A magical year came to a close on Wednesday for the Alliance senior squad with an 8 to 4 loss to Empire Netting at the state Class B championships. Waverly used a 5 run fourth inning and then held on to down the Spartans. The Peltz Co ends the season with a 29 and 14 record. Waverly then downed Wayne to take home first in the National Division. Alliance ended third and went 3 and 2 in state games played in Minden. The Spartans defeated Holdrege, Elkhorn, and Lincoln Christian while losing to Wayne-the runners up-and Waverly the champs. Alliance finished the contest with 10 hits. Leading the offense with 2 knocks each were: Kobe Strom, Carver Nemnich, and Tony Escamilla. Getting the start on the mound was Kegan Rodriguez who went 3.2 innings. Also tossing for the Seniors were Braeden Clarke and Nemnich.
Alliance batted first and found success, scoring twice. A walk to Rodriguez began the scoring and an RBI double by Strom made it 1 to 0. Nemnich followed with a double of his own as the Peltz Co took the early advantage. Waverly came back strong in the bottom of the first with 3 tallies. Empire Netting and Fence used a 3 run double to surge ahead by 1. Innings 2 and 3 were scoreless frames for both teams. Alliance got a single in the top of the third by Espen Lanik but no scores. Heading to the fourth, the Spartans were down 3 to 2.
Inning 4 was big for Waverly. First the Seniors couldn’t cash in on singles by Jaxson Esparza and Creighton Fritzler as Empire Netting and Fence maintain their one run lead. In the home half, Alliance’s deficit went from one run to six. Waverly tallied 5 runs, using 4 hits, a walk, and a hit batter to increase their margin to six. The Seniors did get an outfield assist by Lanik to limit the damage. In the fifth, no runs were scored and the game went to the sixth with Waverly leading 8 to 2.
Hits by Escamilla and Nemnich resulted in one Peltz Co tally in the top of the sixth as the Spartans closed to 8 to 3. Nemnich had a scoreless frame in the bottom of the inning and the contest went to the last inning with Waverly still up 8 to 3. Alliance made things interesting in their final at bat. A double by Spartan Jaxon Poss was followed by an RBI hit by Strom. Escamilla was next and his single gave the Peltz Co hope but Waverly was able to record the last out. Final Waverly 8 Alliance 4
Peltz Co 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 4
Empire Netting 3 0 0 5 0 0 x 8
Ten hits for the Spartans two apiece Strom, Nemnich and Escamilla one each Lanik, Poss, Esparza and Fritzler.
The 2025 Spartan was a very successful one for all 4 squads. For the Prep team, Alliance ended with 20 wins and got victories in 10 of their last 13 contests. The Junior Navy club posted 24 wins and had a nice showing at their district tournament, going 2 and 2.
Alliance’s White Junior squad won 29 games and a district title, and finished fourth at the state championships. They went 2 and 2 at state. Also winning 29 contests were the Spartan Senior team. The Peltz Co also were district champs and ended third at state in the National Division. Alliance went 3 and 2 at state and will return many of the same players for the 2026 season.