Round three of the Class B state legion senior’s championship was somewhat of a rematch between Alliance and Elkhorn. Just 2 weeks ago, it was the Knights of Elkhorn winning a one run contest against the Spartans in the state junior’s tournament. On Monday, the Peltz Co got some sweet revenge by downing ETC 5 to 4 in a thrilling eleven inning affair. Alliance got an incredible performance by starting pitcher Lexton Salcido in improving to 28 and 13 for the season. Salcido threw 10 innings and walk none in getting the win. The Seniors committed zero errors in the extra inning ball game.
With the victory, the Spartans advance to a matchup against Lincoln Christian on Tuesday and go to 2 and 1 in the tourney. The battle was played in Minden and had the Peltz Co take a 2 run lead going into the bottom of the seventh. Elkhorn would pushed 2 across in the home half to tie the matchup at 4, sending the contest to extra innings. In the top of the 11th, the Peltz Co scored once then held on for the W. Tossing a scoreless eleventh was Spartan Tony Escamilla. The Seniors finished the game with 8 hits and were led by Kobe Strom and Jaxson Esparza who collected 2 knocks each.
Inning #1 had the seniors go down in order while ETC surge ahead. Elkhorn used a double and a single to take a 1 to 0 margin. Alliance’s offense woke up in the top of the second with 3 tallies. The Spartans loaded the sacks on a walk by Escamilla, Carver Nemnich reaching on an error and Esparza getting hit by a pitch. Cody Galles was next and his grounder was misplayed by the Knights resulting in the Senior’s first score. The next tally can on a fielder’s choice by Braeden Clarke. An RBI single by Espen Lanik ensued as the Seniors went up 3 to 1. In the bottom of the frame, Salcido had a 1-2-3 inning and the battle went to the third with the Peltz Co up by 2.
With 2 outs in the top of third, the Seniors increased their advantage to 3 thanks to hits by Nemnich and Esparza. ETC would get a hit in the bottom of the frame but the runner was put out trying to steal on a nice play by Nemnich, the Spartan catcher. Frame four saw Elkhorn slowly start to comeback. Alliance didn’t score in the top of the inning while a triple and sac fly by the Knights sliced their deficit to 2 at 4 to 2. No runs were scored in both the fifth and sixth innings for either teams. Alliance would get a single by Escamilla in the fifth and a sixth inning knock by Galles but both times the runners were stranded. Meanwhile, Salcido continued his super hurling as the Knights also failed to score in frames 5 and 6. Heading to the seventh, the Peltz Co was still ahead 4 to 2.
Alliance had a great opportunity to increase their advantage in the top of the seventh. The Spartans loaded the bases but couldn’t cash it in. Strom had a knock for the Seniors in the inning. In the home half, ETC knotted the thriller. Elkhorn used 2 hits, an RBI ground out, and a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 4, forcing extra innings. Frames 8-9-10 saw both clubs have chances but no scores were tallied. Esparza had a single for the Seniors in the ninth and was left on the bases. Things got wild in the eleventh. A hit by Strom began a rally in the top of the frame. An error by ETC on a hit by Spartan Creighton Fritzler was next as the Spartans got close and it moved Strom to third. Escamilla followed with a grounder that scored the Peltz Co’s fifth run. ETC began action in the bottom of the inning with a single that ended the night for Salcido. With Escamilla on the mound, Alliance got the first out of the inning on a super grab in center by Lanik. A fielder’s choice was next for out two and the battle ended on a grounder back to Escamilla. Final Alliance 5 Elkhorn 4
Peltz Co 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 5
ETC 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 4
eight hits for the Seniors two apiece Strom and Esparza, one each Lanik, Galles, Escamilla and Nemnich.
On Tuesday, the Spartans will play Lincoln Christian-Nemaha Sports