On Sunday, July 14 the Alliance Peltz Co Junior baseball team downed McCook 13 to 5 in day #3
of the Area 7 district tournament. The game, held in McCook, saw the hosts jumped to early 4 to 0
lead before the Spartan bats came alive. Alliance’s Espen Lanik continued his hot hitting on the season
with 4 of the Spartan 15 hits. Starter Braeden Clarke survived a shaky start to go the distance for Alliance, giving up 8 hits while striking out one FCB batter.
Four big runs by FCB in the top of the first gave McCook the early advantage. McCook took the 4 to 0 lead thanks to 3 hits, 2 Spartan errors, a balk, and a walk to take the early lead. Alliance responded with a big inning of their own in the bottom of the opening inning. Lanik started the rally by singling and stealing second. From there, it was Lexton Salcido getting the Spartans on the board with an RBI hit that scored Lanik. Hits followed by the Peltz Co’s Nason Thompson and Kobe Strom which loaded the bases. Alliance’s Creighton Fritzler was next and he reached after getting hit by a McCook pitch that put the score at 4 to 2. Clarke was next and his grounder was misplayed by McCook, making the score 4 to 3. The Spartans then took the lead when EJ Garcia hit a double that plated 2 more runs. Lanik concluded the Peltz Co scoring with 2 run single. After one inning of action, Alliance led 7 to 4.
Clarke held FCB with no runs in the second while the Spartans increased their lead by scoring 2 runs in the bottom of the inning. Hits by Tony Escamilla, Thompson, and Strom plus an error by McCook made the score 9 to 4 heading to the third. McCook was denied any tallied in their attempt in the top of inning. Meanwhile, the Peltz Co got one more run. Lanik would single and scored run #10 on an RBI groundout by Thompson. FCB used 2 hits and a walk in the top of the fourth to score their fifth run and pull within 5. A hit by Fritzler was the only action for the Peltz Co in the bottom of the fifth and the affair went to the sixth with Alliance up 10 to 5. McCook would go 1-2-3 in the final at bat while 3 more Alliance runs finished the contest. Lanik’s fourth hit began the rally. The Spartan lefty then stole a base and scored on a sac bunt by Salcido. Alliance finished the game with 2 more runs thanks to hits by Thompson, Strom, and Fritzler. Final Peltz Co 13 FCB 5
FCB 4 0 0 1 0 5
ALL 7 2 1 0 3 13
15 hits for Alliance: Lanik 4, 3 Thompson, Strom, 2 Fritzler, 1 each Salcido, Garcia, Escamilla.