The Alliance Spartans Juniors won Districts on July 12, where they took on the Chadron FNBO Nationals Juniors for the championship.
The Spartans were in the winner’s bracket for the District championship after beating Sidney and Chadron over the weekend. The Spartans were sitting in the winner’s bracket, where Tuesday, July 12, they would take on Chadron, and the Nationals would need to beat the Spartans twice to earn the championship.
The first game went to Chadron. It was a close game, and Alliance had been fighting back after a 1-4 deficit after the fifth inning. The Spartan Juniors scored four more runs in the sixth and seventh innings but ran out of time and suffered a loss with a final score of Chadron 6, Alliance 5.
Chadron’s Broc Berry was the winning pitcher for the game, where Berry threw for five and two-thirds innings, allowing zero hits and two runs and striking out eight. Alliance’s Brandon Clarke was the losing pitcher. Clarke threw for two innings and allowed one hit, one run and struck out one.
The Spartans had one hit compared to Chadron’s eight, where Spartan Ethan Little Hoop led in hits for Alliance with one hit in three at-bats. Alliance took the loss but were still in the race for the District championship as they would go against Chadron one more time.
The second game against Chadron was a different story. The Spartans ran away with the tournament and the District championship with a final score of Alliance 5, Chadron 3. The Spartans had gone up on Chadron in the third inning, where Cody Galles hit a single, scoring two runs. Spartan Kaden Ferguson was the winning pitcher who threw for six and two-thirds innings, allowing five hits, three runs, and struck out four. Caden Buskirk took the loss for Chadron, who pitched seven innings and allowed five runs on six hits. Buskirk also struck out six and walked one. The Spartans had six hits compared to Chadron’s five. Tony Escamilla led the Spartans in hits with two hits in four at-bats.
The Spartans Juniors team will be state bound in Wahoo on July 16, where they will take on Sutton.
