SEWARD – With no district competition, qualifying teams were able to compete in USSSA Class B State Softball tourney to open the weekend.
The Dirt Devil 14s traveled to Seward to open first round competition by taking on a pair of opponents in the double elimination tournament.
Wayne suffered a 9-4 loss to the Nebraska Swingers (Lincoln) before the game against Sensations (North Platte) ended in a 5-5 draw. The Dirt Devil 14s are now 3-8-1 on the season.
In the early Friday afternoon game, the Dirt Devils took a 3-1 lead after an inning of play. Then the Nebraska Swingers poured in four runs during the second, outscored Wayne 3-1 in the third and added one more run in the fourth to win 9-4.
Hailey Schroeder tripled, drove in a run and scored while Taytem Ellis singled twice and scored twice for Wayne. Kierah Haase singled and scored; Jersi Jensen singled and drove in a run; Caitlyn Mostek singled and Delaney Kruse accounted for a RBI.
Rylin Hall suffered the loss in three innings allowing nine runs (eight earned) of eight hits while striking out three batters and walking nine.
Game One:
1 2 3 4 R H E
3 0 1 0 4 6 3 – Wayne
1 4 3 1 9 8 1 – Nebraska Swingers
From the late afternoon contest, Sensations jumped ahead 5-0 through three innings before the Dirt Devil 14s added three runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth to end the game in a 5-5 tie.
Delaney Kruse singled twice, drove in a run and scored while Emily Jaeger doubled, drove in a run and scored for Wayne. Sammi Gubbels tripled and scored; Hailey Schroeder singled and scored; Jersi Jensen singled and drove in a run; Caitlyn Mostek and Haase both singled; Hannah Gubbels scored as Ellis accounted for a RBI.
Sammi Gubbels worked all five innings in the tie allowing five earned runs off seven hits while striking out one batter and walking two.
Game Two:
1 2 3 4 5 R H E
0 3 2 0 0 5 7 4 – Sensations
0 0 0 3 2 5 8 1 – Wayne
The Dirt Devil 14s will next face the Nebraska Thunder Wallace (Omaha) at 11:20 a.m. today.