CREIGHTON – Two more teams were eliminated in the Class C Junior American Legion baseball state tournament.
A total of six teams entered Tuesday’s third round which began with a northeast Nebraska showdown.
Although Wakefield loaded the bases up twice, Pender secured the 8-2 victory over Post 81. Following a scoreless first, Pender got on the board thanks to a four-run second inning before adding three more runs in the fourth to lead 7-0. Both teams scored a run in the sixth which favored Pender at 8-1 while Post 81 scored once more in the top of the seventh, falling 8-2.
The second elimination game went into extra innings as DCB knocked out PWG, 14-11 in eight innings. PWG scored a run in the first and six more in the third inning to lead 7-0 through four innings. DCB then scored four runs in the fifth and outscored PWG 4-1 in the sixth to tie the game at 8-8 before both teams scored two more runs in the seventh to force extras. In the eighth, DCB outscored PWG, 4-1 to win 14-11.
In the match-up of undefeated tourney teams, Malcolm won 7-1 over Imperial. Malcolm led 2-1 after the first and then added four more runs in the second inning to lead 6-1. Following a scoreless third, Malcolm tacked on one more run in the fourth and held onto the 7-1 victory.
Just like in the Class B bracket, the tournament will follow ‘Note 1’ reading ‘Pairing for game 12 and 13 (on day four) will not match previous opponents against each other unless absolutely necessary’.
Since Pender and Imperial as well as Malcolm and DCB were the second round games against each other, the opponents will flip.
Day four schedule will open with an elimination game between Imperial vs. DCB at 5 p.m. while Malcolm (undefeated in tourney) will face one-loss Pender at 8 p.m.
The winner of the Imperial/DCB game will play at 5 p.m. against the winner of Malcolm/Pender on Thursday, July 21. If Malcolm suffers their first loss of the tournament, they’ll move to the winner-take-all championship game scheduled for around 8 p.m. to follow the first game on Thursday.
Class B (Wahoo) and Class C (Creighton) Junior American Legion State Tournament scores here.
