Cheyenne County Team Finishes Third In State 12-and-Under Tournament By Doug Law dlaw@suntelegraph.com The Cheyenne County 12-and-under Cal Ripken baseball team finished a strong third place in the State Tournament in Sidney Thursday through Sunday at Kiwanis Field. The Cheyenne County team finished with a 3-2 record. They defeated Gering 5-0 and lost to Alliance 14-3 on Friday then put together a pair of victories Saturday - beating Bayard 10-7 and Grand Island by 9-4 - before losing to Alliance 11-0 in the loser bracket. The loser bracket game sent the winner to the championship game. Hastings won the State Championship tournament by defeating Alliance 5-3. Cheyenne County Wins 9-4 In the losers’ bracket Cheyenne County put together a pair of wins Saturday over Bayard and Grand Island, which was the strong point for the local team in the tournament. Cheyenne County started off in a rush Saturday against Grand Island by seizing a 5-0 lead midway through the first inning. Lane Harvey hit a hard single past third base and went on to steal third. Colton Onstott hit an single to score Harvey. Chance Anglin got to first on a dropped third strike call as Onstott scored a run. Blake Bayne hit a single, scoring a pair of runs and Lane Riley hit another single to score a run as Cheyenne County led 5-0 midway through the first inning. Grand Island scored one run on a pair of singles and Lane Harvey handled the pitching for the locals. Harvey made a triple play for Cheyenne County. Neither team scored in the second or third innings but things got lively in the fourth. Kevin Pruett hit a single down the third base line and went on to steal second and third base. He later stole home for a run as Cheyenne County led 6-1 midway through the fourth inning. Grand Island fought back and scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth as Cheyenne County held onto a 6-4 lead. With a Grand Island runner on base, they hit a single to score one run. With runners on first and third, Grand Island followed up with another RBI. A Grand Island runner was safe at second, but a run scored. A batter was hit by a pitch to load the bases and on the next play, Onstott fielded the ball and tossed it to Lane Harvey for the out. Cheyenne County had a slim 6-4 lead after four innings of play. The Cheyenne County team got hot in the top of the fifth inning, and scored three runs, taking a 9-4 lead. Onstott hit a single through the Grand Island second baseman and went on to steal second and third base. Cheyenne County hit a single to score Onstott. Blake Bayne hit an single to score a teammate. Pruett hit an RBI to score another run. In the bottom of the sixth with one out, Blake Bayne caught a line drive for the second out. Grand Island hit a single, but a strikeout ended the game with Cheyenne County notching a 9-4 win over Grand Island. In the elimination game Sunday, Cheyenne County had two hits and five errors, dropping the 11-0 loss. Cheyenne County 10, Bayard 7 Cheyenne County got off to a strong start against Bayard by scoring a pair of runs in the first inning. Colton Onstott hit an single to score Lucas Rosenbaum, giving the locals a 1-0 lead. With a runner on third, the Bayard pitcher committed a balk, sending a Cheyenne County runner home as they took a 2-0 lead. Bayard answered back with one run in the second. Chance Anglin of Cheyenne County ran in to make a catch in the outfield. The next two Bayard batters drew walks and the following Bayard batter was out when his bunt failed. A walk loaded the bases and another walk was costly when it forced home a run for Bayard as Cheyenne County held onto their 2-1 lead. Both teams scored one run each in the third and Cheyenne County led 4-2. Kevin Pruett hit a single to right field and stole second for Cheyenne County. Lucas Rosenbaum kept them going with a single to right field. A walk loaded the bases and Kevin Venger hit a single to score a Cheyenne County run. Bayard scored a run of their own with a pair of singles and a base runner stole home. There was lots of excitement in the fourth inning with Cheyenne County scoring two runs and Bayard answered back with four of their own. In the top of the fourth, Blake Bayne hit a single and stole second and third. Lane Riley hit a single to send a run home. Preutt hit another single to score a run. That gave Cheyenne County a 5-2 lead, but Bayard took the lead with a four-run outburst in the bottom of the fourth, giving Bayard a 6-5 advantage. Bayard scored one run on a single and three more on a big three RBI-double to center field. Cheyenne County kept up the pressure and scored a pair of unanswered runs in the fifth to take a 7-6 lead. In the fifth with one out, Venger hit a single to right field and Anglin hit a big RBI single to right field. Blake Bayne hit a single scoring another run. Colton Onstott came in to pitch - and did just that as he struck out the first three batters in the fifth. Cheyenne County scored three big runs in the top of the sixth to increase their lead to 10-6. Pruett singled to right field and - after stealing two bases - stole home on a passed ball for one run. Onstott drew a walk and Rosenbaum stole third base to get into scoring position. Venger drew a walk loading the bases. Chance Anglin hit an single, scoring a run and on the next play Onstott stole home on a passed ball as Cheyenne Count led 10-6. Bayard cane back with a double to center field and a single to score a run. Onstott struck out the next three batters as Cheyenne County iced the 10-7 victory.