The Blair High School baseball team's season didn't start how the Bears wanted it to Monday at Bennington.
“I'm not upset at the effort,” coach John Roan said after the road loss. “I think we played pretty good.”
So, BHS went out and tried again Tuesday against Omaha Concordia at Vets Field. It didn't end ideally either, though, as the Mustangs picked up the 2-0 road win, scoring the game's only runs during the top of the seventh inning.
Blair pitchers Hans Sorensen, Colton Flynn and Jakob Gaskill actually kept the opposition from tallying a single hit, but Concordia still won.
The victors' first run came when a Mustang was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. The second run then scored on a fielder's choice as the Bears picked up their second out.
Next, BHS secured a third out before the Mustangs were able to notch a third run. Gaskill induced the inning-ending popout to shortstop Brevin Leggott.
Trailing for the first time during its home debut, Blair attempted to respond during the bottom half of the final frame. With two outs, Carter Saylor reached base on an error. Leggott singled next before a flyout ended the pitcher's duel.
Sorensen started on the mound for Coach Roan's squad, pitching into the fifth inning without allowing a run. He'll go into his next appearance with an 0-0 record, though the Bears are 0-2 through their first two games of the season.
Errors cost BHS in opener
A fifth-inning miscue cost Blair against Bennington at Lynn R. Pruess Field.
Altogether, the Badgers scored four runs during the frame and won Monday's Eastern Midlands Conference game, 6-4.
“Like I told them in the huddle, 'Got to make one more play,'” Roan said of his postgame discussion with the Bears.
Nelson Kosch added his second RBI of the season opener during sixth inning, but it wasn't enough to combat the Badgers' big inning, which turned a 3-2 deficit into a 6-3 lead.
Roan didn't just think BHS could have held the home team to fewer runs, though. He also thought it could of scored more of its own in Bennington.
“We left runs out there,” the coach said. “I mean, first inning, you get the bases loaded with one out. You've got to score some runs there. That's tough.”
In the end, the Bears' Cameron Wilkins scored twice, while Thomas Chikos and courtesy runner Nathan Murray scored one run apiece. Kosch's two RBIs came during a 2-for-4 outing at the plate, while Chikos, Wilkins and Gaskill drew walks.
Blair's Jackson Livingston, Gaskill and Lucas Matejka were hit by Badger pitches, too.
Defensively, Roan was pleased with the efforts of his pitchers — Matejka, Brock Hamm and Aidan McBreen.
“I think they showed some moxie there,” the coach said, specifically commenting on how McBreen came back from three-straight balls to strike out a batter in the sixth. He finished with two Ks in 1 2/3 innings, while Matejka — the starter — threw three with two strikeouts.
All-in-all, Roan said he wasn't necessarily disappointed with how the first game of the season played out in totality.
“We would have loved to get the win, obviously, but it's early in the season still,” he said.
BHS was scheduled to host Platteview on Thursday and next plays seven innings Monday against Elkhorn on Vets Field.
BHS BASEBALL LINE SCORES
Tuesday
Omaha Concordia 2, Blair 0
OC (1-1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 — 2
BHS (0-2) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0
Monday
No. 8 Bennington 6, Blair 4
BHS (0-1) 0 0 0 3 0 1 0 — 4 2 4
BEN (3-0) 0 0 2 0 4 0 X — 6 2 2
