A pair of evenly matched teams met in Gering on Monday. And in the end it was the Knights from Elkhorn slipping past Alliance 3 to 2. The contest was a battle of the last 2 undefeated squads at Class B state tourney. With the loss, the Spartans fall to 29-4-1 on the year. The Peltz Co held a one lead going to the sixth but gave up two tallies to go down 2 to 1. ETC then added a score in the seventh to extend their advantage to 2. Alliance got one back in the bottom of the seventh but could get no closer. At the plate, Espen Lanik had 2 of the White squad’s five hits. Starting pitcher Braeden Clarke went all 7 innings.
Elkhorn was the visitors on the board and failed to score in the top of the first. The Peltz Co took a one run lead in the home half thanks to a triple by Lanik and an RBI groundout by Nason Thompson. ETC made things interesting in the top of the second by loading the bases but Clarke got a line out to center to stop the rally. In the bottom of the second, a single by Spartan Jaxson Esparza gave Alliance a base runner but he was left on the bags. With two innings in the book, the White club had a 1 to 0 margin.
Innings 3-4-5 had both teams struggling at the dish with no runs being scored. A hit in the fourth by Thompson and a knock by Lanik in the fifth kept the pressure of the Knights. Both runners didn’t cross home. In the sixth, Elkhorn finally broke thru with 2 tallies. ETC used a couple of hits and a wild pitch to take a 2 to 1 lead. Alliance went down 1-2-3 in their attempt in the home half. Heading to the last frame, the Peltz Co trailed 2 to 1.
An insurance score by the Knights in the top of the seventh put the Alliance deficit at 2. In the bottom of the inning, a leadoff triple by Spartan Tony Escamilla got the White club off to a promising start. Escamilla would score on a sacrifice fly by Esparza to make it 3 to 2 but no more runs more were scored. Final Elkhorn 3. Alliance 2
Knights 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 3
Spartans 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 2
Five hits for the Peltz Co. Lanik two, one each Esparza, Thompson and Escamilla.
The always tough legion team from McCook will be the next opponent for the Spartans on Tuesday.