Hillsboro Legion team finishes second best in zone

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN DON RATZLAFF
Nickerson proved the power of pitching depth, breezing undefeated through the American Legion Zone V Baseball Tournament at Tabor Field last week.

Backing some fine work on the mound with solid, fundamental baseball, Nickerson shut out Hillsboro twice in the tournament, including an 8-0 whitewashing by Tyson Bauerle in the title game Wednesday night.

The previous evening, Matt Curran fired a 10-0 four-hitter at Hillsboro, sending Post 366 into the losers’ bracket finals against Pratt in Wednesday’s early game.

Once there, Hillsboro rallied from an 8-2 deficit with an eight-run fifth inning to set up a rematch with Nickerson for the title in the double-elimination format.

Post 366 was trailing only 1-0 heading into the bottom of the third inning when Nickerson took advantage of two walks, two hit batters, and two Hillsboro errors to score four runs with only one base hit-a two-run double by Noah Krol.

Nickerson bumped the score to 7-0 in the fourth inning on two walks and another hit batter by starter Dustin Jost, plus a single by Curran.

The game ended with no one out in the fifth inning when Nickerson pushed across a run against reliever Shawn Hughbanks to give them the 8-0 run-rule victory.

Hillsboro threatened to score only twice. In the third inning, Andy Brubacher led off with a ground-rule double to left, but was left stranded.

In the fourth, Jones led off with a walk and, two outs later, Graham Ratzlaff singled to right to put runners at first and third. But Ben Walker popped out to the first baseman to end the inning.

Bauerle finished the abbreviated game with a three-hitter and four strikeouts. He walked only one.

In four innings of work, Jost (1-1) surrendered seven runs on only four hits. He struck out three but walked four batters and hit two.

With the loss, Post 366 finished its season with an 18-6 record.

Nickerson, sporting several members of the Nickerson High School 2002 Class 4A state championship team, will move on to the state American Legion tournament, which begins Aug. 1 in Hiawatha.

Hillsboro 11, Pratt 8

(Losers’ Bracket Finals)

Hillsboro covered a multitude of sins with an eight-run explosion in the fifth inning to carry the team to a return-from-the-dead 11-8 win over Pratt in Wednesday’s early game.

Post 366 dug what appeared to be an early grave with four first-inning errors that fueled a 3-0 lead for Pratt, a team Hillsboro had beaten 10-0 two nights earlier.

With the help of a Pratt error, Hillsboro came back with two runs in the bottom of the inning. Leadoff hitter Dustin Jost was hit by a pitch, stole second, then scored on an error by second baseman Adam Washington on a ball hit by Caleb Marsh.

Marsh, who took second on the play, advanced to third on Kris Jones’ fly ball, then scored when Jerod Metcalf hustled an infield hit.

Unfortunately, Hillsboro’s defensive struggles weren’t over yet. In the second inning, Pratt scored three runs on two walks by pitcher Steven Chisholm, a base hit, a throwing error by third baseman Robert Verbic, and a sacrifice fly by pitcher Ryan Pinkall.

In the third inning, Chisholm hit the first two batters he faced, then misfielded a bunt to load the bases. David Briggeman followed with a two-run single.

With the score 8-2, both teams settled into a scoreless quagmire until Hillsboro came to bat in the bottom of the fifth.

Andy Brubacher led off with an infield single, then advanced all the way to third on an errant pickoff attempt by Pinkall. He scored on a ground out by Dustin Jost.

A single by Caleb Marsh, a walk for Hughbanks and an error on a ball hit by Jones loaded the bases. Metcalf then lined to short for the second out, but Verbic atoned for two fielding errors with a bases-clearing double down the right-field line.

Graham Ratzlaff followed with a single to score Verbic. After Ben Walker was hit by a pitch, Jason Conkle relieved Pinkall on the mound.

But Hillsboro’s assault continued unabated. Brubacher cracked a double to left to score Ratzlaff, then Jost singled to score Walker and Brubacher to put Hillsboro on top, 10-8.

Rejuvenated, Chisholm and his teammates shut down Pratt in the sixth and seventh innings. For good measure, they added an insurance run in the sixth when Verbic scored from third base on a wild pitch.

Although Chisholm (5-1) surrendered eight runs, only three were earned. The right-hander allowed just five hits, walked two batters and hit three.

Nickerson 10, Hillsboro 0

(Winners’ Bracket Semifinals)

Nickerson pitcher Matt Curran accomplished something no one else had done this summer: shut down Hillsboro’s potent offense.

Curran allowed only four hits-never more than one an inning-and shut out Hillsboro 10-0 in the semifinals of the winners’ bracket Tuesday evening.

Hillsboro’s only serious scoring threat came in the third inning when Andy Brubacher reached on an error, advanced to second on a ground out, then was thrown out at the plate trying to score on Caleb Marsh’s single to right.

Meanwhile, Curran’s three-run double in the first inning was the big hit of the game. It came with one out after Brandon Myers reached on an error and Hillsboro pitcher Robert Verbic walked Noah Krol and Mike Howell in consecutive at-bats to load the bases.

When Nickerson loaded the bases again in the third inning on a one-out double by Curran, an error and a hit batter, Jerod Metcalf relieved Verbic and got out of the jam by getting Jarrett Bauerle to hit into a pitcher-to-catcher-to-first double play to end the inning.

Metcalf gave Hillsboro a chance to climb back into the game by shutting down Nickerson on one hit through the fifth inning.

But with the score still 4-0, Nickerson touched Hillsboro’s ace for three runs on a walk and four hits, including two doubles.

Nickerson added three more runs on four hits off Metcalf in the seventh inning to solidify the lead.

Metcalf gave Hillsboro one last glimmer of hope by leading off the bottom of the seventh with a double, but Curran set down the next three hitters in order to end the game.

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