Two 6th inning rallies leave Horns on short end of stick

In a third trip to the Class C Legion state tournament, the Imperial Juniors’ baseball team left it all on the field Saturday and Sunday in close losses to Syracuse and Palmer-Wolbach-Greeley in Pender.
The Horns opened the tournament against Syracuse, a team that beat Imperial in the 2019 state tournament.
Thomas Reeves led off the game with a double to set the tone for Imperial. Reeves advanced around the bases on passed balls and scored to give Imperial an early 1-0 lead.
Pitcher Jaret Peterson gave up a single in the bottom of the inning, but forced a ground out and struck out two to keep Syracuse scoreless.
Morel Jurado singled in the second inning for the Horns. After Cooper Dillan reached base thanks to catcher interference, Jurado scored and Dillan moved to third on a Reeves’ single. Dillan and Reeves were stranded on base when a ground out ended the inning.
Syracuse cut Imperial’s lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the second inning thanks to a batter hit by a pitch, a balk and a double. Back-to-back fly outs ended the inning with one runner stranded.
Peterson and Carter Leibbrandt led off the third inning with singles but neither was able to score.
Syracuse only had one hit in the third inning, but stranded two runners.
Dillan was hit by a pitch in the fourth inning, but was also stranded.
Peterson sat down all three batters the Horns faced in the fourth inning with a strikeout and two ground outs.
Triston Hite and Tysen Lempke singled in the top of the fifth inning. But the pair were left on third and second when a fly out ended Imperial’s at bat.
Syracuse started its half of the inning with a single, but Imperial was able to turn a double play on a popped up bunt by the next batter. With the bases empty and two away, Syracuse hit back-to-back doubles to tie the game at 2-2. Syracuse stranded one runner in the inning.
Syracuse brought in a new pitcher who struck out all three Horns’ batters to start the sixth inning.
Peterson forced a ground ball out, then Syracuse hit two singles followed by an infield fly for the second out. A double to left center field brought home the base runners before a fly out ended the sixth inning.
Trailing 2-4, Imperial started off the seventh inning with a bunt caught by the pitcher. Hite singled and moved to third base on a wild pitch and a passed ball. Following a strikeout for the second out, Leibbrandt walked to set up runners on the corners. Imperial’s tenth strikeout ended the game, as Imperial lost by two..
Peterson pitched a complete game for Imperial, striking out five batters while not giving up a walk.
Imperial left nine runners on base.
Imperial took on PWG, the 2019 state champions, Sunday with their season on the line.
The Horns quickly took the lead in the game.
Hite walked and stole second, setting himself up to score on a double by Peterson. Tristan Jablonski, running for Peterson, scored on a single by Lempke.
PWG’s lead off batter singled and came around to score on another single.
Both teams would struggle to score in the middle innings.
Imperial was able to get base runners during each inning except the seventh, but stranded nine runners in the game.
The Horns’ defense did its part to keep runners off the bases. Colin O’Neil and Leibbrandt struck out four batters while fielders had no errors on the day.
PWG only had one base runner leading up to the sixth inning after a fourth inning single.
The tide turned in the sixth inning. Imperial left runners on second and third in the top half of the inning.
Syracuse started off with a walk followed by two-ground outs.
A walk set up runners on the corners to be driven in by a single.
The Horns got a ground out from the next batter, but the damage was done.
Trailing 2-4, Imperial flew out to the second and third basemen in the top of the seventh. The Syracuse catcher caught a foul ball to end the game.
O’Neil and Leibbrandt walked two, while five Imperial batters reached base on walks.
Imperial Head Coach Bruce Peterson said it’s tough to lose in the late innings after leading most of the way, but that’s baseball and it’s also how teams get better.
Peterson was pleased with how his pitchers and defense performed in Pender.
“We’ve pitched well enough to win, played defense well enough to win,” Peterson said.
In the end, the Horns just need to finish the job when they get runners on base, Peterson said.
“A few timely hits on our part and these games wouldn’t have been so close and we’d have enough cushion to win. In both games, they changed pitchers toward the end and messed up our hitters timing. We struggled to put together good at bats in the late innings,” Peterson added.
Overall, Peterson said their experience in Pender was a huge step towards getting better.
“We held a couple good hitting teams to seven total runs and only scored four. We’ve got to score more than two runs per game to win. As a coach, I take responsibility for this and will challenge myself to find ways to make us a better offensive team in the coming seasons,” Peterson said, adding, he’s extremely proud of how these young men played.
The team finished the season with a 15-9 record.
“Next year, we return five starters from this group and there are nine younger players that got a lot of good experience this season to help us compete at the junior level next year,” Peterson added.
Tournament continues
Peterson said all eight teams in the bracket are there because they deserve to be, adding that his team gets a little better with each trip.
In other Saturday first-round games, Lincoln Christian Nemaha Sports Construction C beat PWG 4-3, Dannebrog-Cairo-Boelus beat Pender 5-2 and Yutan defeated Wisner-Pilger/Howells-Dodge 10-2.
Sunday, Nemaha Sports beat Syracuse 1-0 and Yutan beat DCB 6-5 to advance in the winners’ bracket.
That same day in the losers’ bracket, Pender beat WPHD 8-5.
In Monday’s winners’ bracket game Yutan topped Nemaha Sports 13-12.
In the losers’ bracket, DCB beat PWG 5-4 and Syracuse defeated Pender 6-3.
Tuesday’s games included the tournament’s only undefeated team, Yutan, taking on Syracuse and Nemaha Sports battling DCB.