Arlington Seniors drop state opener

Alliance picks up 3-2 win

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The Alliance Senior Legion baseball team won a tight, Saturday-afternoon Class B State Tournament opener in Crete's Tuxedo Park.
Arlington head coach Ed Menking thought his team let one get by them. The Post 71 Eagles' lineup stranded nine baserunners, including seven in scoring position, during the 3-2 ballgame.
“We give up three (runs), we should win a ballgame,” Menking said.
Instead, Arlington fell into a state elimination game against a team it hadn't seen since the season opener in May — Lakeview.
The Eagles' inability to plate runs against Alliance cost them with pitcher Zach Vanek on the mound. The left-hander threw 5 2/3 innings, allowing just one hit with eight strikeouts.
“Vanek did everything he was supposed to do,” Menking said. “Everything we wanted him to do — maybe more — and we just didn't come through for him.”
The tournament opener ultimately came down to the work of the two starting arms, the Eagles' and the Spartans' Chance Crone.
“It was just a good pitcher's duel,” Vanek said.
All three Alliance runs scored with him still on the hill during the sixth inning. Though Arlington's opponent managed just one hit during the frame, it scored its runs on an error, a bases-loaded hit batsman and a bases-loaded walk.
Up until that point, though, Post 71's lefty cruised. His no-hitter didn't end until that sixth inning.
“Fastball was working well,” Vanek said. “And, then, to be able to locate some off-speeds at certain times was useful. Could catch them off balance.”
The efforts allowed Menking's squad to take a 2-0 lead before the game unraveled. It scored its first run during the second frame, which Dustin Kirk led off with a single. Aiden Foreman's RBI single scored him.
Then, during the bottom of the fifth inning, Pittman walked. He stole second base and later scored on an error when Nick Smith put the ball in play with another single.
Finally, in the Eagles' final effort to tie the game during the seventh inning, Tanner Pittman notched an infield hit. He stole his second base and would have scored on Cooper Hilgenkamp's extra-base hit had it escaped the Alliance left-fielder's glove as he lunged backward to grab it.
So, with the result of that final at-bat, the Eagles moved forward. They needed a win the next day to extend their season.
“Just regroup and focus on the basic fundamentals,” Vanek said when asked how his team would bounce back. “Just go back to step one and play small ball.”

Arlington Legion