Five strong innings in relief by pitcher Lexton Salcido carried the Alliance Seniors past Rapid City 6 to 5 in a ball game played Tuesday. It was the Spartans 12th win of the season. The Peltz Co has a 12 and 4 record. Action was held in South Dakota and was the first contest of a doubleheader between the 2 squads. Alliance grab an early lead but a late rally by the Expos closed their gap to one in the last frame. Salcido entered the game in the first and helped the Spartans maintain their advantage . The Peltz Co ended the game with 7 hits with Espen Lanik leading the offense with 2 knocks . Kegan Rodriguez started the battle and Carver Nemnich got the save in relief.
Alliance was the aggressor in the opener with 4 runs. Lanik began the scoring with a single. The next 3 batters-Braeden Clarke, Nemnich, and Nason Thompson-all walked as the Spartans surged ahead 1 to 0. The Peltz Co’s next tally came with a sac fly by Jaxson Esparza. A hit by Mikey Johnson then reloaded the bases for EJ Garcia who came thru with a 2 run single, making it a 4 to 0 contest. The inning ended with a knock by Jackson Smith and no more runs. Post 22 countered with a solid inning of their own. The hosts used a couple of walks, a single, and a 2 run error by the Spartans to score 3 runs. After one inning of play, the Seniors led 4 to 3.
A hit by Nemnich was the Alliance highlight of the second. The Spartan was left on the bases. Salcido had a 1-2-3 bottom of the second as the Peltz Co maintained their one run lead. Alliance got one run in the third. Johnson reached on an error by Rapid and advanced after a Cody Galles hit. An Expo wild pitch would make it 5 to 3. In the home half, Post 22 failed to score. The Spartans increased their lead in the top of the fourth with one more tally. Lanik walked and stole both second and third. A sacrifice fly by Nemnich put the score at 6 to 3. Salcido shutout the hosts in the bottom of the fourth.
Inning 5 had both teams go scoreless. A hit by Lanik in the top of the sixth gave the Seniors hope but the Spartan center fielder was left on the bases . Rapid City plated one in the bottom of the inning. The Expos used a walk and a pair of hits to close to 6 to 4. A possible fifth run was tagged out at the plate by the Alliance defense. The Peltz Co failed to score in their last at bat and the game went to the home half with the Seniors leading by 2. Post 22 rallied with a walk and a run scoring double to pull within one at 6 to 5 but a groundout ended the drama. Final Alliance 6 Rapid City 5
ALL 4 0 1 1 0 0 0 6
RC 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 5
Seven hits for the Peltz Co., two Lanik, one each Smith, Nemnich, Johnson, Garcia, Galles.