On Thursday, June 4, the Alliance senior baseball team traveled to Rapid City for a matchup with the Cody Cubs. The Spartans improved to 4 and 0 for the year with a 4 to 2 win. Pitcher Braeden Clarke went the distance for the Peltz Co, pitching all 7 innings. Clarke limited the Cubs to just 4 hits while striking out 5. On offense, the Spartans were led by Tony Escamilla who had 3 of the Alliance’s 5 hits. Alliance’s big inning was the second where the Spartans scored 3 times.
Clarke’s big effort started in the opening frame. Cody batted first and went down in order. Clarke recorded one strikeout in the inning. Alliance’s bats were also silent in the bottom of the inning and the game went to the second with no scores. The Cubs went scoreless in the top of inning 2 while Alliance grabbed the lead thanks to 3 tallies. The Peltz Co got a single by Escamilla and a couple of miscues by the Cubs to take the lead. Carver Nemnich walked and moved into scoring position after Mikey Johnson was struck by a Cody pitch. A 2 run scoring single by EJ Garcia accounted for the Spartans first runs. The inning closed with another error by the Cubs and Alliance getting their third run.
Cody rallied with 2 tallies in the top of inning three. The Cubs used a couple of knocks to close their to gap to 3 to 2. Alliance got one back in the bottom of the inning. Kobe Strom reached after being hit by a pitch and advanced after another hit by Escamilla. An error by the Cubs ensued as the Peltz Co went up 4 to 2 after three innings of action.
Runs then became hard to muster in the final 4 innings with both sides getting shutout. Alliance turned a double play in the top of inning #4 to spoil a Cody rally. The Peltz Co went down 1-2-3 in their at bat in the bottom of the frame. Two k’s by Clarke in the fifth kept the Spartans ahead by 2. Another hit by Escamilla was the highlight for Alliance in bottom of the frame but the Spartan was left on the bases. Inning 6 had another strikeout registered by Clarke and no runs for the Wyoming club. Nemnich got a single for Alliance in the bottom of the inning and was stranded on the bags. In the final inning, another Clarke strikeout foiled any comeback plans by the Cubs. Final Alliance 4 Cody 2
CODY 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2
ALL 0 3 1 0 0 0 x 4
Five hits for the Peltz Co Escamilla 3; one each Garcia, Nemnich.