Five Clearwater-Orchard powerlifters traveled to Lincoln Saturday for the Cornhusker State Games at Lincoln Northeast High School.
The event was a sanctioned AAU meet with numerous state and national records set by many adult and teen lifters. More than 150 lifters competed at the event and the OC powerlifters were up for the challenge. All five Cyclone lifters medaled in their respective age/weight class and set many personal bests at the meet in all three categories (squat, bench and deadlift). Wyatt Shabram was the gold medalist in the 88-pound raw class (full meet and ironman). Tyler Wright earned gold in the 165-pound raw class for bench. Gunnar Shabram won the 181-pound equipped class (full meet and ironman). Wright also won a silver medal in the 165-pound raw open class bench competition. Cade Mlnarik won the bronze medal in the 123-pound raw class, and Jeff Shabram captured the bronze in the 242-pound raw masters class. The 2018-19 OC powerlifting season officially begins on Saturday, Dec. 1, with the Lexington powerlifting meet. This past April, the Elkhorn Valley Schools announced Monica Wiehn as its new athletic director and media specialist.
“This will be my first year as an athletic director,” Wiehn said. “I am very excited to start this journey with the Falcon family. Being from the area and knowing some of the staff was a big reason of why I applied for the position. EV is a small community that takes great pride in their school and community. Knowing that the school community is so proactive for the student-athletes made it an easy decision to apply for the position.” Elkhorn Valley Superintendent Keith Leckron said Wiehn is a good fit for their program “We're excited about Monica joining our staff and believe she will be an asset to our school district,” the superintendent said. Wiehn comes from West Point High School to take over for former AD Tracy Larson following Larson’s resignation earlier this year to take over the elementary principal position at West Holt Public Schools. “We expect Monica to continue the success our previous AD (Larson) had,” Leckron said. “She will be well organized and be proactive in recognizing issues that will need to be resolved either by her alone or along with the administrative team.” “I had known Tracy Larsen for many years,” Wiehn added. “She has done a terrific job and it will definitely be hard to fill her shoes, but she has been a huge help with my transition along with many other staff members. Everyone has been so welcoming and helpful that it has made my move into a new position much easier and I am looking forward to beginning the school year with such positive, energetic, and devoted educators, coaches and students.” Wiehn has coached eight years at the high school level as both head and assistant volleyball coach, along with six years of basketball at the high school and junior high levels. “Monica was the best choice to take over as AD because she has experience as a head coach,” Leckron said. “Any new person without experience in the AD role has some advantage if they have been a head coach and Monica fits the bill there. Her experience as a head coach gave us a great impression, as well as her people skills.” Wiehn, who is starting her 13th year teaching, is excited for the new opportunity and as she gears up for the upcoming school year. “As a new athletic director I would like to do the best I can assisting my coaches and sponsors through open communication, guidance, willingness to listen and direction for their programs,” Wiehn said. “I want to help provide our students-athletes with a positive experience within extra curricular activities that will help develop skills in hard work, leadership, teamwork, respect, and fun. I would like to help challenge our students physically and mentally, developing strong, independent individuals that will lead into a strong foundation for adulthood.” The Rockets volleyball team launched its way to victory in the 2018 Cornhusker State Games on Sunday for the Juniors 13 and under division.
The team consisted of Teya Boyer, Alivia Hausmann, Mya Hedstrom, Hadley Cheatum, Harper Klabenes, Adyson Mlnarik and coach Rachel Cheatum. The Neligh Seniors fantastic season came to an end in the Legion District Championship game Tuesday at Crofton, as Creighton won, 11-1.
"The team had one heck of a year," said Neligh coach Ethan Larsen. "!8-3 is nothing to hang your heads about and the boys earned every bit of that record. They improved throughout the year and were very successful, but unfortunately we unravelled at the wrong time here at district play. They still had an excellent year, played extremely well and it was fun baseball to be around." The defenses we're in control to start the contest. The two squads combined for three hits in the first two innings of play. Creighton broke through in the third with three runs. RBI by Alex Homan, Bryce Zimmerer and JD Kuhlman put Creighton ahead. An error and wild pitch brought in three more runs in the sixth to push Creighton's lead to a half dozen. After Kaleb Pofahl scored in the top of the fifth, Creighton took clear control of the contest with a four-run inning. A wild pitch, RBI single by Zimmerer and two-run double by Connor Hammer gave Creighton a 10-1 advantage. Noah Lilly ended the game in the sixth with a RBI single to center, sealing a spot in the state tournament for Creighton this weekend at Albion. Neligh scored one run on four hIts in the championship game. Hunter Reestman, Austin Miller, Jayden Arehart and Cole Belitz each singled. Pofahl scored the lone run. "Baseball is a mental game and it is easy to see that when you look at the errors," Larsen said. "We touched the ball and put it in play, but we just didn't hit where there was space and green grass for us to get runs on the board. Our pitchers did a nice job to set ourselves up to be successful. We were there and in position, but unfortunately it was not in the cards for us tonight." Earlier in the day, Neligh held on to defeat Hartington 10-6 to advance to the district championship contest. Scoreless through three innings of play. Neligh exploded for eight runs in the third. Trailing 10-1, Hartington mounted a comeback in the sixth with five runs to cut the deficit to four. In the bottom of the seventh, Hartington loaded the bases with one out, but Conor Ramold struck out the final two batters to seal a spot in the title game. "We really hit the ball well to start the game, but errors on the base paths shot ourselves in the foot," Larsen said. "In the first three innings we should have plated five runs, but we got that eight-run inning and it helped us get a flow going. We made some errors at the end, but luckily we had enough runs come across the plate to carry us through." Tyson Belitz collected the win on the mound. In six innings of work, the right-hander gave up six runs on eight hits and struck out eight. Ramold led the offense with two hits and three runs batted in. Arehart recorded two hits and two RBI, while Miller, Tyson Belitz and Cole Belitz each scored twice. Neligh ends its season as district runners-up and Elkhorn Valley League champions with an 18-3 record. Tyson Belitz and Miller are the only players who will not be back next year. "Austin Miller came over from Elgin and played with us in all the years he could and Tyson Belitz came back this year from college and really helped," Larsen said. "They both provided excellent leadership and did a great job of bringing the younger players on and being the sages in the dugout. They were great players, fun to be around and we're going to miss them. We wish them the best and thank them for all the work and leadership they provided throughout the years." After a slow start, the Neligh Senior Legion team got things going and surged past Atkinson, 10-4, Monday in the district tournament at Crofton.
"It was much better," said Neligh mentor Dan Murray. "We showed up to play and we were here the whole game. That made a huge difference. We're looking at the first game tomorrow, see who we play and take it from there. Hopefully we show up with the same intensity we had today." Atkinson opened the contest with a 1-0 lead in the opening frame Neligh began to put its offense together in the third inning. A ground out and passed ball allowed Kaleb Pofahl and Andrew Herley to score, respectively, and put Neligh ahead. Neligh added to its lead in its next at bat with two more runs. Austin Rice ripped a two-run single up the middle to score Jayden Arehart and Conor Ramold. After scoring a run in the fifth on a Beau Murray RBI double, the Neligh Seniors used a five-run sixth to take clear control of the game. Rice started the scoring with a RBI single to left. An error scored Austin Miller, then Cole Belitz laced a two-run single up the middle and later scored on Tyson Belitz's double to left. "It should of happened two games ago or last game, but we'll take it now and move with it," coach Murray said on the offensive breakthrough. "I think we're ready to go for tomorrow." Atkinson tried to keep its season alive with three runs in the sixth, but the hole was too much and Atkinson's year came to an end. "I thought we played pretty good," Rice said. "We had a lot better fielding, had less errors, went up and swung the bat, had good base hits, got runners on and scored." After a rough outing last night and a tough start today, Beau Murray calmed himself down and picked up the win on the mound. In the first inning, the starting pitcher gave up a run on two hits. In the next 4 2/3 innings Murray gave up three runs on four hits and struck out six. Pofahl finished game and did not give up a hit, while striking out two in 1 1/3 innings. "He (Beau Murray) stepped up," coach Murray said. "We still had some errors behind him that we need to clean up and once we clean those up, hopefully by tomorrow, we'll be fine. He threw a really good game and threw a lot of pitches. I'm really happy with him. Kaleb (Pofahl) threw a really good game too. I'm happy with both those guys. Tomorrow we got everyone back, except Beau. We're sitting in pretty good shape right now." The Neligh offense collected ten runs on nine hits, its best offensive showing in the tournament. Rice led the way with a game-high three runs batted in and two singles. Cole Belitz and Beau Murray each tallied two RBI, Tyson Belitz recorded two hits, two runs batted in and a run scored, Ramold scored twice and Herley scored three times. "None of us really hit good last night," Rice said. "We didn't have a lot of hits, but today we all stepped up and swung the bat better than usual. We hit the ball, put it in play and let them make the errors. We just scored off it." Neligh (17-2) plays at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday and if they win, Neligh plays Creighton for the district title at 8 p.m. in an if necessary game. "If we go out, play ball like we can and play like we have all year, we still have a good shot of making it (to state)," Rice said. "I really think that." A sloppy game defensively doomed the Neligh Senior Legion baseball team as they fell to Creighton, 9-1, Sunday in the district tournament at Crofton.
Six of Creighton's nine runs came in off of Neligh errors. Creighton gained the early momentum with three runs in the opening frame. Bryce Zimmerer, Levi Stacken and Maguire Mackelprang each scored on a Neligh error to give Creighton a 3-0 advantage. Neligh answered with a run in its next at bat. Following a single by Hunter Reestman, Kaleb Pofahl roped a RBI double to center, cutting the deficit to two. The pitching and defenses took over from there. From the third inning until after the fifth, each team had one hit. Creighton's Carson Lilly and Neligh's Jayden Arehart both pitched well in relief. Lilly gave up one hit and struck out four in three innings of relief, while Arehart allowed one hit and struck out six in 3 1/3. Creighton's defense also helped Lilly on the mound by making a few spectacular plays in the field. In the fifth, John Novicki made a diving catch to steal a hit from Cole Belitz. Noah Lilly made the catch of the game in sixth. Arehart laced a deep shot to the left field fence, but Noah Lilly tracked the ball down and made an over-the-shoulder catch to rob Arehart of a potential triple. Creighton used its defensive momentum in the bottom of the sixth to open up the game. Noah Lilly ripped a RBI single to center to start the scoring. With the bases loaded and no outs, Stacken singled to left for a RBI and an error allowed two mores runs to score. After Stacken came around to score, another error brought in Sam VanMetre as Creighton extended its lead to eight heading into the final frame. Neligh recorded four hits in the contest and committed five errors. Cole and Tyson Belitz, Reestman and Pofahl each singled for Neligh. Zimmerer led Creighton with two hits and two runs scored. Stacken recorded a hit, a RBI and a run scored, while Noah Lilly had two runs batted in. Neligh (16-2) plays Atkinson Monday at 4 p.m. with the winner playing Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. Creighton (15-6) faces Hartington Monday at 7 p.m. If Creighton wins, they face the winner of Neligh and Atkinson game Tuesday at 5:30 p.m., needing to win one out of a potential two-game series. The Neligh Senior Legion baseball team took advantage of seven Hartington errors to win, 8-6, Saturday in the district tournament at Crofton.
"It was not the way we wanted to start (the tournament)," said Neligh coach Dan Murray. "There was one inning in there that we really went flat and we had some errors. We were on top before then, but then they (Hartington) took the momentum. It screwed up our game plan for the day, but we fought back and got the win." Neligh was off to a hot start to open the game. Tyson Belitz struck out six of the first seven batters he faced and his offense gave him a three-run lead after two innings of play. Austin Miller and Austin Rice both scored to start the second inning and Conor Ramold laced a RBI single to left to score Andrew Herley. Hartington responded with five runs in the third to take a two-run lead. Neligh answered with two in its next at bat to tie the game when the centerfielder and rightfielder collided trying to catch a fly ball, allowing Cole and Tyson Belitz to score. “When we go down, we get mad and we want to get the runs back," Cole Belitz said. "We were being really aggressive in the bottom of the third inning to break even again and start a new game (from there)." Neligh went back ahead in the fourth thanks to RBI by Miller, Rice and Jayden Arehart. Hartington attempted to rally in the seventh when Dain Whitmire recorded a RBI single. With the tying run on the base paths and one out, Cole Belitz struck out a batter and recorded a groundout to end the game. “We started well, but I don't know what the deal is," Cole Belitz said. "Every time we play Hartington, they play us tough. I feel like we didn't play as well as we should (today). That third inning hurt us, but we were able to get our heads on straight and fight back." Cole Belitz picked up the win on the mound. In 4 2/3 innings of relief, Belitz allowed one run on two hits and struck out three. “We had a lot of fielding errors in the third inning and guys not having their heads in the game," Belitz added. "After that, everybody was kind of mad and I think we put our heads on straight and started playing good defense. I just put it over the plate and we were getting the outs." Neligh accounted for three hits in the game, but took advantage of seven Hartington errors to score eight runs. "For the most part we did a good job," Murray said. "There were a couple of innings in the middle of the game where we were flat and could have gotten more runs across. What won the game for us was being smart and being alive on the base paths. We got the runs where we could. We didn't hit the ball great and they (Hartington) played a good (defensive) game." Arehart, Hunter Reestman and Ramold each tallied a hit. The Belitz brothers each scored twice and Arehart had two runs batted in. Hartington (10-9) drops into the consolation bracket and faces Plainview Sunday at 1 p.m. Neligh (16-1) advances to the winner’s bracket semifinals and plays Creighton Sunday at 7 p.m. “They need to show up, be prepared and be ready," Murray said. "We have to start from the first inning and play through the whole thing. If they do that and our heads are in the game, we'll be fine." Twenty-seven teams, more than 300 players and a couple thousand fans temporarily turned Neligh into the Peewee and Pony baseball capital of Northeast Nebraska last week.
After 38 years of hosting the Quad County Tournament, the event runs like a well-oiled pitching machine thanks to countless parents, volunteers and city workers. While no one takes individual credit for its success, one name is consistently repeated as being the glue that keeps it together — Diann Arehart. “Diann is pretty awesome,” said Jeff Shabram, coach of the Orchard Peewee team. “She’s not the only one working hard at this tournament, but she is the glue to everything. Her dedication and communication are really the keys. She just does a great job.” The tournament draws teams from seven counties: Antelope, Knox, Holt, Boone, Pierce, Cedar and Madison. “This has been one of our biggest years,” Arehart said. “The amount of teams that contacted us about coming to into Quad County was great. It’s grown by leaps and bounds and can only get bigger, if we want it to. The towns that have come have told us they can’t believe the level of competition.” And more want in. Arehart said teams from Bassett and Ainsworth weren’t voted into the league this year because of the traveling distance. She said two Norfolk teams also asked to join the league after the season started. Newer teams include Laurel, Atkinson and Hartington. While Arehart has organized the Quad County Tournament for the past eight years, her role may not be fully known to the public. Angie Belitz, a longtime member of Neligh’s Park Board who also has all four of her children in the ball program, said she sees Arehart’s effort and is constantly impressed by her dedication and passion. “I don’t think people realize how much Diann does behind the scenes to keep these things going, especially at the Quad County Tournament,” Belitz said. “Whether it be at the concession stand, helping score tables, getting umps lined up, emailing schedules, fielding concerns, getting the fields ready — she’s invaluable to the ball board and to this ball program.” Arehart is the longtime treasurer of the Neligh Ball Board and also spent time on the City of Neligh’s Park Board. Like most volunteers, her time has coincided with her sons’ involvement with baseball. Married to Steve Arehart, they started volunteering when their son, Brett, now 35, was in t-ball. They stayed with the program through his Senior Legion days before taking six years off. They returned when youngest son, Jayden, was in t-ball. Now a Senior Legion player, Jayden has one year left. While Arehart said she isn’t planning to leave the Ball Board quite yet, she does want to give up her duty of running the Quad County League after next year. “I don’t know when being treasurer meant running Quad County for eight years,” Arehart said with a laugh. “It’s been great, but with Jayden being done after next year, I’m looking for some other parents to step and take over. I’d like them to help more next year and see how things work.” Arehart is quick to credit all of the parents and volunteers for making the tournament run so smoothly. Still, turning over the tournament is a little scary because it’s become such a strong part of the program that she wants to see it keep getting better and better every year. Belitz said while it will be hard to replace Arehart, they all know it’ll take more than just one person to fill that role. “She’s going to need to be replaced by four people,” Belitz said with a chuckle. “She needs to mentor four people to do what she does, and I’m not kidding. Honestly, people do not realize what she does behind the scenes.” Belitz said Arehart’s willingness to mentor and help people learn their roles and duties is a testament to not only her character, but also to her desire to continue building the program. “She wants to leave it in good hands and is willing to help them learn,” Belitz said. “She wants to help them take over what has been organized and established during the years she’s been here.” As to why she has given so much time and effort to the program and tournament, Arehart offers no hesitation in her answer. “This,” Arehart said as she sat in the Legion dugout and looked around the perfectly maintained field. “I don’t know if people realize what the ball program does. It put up the batter’s cage, the new scoreboard, the fence on the fields, the gravel. We even paid for part of the agri-lime. That’s why I keep coming back.” Arehart said improvements have to continuously be made to not only keep the fields and equipment in great condition for the players, but reinvesting into the fields provide Neligh with to the ability to host such events as the Quad County Tournament. Ted Hughes, chairman of the Neligh City Council, said Arehart was an advocate for purchasing agri-lime for the three ball fields, which assists with drainage and keeps the fields dry and usable after rain. Arehart went to the council and asked for their assistance with the purchase. “She’s been very pro-active with the ball program,” Hughes said. “She’s been working with the Quad County for a long time and has done a good job with it. When Diann gets a hold of something, she’s in it all the way. It’s a big job getting it organized, and it’s a huge draw for people coming into the community and bringing in revenue.” Through both grants and support from the City Council, the south field was completed first with the north and Legion field all finished by spring 2015. “The reason it came about is when we hosted four or five years ago, we had a ton of rain during the tournament. Teams were getting upset about delays because, of course, everyone goes on vacation after ball season,” Arehart said. “Other towns said they had agri-lime and could host it, so the fear was that we would lose this tournament. I did not want to lose this tournament.” After a very wet summer and rain wreaking havoc on the baseball season for most towns, Arehart said Neligh only canceled one home game all season due to the rain, which she said was due to it actively raining at that time and not the field conditions. Despite more than an inch of rain falling overnight last Wednesday, no Quad County Tournament games were delayed. Although the agri-lime was an expense to the city, Arehart said the return of investment has been far reaching since so many people and businesses benefit from the ball program and tournament. “I saw 15 campers over there from Quad County paying camping fees. I went into Casey’s after a night of Quad County, and they had no food. The ball players had wiped them out,” she said. “You see them stopping at Subway, Cubby’s, Imperial. We stopped at Sly’s one night, and that place was full of baseball players. They were in their uniforms with their parents. I can’t imagine how this community doesn’t benefit from this tournament.” Hughes agreed and said the ball program has helped not only provide revenue to community, but it offers exposure to what Neligh has to offer. “It’s a huge draw for people coming into the community,” he said. “People camp, kids use the pool. We have an exceptional park. It gives Neligh a lot of exposure, which sometimes I don’t think we take advantage of that exposure. Neligh’s a great place to live, even if you work in Norfolk.” Arehart said the program has benefited greatly by having the support of Neligh’s City Council, who has worked well with the Park Board and Ball Board with upgrades. Even though the tournament just ended, members are already discussing ways to improve the tournament and looking at costs with the upgrades. Shabram said having a well-run tournament leads to better attendance because people know the games will start on time. Thanks to a strong attendance, Hughes said that helps make more upgrades a possibility. “Diann really does a good job of running that Quad County Tournament. It’s well organized and operates on a timely schedule,” Hughes said. “The board has really done a nice job with it.” After one of the best seasons in recent memory, the Neligh Senior Legion baseball team begins its trek to the state tournament at this weekend’s Area 1 District Tournament in Crofton.
“Everyone is going to want to beat us,” Neligh coach Dan Murray said. “We have beat everyone all year long. We have a huge target on our back and we have to be ready for it.” Neligh earned the No. 1 seed with a 15-1 regular season record. The Neligh Seniors wrapped up the regular season with an Elkhorn Valley League Tournament crown last weekend. “From the beginning of the season, they have approached everything one game at a time,” Murray said. “They show up, focus on that game and take care of business. They have done it all year. We have had a couple of close ones, that shouldn’t have been, but for the most part they have approached it one game at a time. That will be the same thing that happens at districts. We’re not talking about the what ifs or who is next, we’re talking about the first round and what we want to do there.” Neligh opens up the district tournament with Madison on Friday at 10 a.m. Other first round matchups Friday include Crofton vs. Hartington, Atkinson vs. Plainview and Creighton vs. Osmond. “Looking at all the districts, this is probably the best district out there,” Murray said. “Hartington just played us a couple of weekends ago really tough, Creighton played us really tough early in the year, Crofton is always up for tournament time and we had a close one with Atkinson too. Everybody is going to be up and ready. We can’t sleep on anyone. We have to be on our A game every single game.” Although it may be one of the toughest districts in Class C, there is a lot of familiarity in the bracket with Neligh already having faced most of its district opponents. “It’s an advantage for us,” Murray said. “We know the pitching staff, what they are going to do and who is throwing what. It definitely is going to help us out.” Neligh’s pitching has been its strength this season and one of the many reasons why they received the top seed. Tyson Belitz, Cole Belitz, Jayden Arehart, Beau Murray and others are expected to see time on the mound. “As long as our pitching stays tough like it has all year, we’ll compete well,” Murray said. “We threw pitchers against Pierce that haven’t pitched in Seniors and still came out with a win. As long as these guys go up there, control whatever, put the ball in play and the defense can pick it up; we’re going to be tough to beat in districts.” The Belitz brothers, Arehart, Austin Miller and Austin Rice highlight the infield. Hunter Reestman and Tyson Belitz will split the catching duties, the outfield will feature Andrew Herley and Beau Murray and Conor Ramold, Kaleb Pofahl and Hunter Charf will serve as utility players. The double-elimination district tournament starts Friday and runs through Tuesday at Crofton with the winner advancing to the state tournament at Albion on July 28. Due to injuries, the Madison Senior Legion baseball team was forced to withdraw from this weekend's District Tournament.
Because of Madison's withdrawal, Neligh earns a bye and advances to the second-round of the district tournament. The Neligh Seniors await the winner of the Hartington and Crofton game Saturday at 4 p.m. at Crofton. In its final regular season contest before the start of the Senior Legion District Tournament, the Neligh Senior baseball team rallied to defeat Pierce, 5-4, Monday at Harold Cole Memorial Field.
The two squads exchanged two runs apiece in the opening inning to start. Pierce retook the lead in the third off of Caleb Anderson's RBI single up the middle. A three-run fifth inning for Neligh proved to be the difference in the game. Hunter Reestman led off with a double to right and came around to score on Andrew Herley's RBI single to center. With runners on first and second, Tyson Belitz ripped a two-run double down the third base line to score Herley and Beau Murray, giving Neligh a 5-3 advantage. In the top of the seventh, Pierce cut the deficit to one with a RBI single and had runners on first and second with one out. Neligh ended the game when Conor Ramold caught a fly out in left, then doubled up the runner at second for the game-ending double play. Ramold, Herley and Kaleb Pofahl each saw time on the mound in the win for Neligh. Reestman led the team with two hits and a runs scored. Neligh (15-1) begins district play Friday at 10 a.m. against Madison at Crofton. The 14-1 Neligh Seniors earned the top slot in the C1 District Tournament at Crofton.
Neligh is scheduled to play their first round game against #8 Madison at 10 a.m. on Friday, July 20. Other teams in the district are #2 Creighton, #3 Atkinson, #4 Hartington, #5 Crofton, #6 Plainview, and #7 Osmond. See the full bracket below. The Neligh Senior Legion baseball team captured the Elkhorn Valley League crown Sunday night with its 4-3 come-from-behind victory over O'Neill, in 10 innings.
"I loved the fight these guys had the whole game," said Neligh coach Dan Murray, who won his first Elkhorn Valley League title as the head mentor of Neligh. "They never quit or gave up. O'Neill is a really good team and we were right there in it the whole time and at the end, we pulled it off." O'Neill and Neligh exchanged runs in the third inning. A fielder's choice allowed Eddie Rodriguez to score for O'Neill, while Cole Belitz crossed home on Conor Ramold's groundout. O'Neill jumped back ahead in the fifth. After a walk, Rodriguez stole second and third and scored on a throwing error. Francisco Perez laced a RBI double to right to give O'Neill a 3-1 advantage. Neligh had a chance to cut into the deficit in the bottom of the fifth after Jayden Arehart and Austin Rice singled on back-to-back at bats with two outs, but a fly out to center ended the threat. "Even when we were down, I thought the momentum was still in our dugout," coach Murray said. "I liked the way things were going. It got late and they had to switch (pitchers) and we brought Beau (Murray) in and we thought we were in a better situation than what they were." In the bottom of the seventh, Beau Murray led-off with a double to right-centerfield. An error allowed Murray to score to draw within one. With one out, Arehart ripped a single to center, scoring Cole Belitz to tie the game and force extras. "I knew I needed to find a gap and hit the ball," Arehart said. "I just wanted to hit the ball." Both teams went down in order in the eighth and stranded a runner in the ninth. With two outs, a wild pitch advanced runners to second and third for Neligh in the bottom of the 10th. Before O'Neill pitcher Rodriguez threw the next pitch, he was called for a balk, allowing Tyson Belitz to score the championship-winning run. "We knew it was going to be a hard ballgame," Arehart said. "We beat them (O'Neill) and they beat us (in the regular season). We had to come out here, get the bats going, have good pitching, good defense and have a good game." Beau Murray picked up the win on the mound. In four innings of relief, Murray shutout O'Neill and did not allow a hit, while striking out five. Arehart started the game and gave up three runs on five hits and struck out five in six innings of work. "The pitching was key," coach Murray said. "Getting late in a game, one or two base runners can really change the momentum of the game. They did a good job of letting a couple on here and there, but we never let them string together a whole bunch (of hits). That was huge. A lot of it was pitching and a lot of it was the good defense behind them. We had some nice defensive plays in the infield. Beau and Jayden both threw really good." Beau Murray and Cole Belitz each tallied two hits and a run scored. Arehart recorded two hits and a RBI, while Rice and Austin Miller each accounted for two hits. "We hit the ball well all night long," coach Murray said. "We really did, but O'Neill played really good defense and stopped a lot of it." Neligh (14-1) begins district tournament play this weekend. "This was a huge win for us because of how good O'Neill is," coach Murray said. "We split with them in the regular season. We have that feeling now and we're going to carry into the tournament. As long as they do that, good things are going to happen for them." Trailing 6-1 in bottom of the fourth, O'Neill plated six unanswered runs, including a walk-off single in the sixth, to defeat Tilden, 7-6, in the Quad County Pony League Tournament.
Tilden started the game strong offensively with two runs in the opening frame. RBI singles by Carter Rautenberg and Walt Furstenau gave Tilden the early advantage. O'Neill answered with a run in the second, but Tilden appeared to have opened up the game in its favor in the fourth. With the bases loaded, Rautenberg laced a double to left to score two runs. A squeeze bunt and wild pitch allowed two mores runs to score as Tilden led 6-1 heading into the bottom of the frame. O'Neill began its comeback by matching Tilden's four runs with four of its own in the bottom half of the fourth. Tilden had a chance to reclaim the momentum with the bases loaded and nobody out in its following at bat, but two strikeouts and a groundout ended the threat. A solo dinger to dead centerfield by O'Neill's Sean Coventry knotted the game at six heading into the final inning. Tilden once again had runners in scoring position, as Rautenberg stood at third with one out, but Tilden was unable to bring him in. O'Neill's Lance Schmeicht led off the bottom of the sixth with a double off the centerfield fence. A passed ball moved Schmeicht to third and Tate Thompson's RBI single to center scored the game-winning run. O'Neill advances to the championship game and faces Crofton today at 5:30 p.m. Tilden bows out of the tournament with a third-place finish. The Quad County Tournament is being held in Neligh's Riverside Park through Sunday, July 15. Here are the latest brackets.
Multiple lead changes, stellar defensive plays and clutching hitting highlighted Atkinson's 10-9 victory over Orchard Saturday in the Quad County Peewee Tournament.
Atkinson opened the contest with an inside-the-park home run by Caden Lech to take an early 1-0 lead. With runners on the bases, an error allowed Preston Hoke and Sam Cheatum to score in the third for Orchard. Atkinson responded with two runs in the bottom half of the inning to reclaim the lead. Cody Wiekersham knotted the game at three with a RBI double in Orchard's next at bat. Atkinson answered with a four-run fourth to take back the momentum. With the bases loaded, a fielder's choice allowed the first run to score and Simon Addison followed with a bases clearing triple. Orchard did not go away and tallied six runs in the inning to take a 9-7 advantage into the bottom of the fifth. Atkinson rallied with a two-run triple by Mason Crumirine to tie the game and Drake Nemetz ended the game with a single to center. Wyatt Shabram nearly pitched the whole game for Orchard, coming out of the game only for the final batter. Orchard's magical tournament run comes to an end, while Atkinson awaits the winner of Laurel and Plainview today at 6 p.m. O'Neill dropped into the consolations when Neligh downed them 6-1 last week. The Aces were determined to avenge their loss to stay alive in the Quad County Pony Baseball Tournament on Saturday afternoon.
Neligh spotted O'Neill a 6-point lead in the first inning, which proved to be too big of a deficit to overcome. Neligh rallied back within four, but fell to O'Neill, 10-4, in the end. A nearly three-hour peewee game nearly ended in a historic rally Friday night as Clearwater/Elgin fought back against Atkinson in the Quad County Tournament.
Down 16-7, Clearwater/Elgin fought to within 16-12 in the marathon game. Atkinson advanced to the 2 p.m. consolation game Saturday against Orchard. Tilden fell to Crofton in the Quad County Pony semifinals on Friday night but still can fight back into the championship.
Crofton won 16-6 in five innings to move to the finals. Tilden dropped to the consolation final at 3 p.m. Sunday. With a win in that game, Tilden would play for the championship against Crofton at 8 p.m. Sunday night. The Quad County Tournament is being held in Neligh's Riverside Park through Sunday, July 15. Here are the latest brackets.
Despite an offensive outburst to open the game, the Neligh Senior Legion baseball team had to hold on to defeat Hartington, 9-6, Friday in the semifinals of the Elkhorn Valley League Tournament at Harold Cole Field.
"We came out really good and I liked the way we came out from the get go," said Neligh coach Dan Murray. "But then in that middle part of the game we went really flat. You could see it in their faces and their eyes and it reflected out there on the field with some errors. Their attitude reflected on the field and they need to clean that up before we get into Sunday and next week." Neligh opened the game with four runs in its first at bat. RBI by Hunter Charf, Austin Miller, Austin Rice and Hunter Reestman gave Neligh an early lead. After a sacrifice fly by Nolan Klug cracked the goose egg in Hartington's scoring column in the second, Neligh answered with two mores runs, pushing its lead to five. "Everyone was seeing the pitcher really well," Miller said. "We strung a few hits together and everybody kept it going." Hartington responded with a four-run third inning to cut Neligh's advantage to one. Hartington tied the game at six in the top of the fifth off of Turner Korth's RBI single to center. Hartington later loaded the bases in the inning, but a running catch in left field by Andrew Herley ended the threat. The Neligh Seniors quickly reclaimed the lead when an error allowed Miller to score from second. "It was pretty important to shift momentum back towards us," Miller said on responding with a run after Hartington tied the game. "It ended up working out in our favor." Neligh added a few insurance runs in the sixth when Jayden Arehart ripped a two-run double to the left field fence. Following a lead-off walk, Arehart struck out the next batter, then induced a 6-4-3 game-ending double play to seal a spot in Sunday's league title game. Tyson Belitz picked up the win on the mound. In five innings of work, Belitz allowed six runs on seven hits and struck out four. Arehart threw the final two innings to record the six-out save. "Tyson (Belitz) actually threw a pretty decent game," said coach Murray. "But we probably cost him 20 to 30 pitches that he should have not had to throw." Miller went a perfect two-for-two for Neligh with a RBI and a run scored. Beau Murray scored three times and Arehart added a double, two runs and two runs batted in. "We made a lot of errors on defense, but we were able to overcome it with our bats to get the win," Miller said. Neligh (13-1) advances to Sunday night's Elkhorn Valley championship game where they will meet the winner of the Creighton and O'Neill game at Creighton. "We have to show up ready and we have to carry that throughout the game," coach Murray said. "We can't play half games anymore. We're in the part of the season where you have to play the whole game and you have to be up and ready the whole time. That's the biggest thing we're going to learn from tonight. You have to be here and ready to go." The Quad County Tournament is being held in Neligh's Riverside Park through Sunday, July 15. Here are the latest brackets.
The O’Neill Pinnacle Bank Irish Seniors won their first game in the Elkhorn Valley League tournament on Thursday night with a 10-2 five-inning win over Plainview.
With this win, the Irish improved to 18-3 on the season and will host Creighton on Friday night in a semi-final game. The other semi-final will take place between Hartington and Neligh. Eddie Rodriguez got the start and the win on the mound as he went 2 1/3 innings before giving way to Cole Gaughenbaugh who threw a great 2 1/3 innings. Alex Thramer came on to record the final out picking off an attempted base stealer. The Irish gave up one run in the 1st inning but responded with five first inning runs to take control of this one. The Irish would plate two more in the 3rd and three in the 4th. Jacob Long led the offense on the night as he went 3-3 with three RBI’s. Other hits came from Appleby, Krysl, and DeLaO. "The Irish defense was solid as they committed no errors on the night and had nice catches in the outfield from Tye Hilker, Jacob Long, and Dennis Herrera," Coach Greg Appleby said. On Friday night at 7 p.m., the Irish will host Creighton at “The Fred” in O'Neill with the winner earning a spot in the championship on Sunday. Former Clearwater-Orchard volleyball player Mallory Cooper is giving back to the program that helped land her a spot on Dakota Wesleyan’s volleyball team.
Cooper, along with Dakota Wesleyan volleyball coach Lindsay Wilber, hosted a volleyball camp in Clearwater for Cyclone players on Monday. “It’s great (to be back),” Cooper said. “I had a lot of good supporters throughout high school. It’s really good to give back to my hometown and the program I originally came from.” The one-day camp featured two, three-hour sessions – the first for high schoolers and the second for grades fourth through eighth–focusing on fundamentals and technique. “I do all kinds of different satellite camps,” Wilber said. “I do four or five (camps) a summer. This is my first time in Clearwater, so as a college coach, I can expand my horizons and I get to show who Dakota Wesleyan volleyball is. It’s good exposure for our program and good for me to see different players.” Along with teaching the game to younger athletes, Cooper also helped shed some light on being a collegiate athlete. “It is all about hard work and effort,” she said. “Coming from a small town and playing college volleyball, I wanted to give it a shot. I say my hard work and putting it all out there every day at practice got me where I am at.” The camp was also beneficial to Cooper as well. The junior defensive specialist had to switch roles from player to coach during the instructional practice. “Coach (Wilber) says it’s really good to help with camps because we see the fundamentals,” Cooper said. “If you teach it, then you can do it. It helps us put that more into action.” The Clearwater-Orchard graduate has been hard at work preparing for the upcoming season along with balancing a few jobs. “I work at the hospital in Neligh as a CNA (certified nursing assistant) and I work at the pool in Orchard as one of the managers,” Cooper said. “I go up to Mitchell (South Dakota) about once a week for open gym, and I hit the weight room three times a week. I do a lot of working out and getting ready.” Another strong pitching performance by Cole Belitz propelled the Neligh Senior Legion team to a 9-0 triumph, in five innings, over Osmond Thursday in the opening round of the Elkhorn Valley League Tournament.
"We came out slow hitting wise," Belitz said. "We had good contact, but we were hitting right to them. It was unfortunate, but our defense came out hot and out pitching was good. I was finding the plate pretty early, which was nice. We opened things up in the fourth and fifth and that took us to the victory." The offense struggled to open the contest, recording one hit in the first three innings of play. However, Belitz kept the Osmond bats quite, allowing two hits and striking out four through three innings. The Neligh Seniors came alive in the fourth. Jayden Arehart scored Neligh's first run on a squeeze bunt. Austin Rice ripped a RBI single to left and Beau Murray followed with a two-run single up the middle to give the home squad a 4-0 advantage. Following a 1-2-3 inning by Osmond, Neligh sealed the win with a five-run fifth for the nine-run rule victory. Three-straight triples by Tyson Belitz, Arehart and Conor Ramold scored the first two runs of the inning. An error scored Ramold and Murray delivered the final strike with a two-run single to center. "The key was we finally caught up to the pitcher's speed," Murray said. "He was a good pitcher, but we finally caught on to his pitching and we started to connect. We got smarter with out bats and were more aggressive." Cole Belitz picked up the win on the mound. The Neligh starting pitcher surrendered two hits and struck out six in five innings of work. "The last two games have been pretty good for me, but I don't want to get too confident," Belitz said. "I hope I can keep it going and if they need me in the postseason, hopefully I can bring another good game." Murray led the offense with three hits and four runs batted in. Arehart and Ramold added two hits, a RBI and two runs scored. Neligh (12-1) advances to the Elkhorn Valley League semifinals and hosts Hartington Friday at 6 p.m. at Harold Cole Field. "We have to keep playing hard and keep playing how we have been all year," Murray said. "We need to keep up our strong defense, keep up our hitting like we did tonight and hope for the best." |
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