Schroeder Park hosts first annual wood bat tourney

Six peewee teams took part in a two-day wood bat tournament in Imperial Saturday and Sunday.
Organizers Dave and Trish Oxford and Eric and Marilyn McDaniel thought it would be fun to try something different than what their team was doing twice a week in their league games.
Teams were split into two pools for Saturday’s games. Pool A featured Imperial 1, Wallace and Imperial 3. Pool B had Grant, McCook Calves and Imperial 2 in it.
Imperial 1 and McCook came out of pool play with two wins and received byes in the first round of tournament play.
Imperial 2 took down Imperial 3 to start action Sunday.
Imperial 3 had two batters reach base by walks in the first inning, but two strikeouts by Brextin Moreno and a runner caught stealing ended their threat.
Imperial 2 scored eight runs in the first inning. Zak Anderson, Tate Teply, Taylor Maddux and Moreno singled. Destry Oxford hit a triple.
Moreno walked one and struck out three in the top of the second inning.
Imperial 2 didn’t fare much better. Imperial 3’s Adan Mireles struck out two and got a fly out and a double play to hold Imperial 2 scoreless in the inning.
Imperial 3 loaded the bases in the third inning, but Imperial 2 got a putout at the plate, fly out and strikeout to end the top half of the inning.
The bats went to work for Imperial 2 in the bottom half of the inning. The team hit five singles, plus doubles by Maddux and Moreno to end the game 15-0.
After Grant advanced with a win over Wallace, Imperial 2 took to the field against Imperial 1 for a closely contested semifinal game.
Moreno and Tyce Hammerlun led off the game with a single and walk, respectively, for Imperial 2.
Moreno stole second, third and home for the game’s first run. Hammerlun stole second and third then scored on a grounder.
Carter Kuenning walked for Imperial 1 and scored on a single by Tucker Mollendor. After a walk by Miles Hanes, Imperial 1 scored two more runs thanks to a triple by Cristobal Tarango Flores.
Imperial 2 added four more runs in the second. Leadoff batter James Bomba was hit by a pitch and scored after singles by Evan O’Neil and Moreno. Both would later score. Hammerlun and Oxford also singled in the inning, with Hammerlun crossing home plate.
Imperial 1 went three up, three down in the bottom of the second, then returned the favor in the top of the third inning by sending all three Imperial 2 batters back to the bench.
Returning to the plate in the bottom of the third, Imperial 1 cut the deficit to one run, 5-6. Noah Rau, Kuenning, Mollendor and Hanes singled during their at bats.
Imperial 2 took advantage of a hit batter and a walk to move runners into scoring position in the top of the fourth. A passed ball brought home Conner Stromberger and Maddux scored on a double by Hammerlun. An RBI by Oxford scored Hammerlun.
Jackson Cyboron and Austin Smith singled at the bottom of the order for Imperial 1 with Smith coming around to score.
Runs by Lukas Fries and Bomba boosted Imperial 2’s lead to 11-6 after the top of the fifth inning.
Two walks around another single from Smith helped Imperial 1 close the gap to one on a Cyboron double. A ground out  ended the game with Imperial 2 on top 11-10.
Imperial 1 out hit Imperial 2 11-7.
Imperial 2’s Stromberger and Fries combined to give up six walks while striking out four.
Kuenning and Rau pitched for Imperial 1. The pair walked three and struck out nine.
Aggressive base running benefited Imperial 2, which stole 21 bases to Imperial 1’s 13.
McCook advanced to the championship game against Imperial 2 after a 15-0 win over Grant.
A Hammerlun triple went to waste for Imperial 2 in the top half of the championship game’s first inning. McCook hit a triple and five singles to leave Imperial 2 trailing 0-5 after one inning.
Anderson singled for Imperial 2 in the second inning, but was left stranded.
McCook added seven runs in the second thanks to four singles, a double and five walks.
Hammerlun singled and scored on a Maddux single in Imperial 2’s half of the third, before holding McCook scoreless.
Singles by Anderson, Teply, Moreno and Hammerlun brought Anderson around to score in the fourth inning. McCook didn’t bat in the bottom half of the fourth inning and took the championship with a 14-2 win.
Sponsors for the tournament were Imperial Country Ford, Stromberger Farms, Farm Bureau, Imperial Jaycees, Nutrien Ag Solutions, Pinnacle Bank, Pivot Electric, Jason and Heidi Anderson and Dave and Trish Oxford.
Tournament proceeds will go toward AED equipment for both ballparks, baseball equipment upgrades and camp and tournament expenses for the Horns’ 12U team.

Imperial Wood Bat Tournament
Saturday, June 12
Game 1—Imperial 1 vs Imperial 3, 22-0.
Game 2—Imperial 2 vs Grant, 11-6.
Game 3—Imperial 1 vs Wallace, 9-2.
Game 4— McCook Calves vs Grant, 10-0.
Game 5— Wallace vs Imperial 3, 11-8.
Game 6—Calves vs Imperial 2, 7-5.
Sunday, June 13
Game 1—Imperial 2 vs Imperial 3, 15-0.
Game 2—Grant vs Wallace, 6-4.
Game 3—Imperial 2 vs Imperial 1, 11-10.
Game 4 Semi-final game—Calves vs Grant, 15-0.
Championship Game—Calves vs Imperial 2, 14-2.