The old saying that “close doesn’t count except for in horseshoes and hand grenades,” may very well hold true for the Post 256 South Central Junior Legion baseball team.
This past weekend, while challenging the field in the Hebron tournament, South Central dropped a trio of games by a total of four runs, falling in the opening-round to the Lincoln-based Stratojets Post 1919 squad by one run, 12-11, followed by a tough 7-5 loss to the host Hebron Juniors. During Sunday’s final day of action, South Central dropped a heart breaking 10-9 loss to the Bennett/ Palmyra Juniors.
The loss to the Stratojets was a walk-off win for the opposition, as the Post 256 Juniors fell to 1-6 on the year.
In the opening-round, Friday, June 21, South Central and the Lincoln squad drew to a 6-4 South Central lead after three innings of play, but a 6-2 fourth-inning run by the Stratojets earned the opposition a 10-8 lead.
South Central, however, in the top of the sixth inning put three runs across home plate to reclaim the lead, 11-10, going into the bottom half of the inning, where the Stratojets forced across two runs in walkoff fashion to claim the 12-11 victory.
Cody Funk led the South Central hitting attack, going 3-5 at the plate with a trio of singles while driving in one run.
Kam Sealey powered in two runs with a double in his three trips to the plate.
Adding to the hitting mix, that gave South Central a 9-6 hitting edge over the Lincoln squad, were Josh Spray, Dominic Page, Mason Johanson, Justin Sharp, and Wyatt Hemberger, who all collected singles in the loss.
Hemberger and Page both drove in two runs, while Spray and Sharp drove in one run each.
On the mound, South Central used five pitchers in the game. Wyatt Livgren took the loss during his three innings of work. Livgren struck out four, walked nine and gave up five hits and seven runs.
In relief, Hemberger, in one inning of work, had one walk. Sealey, also in one inning of work, struck out two, walked one, and gave up one hit. In two-thirds of an inning, Funk struck out one, walked five, and gave up two runs, while Brockett Reed walked three and gave up three runs.
South Central 11, Lincoln Post 1919 12 South Central............................3 2 1 2 0 3 -11 Lincoln Post 1919.......................2 1 1 6 0 2 -12 AB R H RBI
Cody Funk................................................. 5 3 3 1 Kam Sealey................................................ 3 2 1 2 Josh Spray................................................. 2 0 1 1 Dominic Page............................................ 1 1 1 2 Mason Johanson....................................... 1 1 1 0 Justin Sharp.............................................. 2 1 1 1 Wyatt Hemberger..................................... 5 1 1 2 Alex Watts................................................. 1 1 0 0 Wyatt Livgren........................................... 4 1 0 0 Dayne Clark............................................... 3 0 0 0 So. Central Totals-............................27 11 9 9 Lincoln Post 1919.............................18 12 6 9 Extra Base Hits: SC: Sealey: 1-Double; Lincoln Post 1919: None.
During the nightcap on Friday, June 21, the host Hebron Juniors used the late innings to down South Central, as the Post 256 crew held a 4-0 lead after two innings of play. Hebron scored twice in the third, three runs in the fourth and one run in both the bottom half of the fifth and sixth innings to steal the 7-5 victory. Livgren powered the South Central offense with three of South Central’s five hits, as Livgren was 3-4 with one run batted in.
Hemberger was 1-2 at the plate, while Sealey drove in two runs while going 1-3 at the plate.
Sealey was dealt the loss on the hill for Post 256. In three and a third innings of work, Sealey struck out four, while allowing five hits and four runs, while issuing two walks.
In relief, Hemberger struck out six and issued five walks, while giving up three runs and three hits.
South Central 5, Hebron 7 South Central......................... 0 4 0 0 0 1 0 -5 Hebron..................................0 0 2 3 1 1 x -7 AB R H RBI Wyatt Livgren....................................... 4 0 3 1 Wyatt Hemberger................................. 2 2 1 0 Kam Sealey............................................ 3 1 1 2 Alex Watts............................................. 3 1 0 0 Justin Sharp.......................................... 4 1 0 0 Mason Johanson................................... 1 0 0 0 Cody Funk............................................. 2 0 0 0 Dayne Clark........................................... 2 0 0 1 Josh Spray............................................. 3 0 0 1 Dominic Page........................................ 3 0 0 0 So. Central Totals-.........................27 5 5 5 Hebron........................................27 7 8 3 Extra Base Hits: SC: None. Hebron: None.
The tough luck South Central crew went into their final game of the Hebron tournament Sunday afternoon, June 23 against Bennett/Palmyra.
South Central started out with a 7-5 scoring run in the first two innings of play, but a consistent rally by Bennett/Palmyra produced one run in the third, two more in the fourth inning, and one run in the fifth and sixth innings to claim the 10-9 win.
Livgren and Sharp had two hits each, while both drove in two runs. Spray powered a double and drove in one run.
Adding to the mix, Johanson and Clark both singled.
On the mound for South Central, Funk took the loss, as in two and a third innings on the hill, Funk struck out four and walked just one. He gave up five hits and two runs.
In relief, Sharp threw for two innings, striking out two, while walking two, and allowing three runs on four hits. Spray threw for an inning and two-thirds, striking out two, walking four, and allowing five runs on five hits.
South Central 9, Bennett/Palmyra 10 Bennett/Palmyra.........................1 4 1 2 1 1 -10 South Central...............................3 4 0 0 2 0 -9 AB R H RBI
Wyatt Livgren.............................................. 4 1 2 2 Justin Sharp................................................. 4 0 2 2 Josh Spray.................................................... 3 0 1 1 Wyatt Hemberger........................................ 3 3 1 0 Mason Johanson.......................................... 1 0 1 1 Kam Sealey................................................... 1 3 0 0 Alex Watts.................................................... 2 1 0 0 Dayne Clark.................................................. 2 0 0 1 Cody Funk.................................................... 1 0 0 0 Dominic Page............................................... 3 0 0 0 So. Central Totals-.............................. 24 8 7 7 Bennett/Palmyra.............................. 32 10 14 9 Extra Base Hits: SC: Spray: 1-Double. B/P: 1-Double.
