half of the first inning. Hofrock took the mound as the Sidney starting pitcher, and had a rough start, giving up a single then issuing five walks in a row. After scoring three runs by walks, the Express' Aaron Price smacked a double that drove home two more runs. At the end of one, WESTCO had a 5-to-1 lead, and was firmly in control of the game. The Express added a run in the third, then four more in the fifth while shutting down the Sidney offense. The game was ended after five innings via run-rule with a final score of 10-to-1 for the WESTCO team.

On Saturday afternoon, Sidney faced off against the Laramie Post 22 Bullets and found themselves down 2-to-0 at the end of the first inning. Sidney's Sawyer Dickman started the game, and showed control problems early on by walking four batters in the first inning. Sidney was able to muster some offense in the second inning, with three singles in a row by Dickman, Ben Hashman, and Ethan Reichman. Cameron Leeling was able to drive a run home with a groundout to first base, but that was all Sidney could score in the inning. Dickman again tried to hold down the Laramie offense, but still could not find his groove and gave up three more runs to make the Bullet's lead 5-to-1.

Sidney was able to take advantage of three walks to load the bases in the third when Dickman doubled to drive in two runs, then Ben Hashman hit a single to center field that plated two more runs to tie the game at five in the third inning. The tie was short lived as again Dickman could not find his command, and a combination of walks and singles plated four more Bullet's runs, moving the score to 9-to-5 at the end of three.

Sidney went down in order in the fourth, and Laramie followed with another big inning plating three more runs to move their advantage to 12-to-5. But Sidney wasn't finished yet, and came back in the fifth inning with a steal of home by Dickman followed by four more Sidney runs to narrow the Bullet's advantage to 12-to-10. Sidney's Jacob Dowse was able to pitch around trouble in the bottom of the fifth to keep Laramie off the board, but Sidney could not chip away at the Bullet's lead in their half of the sixth inning. Laramie added four more runs in their half of the sixth, then Sidney went down in order to end the game 16-to-10. Sawyer Dickman and Ben Hashman had two RBI's each, while Dickman labored for 2.2 innings, giving up nine earned runs and 11 walks in the loss.

Sidney's final game of the weekend was on Sunday with a late afternoon start against the Laramie Post 14 Deputies, and starter Micah Schneider retired the Laramie squad in the first inning without giving up any runs. Sidney then got off to a hot offensive start, scoring three runs on a Dietrich Lecher single and a Nolan Hofrock double. Schneider gave up two doubles, a walk and a single in the second inning, and the Deputies were able to trim the Sidney lead to 3-to-2.

Sidney then scored another run in their half of the second, and Laramie responded by scoring a run of their own in the top of the third to bring the score to 4-to-3 in Sidney's favor. But Sidney responded back in the bottom of the third by scoring another three runs on a Hashman single followed by a Leeling single to increase Sidney's lead to 7-to-3. Laramie hung in, chipping away at the Sidney lead while keeping the Post 17 Juniors off the board until the Deputies were able to tie the game at seven in the fifth inning. Micah Schneider was able to score from third on an error to give Sidney the lead at 8-to-7, but the Deputies followed up in their half of the inning to tie the game at eight.

With the game knotted at eight, Sidney started a rally in the bottom of the sixth with a Luke Kasten single to lead off the inning, and then he took second on a passed ball. After Dickman was unable to bunt him over and grounded out, Schneider hit a hard single to center filed, scoring Kasten from second and giving Sidney the walk-off victory 9-to-8 to end their weekend on a high note. Hofrock and Leeling each had two RBI's, and Kasten had three hits in four at bats in the victory. Schneider pitched 4 innings and gave up three earned runs on four hits, while striking out seven and walking four.