Horns stay alive at junior state playoffs

    After rolling to two wins at the Legion Class C Junior Playoffs, the Imperial Pinnacle Bank Horns fell in a Tuesday contest, but remain alive in the double elimination tournament.
    Imperial made the long trip to Creighton for its first round game against Area 4 district champion Tri-County.
    The Horns left little doubt they were ready to play.
    Imperial led off the game batting. Its first five batters put the ball in play and came around to score. With two down, the Horns tacked on two more runs on a double by Thomas Reeves. Imperial was sharp on defense as well. With Jaret Peterson on the mound, Horns’ infielders gobbled up three gounders and made good throws to first base to set Tri-County down in order.
    “This team came to compete and it showed in the first inning,” Horns’ Head Coach Bruce Peterson said.
    Imperial carried its 7-0 lead into the bottom of the second inning. Tri-County’s leadoff batter reached on an error then came around to score, but the Horns kept runners on second and third from scoring.
    The teams battled rain showers during the game’s early innings. The game was paused because of lightning in the second inning then rain in the third inning.
    The middle of Imperial’s order went to work in the fourth inning. Despite a tag out at third base, the Horns scored two runs as Tri-County’s pitcher struggled with control.
    Two Tri-County singles in the fourth inning were enough to score one run before the game was paused until Sunday due to rain.
    Peterson said the starts and stops for weather, including the overnight delay, were tough mentally and physically, but the Horns never lost focus and patiently waited for the opportunity to finish the job.
    Imperial picked up Sunday where it left off. Starting in the top of the fifth inning, once more the middle of the order came through and Imperial increased its lead to 11-2. Tri-County could only sneak in one run, giving Imperial the 11-3 win in five innings.
    Jaret Peterson pitched 3.1 innings and left the game after his 58th pitch, leaving him available to pitch again in the tournament. Together with Camron Lempke and Tristan Jablonski, Imperial limited Tri-County to six hits, while striking out four and walking two.  
    The Horns had eight hits in the game. Tyler O’Neil reached base three times after being hit by a pitch.
    Monday the Horns took on Pender, the Area 2 district champion. As the visitor, Imperial batted first and left runners stranded on second and third. The Possums didn’t fair any better, leaving a runner stuck on third base at the end of the inning.
    After the Horns went down in order in the top of the second inning, Pender looked poised to score the first run of the game. Pender had one down and runners on first and second when a fielders choice gave Imperial two outs. With runners on first and second once more, Pender tried to sneak a run home, but Jaret Peterson, catching in the game, took the throw from pitcher Cooper Dillan and slapped on the tag to end the threat.
   The Possums returned the favor with a fielders choice play at the plate in the third inning. The Horns kept plugging away and took the lead on a two-RBI double by Jaret Peterson.
   Imperial only allowed one base runner in the bottom half of the inning and took their 2-0 lead through the third inning and into the bottom of the fourth inning. After a leadoff strikeout, Imperial faced the bases loaded, but caught runners stealing home, then third base to end any Possums’ threat.
   With its top half of the lineup up to bat in the fifth inning, Imperial increased its lead to 4-0. Pender had other ideas, however, and used three hits to score two runs.
    Imperial carried its momentum into the sixth inning. The Horns batted around and opened up some breathing room with four runs.
    After leaving Pender with runners on the corners to end the sixth, Imperial added a security run in the seventh inning. The Possums threw all they had at Imperial in the bottom of the inning, taking advantage of two Horns’ errors to score three runs and keep the bases loaded.
    With two down and the tying run at the plate, Jablonski took to the mound. His only pitch of the game was a ground out to Lempke at second base.
    Dillan pitched 6.1 innings. Lempke and Jablonski each pitched one out in the seventh inning. The Horns struck out six batters, walked seven and gave up nine hits.
    Reeves, as leadoff hitter, continued to do big things offensively for the Horns. Reeves went 4-4, was hit by a pitch and scored three times against Pender.
    The win set up a late Tuesday evening game against Malcolm, the Area 3 district champion.
    Imperial lost the game 1-7, setting up a game against DCB Wednesday at 4 p.m. Results will be included in next week’s Republican.
Tournament results thru Tuesday
Day 1
Pender 11, Palmer-Wolbach-Greeley 3
Imperial 11, Tri-County 3
Malcolm 5, Wakefield 0, 9 innings
Dannebrog-Cairo-Boelus 7, Creighton/Plainview 3
Day 2
Imperial 9, Pender 5
Malcolm 10, DCB 2
PWG , Tri-County
Wakefield 11, Creighton/Plainview 2
Day 3
Imperial 1, Malcolm 7
DCB 14, PWG 11, 8 innings
Pender vs Wakefield
Day 4 (Wednesday) ALL TIMES CENTRAL
Game 12—Imperial vs DCB, 5 p.m.
Game 13—Malcolm winner vs Pender, 8 p.m.
Day 5 (Thursday) ALL TIMES CENTRAL
Game 14—Championship game, 6 p.m.
Game 15—If needed, to follow