Day one of the Nebraska State Class B tournament was a memorable one for the Alliance Peltz Co Junior team. The Spartans defeated ETC Knights 4 to 3 on a single by Alliance’s EJ Garcia in the bottom of the seventh inning. In a contest played Saturday in Valley, the Spartans continued their fine late season play with their seventh straight win. Alliance ended with 9 hits with Braeden Clarke, Nason Thompson, and Jaxson Martinez closing with 2 hits each. Pitching for Alliance were starter Espen Lanik, Kegan Nelson and Tony Escamilla.
Elkhorn batted first and went down 1-2-3. In the Spartans first at bat, Alliance tallied 1 run. Lanik began the scoring with a lead off walk and moved into scoring position following a bunt single by Clarke. Eventually, Lanik would steal home to get the Peltz Co the early lead at 1 to 0. Thompson then singled but was stranded. After one inning, ETC was down 1 to 0. Once again, Lanik silenced the Elkhorn bats in the second. And once again Alliance added to their lead in the second. Garcia began the rally with a walk, which was followed by a walk by Carver Nemnich. An RBI single by Clarke ensued as the Alliance lead grew to 2 to 0. In inning 3, the Knights failed to score while Alliance extended their margin. A double by Thompson set the Peltz Co up for their third score. Following an error by the Knights, Martinez singled, that gave Alliance a three to zero lead. Both squads failed to score in the fourth.
The Knights made things interesting with 3 runs which knotted the affair. Using a couple of hits and 2 Spartan errors, Elkhorn tied the score at 3 after 5 innings of play. ETC wouldn’t score in the sixth. Alliance would get hits by Martinez and Lanik in the sixth but were also turned away. Heading to the seventh and final inning, the contest remained tied at 3. Nelson and Escamilla kept the Knights out of the scoring column in the top of the seventh as the Spartans were set up for their walk off victory. The inning began with a walk by Thompson and he moved to second after a sac bunt by Kobe Strom. Creighton Fritzler was next and his hit continued the inning. After an intentional walk to Martinez that loaded the bases, Garcia singled in the winning tally. Final Alliance 4 Elkhorn 3
ETC 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 3
ALL 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 4
9 hits for Alliance: 2 apiece Clarke, Thompson, Martinez, 1 each Garcia, Fritzler, Lanik.