The Spartans were victorious this week and brought their overall record to 23-16. The Spartans took on the Rapid City Expos, Gering and competed in the Westco Fourth of July tournament. The Spartans had gone 6-0 for the week and undefeated in the Westco Tournament. It was another great week to be a Spartan fan.
The Spartans’ first game of the week was on June 28, where they played their first game of a doubleheader against the Post 22 Expos. The Spartans got a massive wake-up call as the Expos did quick work out of them with a 14-1 win over the Spartans. Tyzen Brown took the loss for the Spartans, where he allowed five hits and seven runs over one and one-third innings, walking only one. Ashton Ross, Brantz Halouska, Landen Crowe and Eli Blanco all had one hit to lead Alliance.
In the second game of the doubleheader, the Spartans heard the wake-up call and came out swinging, making it a close game and coming out on top this time with a walk-off victory over the Expos with a final score of Spartans 8, Expos 7.
Ashton Ross kicked things off for the Spartans’ getting them fired up and hitting a homer in the first inning, allowing the Spartans to score two runs. Tony Escamilla was the winning pitcher for Alliance, where he lasted one and one-third innings, allowing zero hits and zero runs, striking out one and walking one. Brantz Halouska relieved Escamilla from the bullpen, throwing two-thirds of an inning. The Spartans had 14 hits for the day, where Eli Blanco, Tony Escamilla, Tyzen Brown and Ashton Ross all had multiple hits. Escamilla, Ross, Blanco and Brown each collected two hits to lead Alliance over the Expos.
The Spartans’ second game was on June 29, where they played against Gering. Spartan Nick Wright showed up to compete and had everything going for him against Gering, helping the Spartans shut out Gering with a final score of Gering 0, Spartans 8. Wright was the winning pitcher allowing three hits and zero runs over six innings, striking out five. Alliance collected 10 hits, with Mario Garza and Wright collecting multiple hits. Garza had gone three for three at the plate to lead Alliance in hits.
The Spartans traveled to Scottsbluff on July 1, where they would compete in the Westco Fourth of July Tournament. The Spartans went undefeated in the tournament, going 4-0. The Spartans’ first game of the tournament was against the Westco Zephyrs, where Alliance had a big second inning, scoring eight runs. This helped seal the Spartans’ win with a final score of Westco 3, Spartans 12. Landen Crowe was the winning pitcher for the Spartans, where he allowed four hits and three runs over five innings and struck out four. Seth Morrison threw one inning to relieve Crowe from the bullpen. Jakob Callan, Mario Garza, Kaden Ferguson and Ashton Ross collected one hit each to help lead the Spartans over Westco.
The Spartans’ second tournament game was on July 2, where there had been a delay at the bottom of the sixth inning. Alliance was credited for the win with a final score of Wheatland 2, Spartans’ 10.
The Spartans’ second game of the day was against the Buckley Bombers, where Alliance had a solid start to get the win against the Bombers with a final score of Bombers 2, Spartans 10.
Jakob Callan was the winning pitcher, where he went four and two-thirds innings, allowing two runs on six hits and striking out six. Callan was relieved by Tony Escamilla from the bullpen, where Escamilla threw for one-third of an inning. Alliance had ten hits in the game, where Ashton Ross, Caeson Clarke and Callan had multiple hits collecting two apiece to help lead Alliance over the Bombers.
The Spartans’ final game of the tournament was on July 3, where they took on Wheatland again, blowing them out thanks to a huge fifth inning. The Spartans had gotten five runs in the fifth inning, led by Kaden Ferguson, Caeson Clarke, Jakob Callan and Ashton Ross, who had all drove in runs. Nick Wright was the winning pitcher. Wright lasted five innings, allowing five hits and one run striking out three and walking one. Alliance collected nine hits for the game, where Ross, Mario Garza and Tyzen Brown each had multiple hits. Ross went three for four at the plate, and Clarke had the most chances in the field with eight.
The Spartans’ didn’t commit a single error in the field with their win over Wheatland, making them the winners of the Fourth of July Tournament.