WAYNE – For the second time in less than a week, the Wayne High baseball team competed against a Class A opponent.
From Hank Overin Field in Wayne, the Blue Devils welcomed in Norfolk High to open a four-game week on Monday.
Wayne High broke a 1-1 tie in the fourth and went onto run-rule the Panthers, 11-1 in six innings. The Blue Devils have now won back-to-back and are 12-6 on the season while Norfolk dropped their eighth straight to sit 2-19 overall.
WHS suffered a 4-3 loss at Class A Omaha South on April 21.
Both teams scored a run in the first inning followed by two scoreless innings. WHS then went off for a three-run fourth, four-run fifth and three-run sixth to win 11-1. The Blue Devils outhit Norfolk, 8-1 but committed three errors compared to one by the Panthers.
Brooks Kneifl has now recorded a homerun in three consecutive games following a solo shot to go along with a triple; James Dorcey singled twice, drove in two runs and scored twice while Gavin Redden singled twice and scored for Wayne High.
Aiden Liston singled, drove in a run and scored; Toby Braun singled and scored; Devin Anderson added a RBI and two runs scored; Kaleb Moormeier accounted for two RBI; Brandon Bartos and Wyatt Heikes both had a RBI as Calvin Starzl scored three times.
Brooks Kneifl (90 pitches) secured the victory in five and a third allowing an earned run off one hit while striking out 11 batters and walking three. Gavin Redden worked the final two-thirds in eight pitches.
The Wayne High baseball team is right back in action on Tuesday, April 26 at GACC/Scribner-Snyder/West Point-Beemer starting at 4:30 p.m. from Timmerman Field in West Point. Earlier this season, the Blue Devils won 1-0 over the Patriots on April 4 thanks to a perfect game by Kneifl. The Patriots are 4-7 on the season and are coming off a 12-5 road victory at Thurston-Cuming County on April 22.
