Opening round action of the Sidney tournament saw the Alliance Aces facing the hosts. Strong pitching and a big second inning paced the Aces to a 11 to 0 win. Starting pitcher King Lopez and reliever Braven Gange combined for a fourth inning no hitter. Lopez had three strikeouts in his one frame of action while Gange posted 8 Ks in three innings on the hill. Alliance ended with 7 hits with Lopez leading the way with 2. The contest was played on Saturday.
Two quick scores by the Aces in the top of the first gave Alliance a nice advantage. Hits by Lopez and Ben Smith helped the guests get off to a strong start. Three Lopez Ks kept Sidney off the board in the home half. Inning two saw the Aces expand their margin with 5 scores. Alliance got knocks by Lincoln Foster, Joseph Vela, Julian Requejo, and Andre Acosta to surge ahead by 7. Sidney went down quickly in their at bat and the contest went to the third with the Aces up 7 to 0.
Lopez had a single in the top of the third to start another rally. He would score Alliance’s 8th after a passed ball. The hosts went scoreless in their at bat. Inning #4 had Alliance increase their lead with 3 more runs. The Aces didn’t record a hit but walks to Isaiah Gonzalez, Foster, and Landon Gentleman began the scoring. All three runners scored on 2 passed ball and a wild pitch. Three Ks by Gange in the Sidney’s last attempt kept the shutout alive.
Final Alliance 11 Sidney 0
Aces 2 5 1 3 11
Sid 0 0 0 0 0
hits for Alliance Lopez 2 one each Requejo Vela Acosta Smith and Foster