Sidney juniors bounced from districts

GERING – The Sidney American Legion juniors had their season come to an abrupt end in Gering this weekend as they were eliminated from the District B7 Tournament after losses to Alliance and Chadron.

In the opener on Friday, Sidney allowed five first-inning runs and seven more in the fifth on its way to a 13-6 loss to the Spartans of Alliance. The loss sent Sidney to a date with top-seeded Chadron on Saturday where offensive struggles led to a 7-1 setback and elimination from districts.

Though Sidney entered tournament as the No. 4 seed, it fared well during the regular season against its district opponents with a 9-3 record. Furthermore, they didn't have a losing record against any team in the district during season play. The juniors finished up with an overall mark of 13-12. Post #17, however, struggled with its pitching on Friday and its hitting on Saturday.

"We had a rough start with the game (Friday) and we didn't have enough offense (on Saturday)," said Sidney head coach Ray Witt after being eliminated. "The one thing we're going to have to do next year is dial in the mental part of the game and let the physical part take over. We've got a lot of talent on this team, but it's been a little Jekyll and Hyde sometimes. You don't know what team is going to show up ... and that's due some to the youth of this team."

It was a bad omen for Friday's starting pitcher Connor Langrell when Ryan Rash led off the home first by reaching on an error. The Spartans went on to score five first-inning runs as they chased Langrell in favor of Arik Doty.

Doty was effective until the fifth when Alliance plated seven more runs. Doty was removed in favor of Keaton Wakefield with one out in the fifth. Wakefield finished the game.

Despite their struggles, Sidney showed some mettle after the rough start. Post #17 crept back into the contest with single runs in the first and third and another pair in the fifth. Zack Means bombed a double over the center fielders head to open the second and was driven home by Spencer Ellwanger.

Sidney benefitted from a pair of Alliance miscues in the fourth as Keaton Wakefield reached on an error and scored on another. Back-to-back doubles by Doty and Langrell fueled the two runs in the fifth. Though the juniors managed to get themselves back into the game, the feelings of optimism were quickly dashed by the Spartans' seven-run fifth.

"We have another game to play, that's how I look at it," said Means after Friday's game. "It was a well-played game for the most part, we were just out hit."

In Saturday's contest, Means took to the hill and suffered the loss as the Nationals chipped away for four runs over the first three innings. Byron Rowley relieved Means and was effective in his one inning of work. Langrell hurled the final three innings.

While Sidney banged out 10 hits against Alliance, only Garrett Langrell and Connor Langrell managed the only hits for Sidney against Chadron starter Jayden Stack on Saturday. Stack surrendered the one run on the pair of hits and three walks as he went the distance to earn the win.

The Langrell brothers each managed a base hit and a walk against Stack, while Logan Sircy earned the third walk. Rowley and Doty managed to reach base after being hit by a pitch. The lone run for Sidney scored without a hit in the sixth. Sircy tallied the run after opening with a walk and eventually crossing on a throwing error.

"(Stack) threw a lot of first-pitch curve balls and we didn't jump on the first pitch enough," Doty said. "It was a well-played game, but again we were outhit."

While the season is over for most of the juniors, the five flex players (Arik Doty, Brett Jaggers, Connor Langrell and Keaton Wakefield) will finish out the season with the seniors. The seniors have two more regular-season doubleheaders on the road before they open their own district tournament on July 24 at Legion Park.

The seniors will take the road to Chappell on Wednesday for a twinbill versus Buckley at 5 p.m. On Thursday, Sidney heads to Laramie (Wyo.) with the first pitch again scheduled for 5 p.m.

LEGION BOXSCORES

Junior Districts, Friday's Game

Alliance 13, Sidney 6

Sidney 011 020 2 – 6 10 1

Alliance 500 071 x – 13 12 3

Sidney: Connor Langrell, Arik Doty (1), Keaton Wakefield (5) and Garrett Langrell. Alliance: Derek Morrison and Cade Pheiffer.

2B: Zack Means 2 (S), Arik Doty (S), Connor Langrell (S), Derek Morrison (A), Ryan Rash (A).

Junior Districts, Saturday's Game

Chadron 7, Sidney 1

Chadron 121 003 0 – 7 9 1

Sidney 000 001 0 – 1 2 2

Chadron: Jayden Stack and Trevyn Waldron. Sidney: Zack Means, Byron Rowley (4), Connor Langrell (5) and Garrett Langrell.

2B: Jayden Stack (C), Trevyn Waldron (C). HR: Logan Tiensvold (C).