The Blair Junior Legion baseball team didn't win the Class B state tournament title in Gering.
It was still a good time, though.
“Other than the 7-hour drive, it was awesome,” coach Sean Munger said Monday evening.
Post 154 went 1-2 during the tournament, dropping its finale to West Point, 10-2. It scored the game's first run on Lane Christensen's RBI single, but trailed 4-1 by the end of the opening inning.
“We couldn't get any momentum going,” Munger noted.
Blair scored again during the second frame, however, when Ike Petersen reached home plate on a wild pitch.
West Point matched the run during the bottom half, though. The victors scored the next five runs from there, too, ending the game in five innings by run-rule.
“Couldn't get a big hit,” Munger said. “That's baseball.”
The loss ended an experience one of the Washington County team's eldest players said he'll remember.
“It's a step forward for us,” Jaxon Logan added.
He was one of multiple players Coach Munger said helped lift Post 154's young roster to an Area Tournament win and state qualification. Tucker Storjohann, Christensen and catcher Colton Scheer, who spent all but one of Blair's game behind the plate, were some of the others.
“They're all overachievers,” the coach said, expressing how the youngest players on the team stepped up and filled roles, too. “It was fun to watch them this summer.”
Logan summed up the tournament and the season.
“I thought we played pretty well,” he explained.
Blair holds off Hickman
On Sunday, Post 154 avoided state tourney elimination against Hickman, holding onto a late lead, 12-10.
“It took all 12 guys to win that game,” Coach Munger said.
Blair pushed its advantage out to 11-4 with three runs during the bottom of the fifth inning, but allowed six Hickman scores during the top half of the sixth. Munger's squad added a run during its last at-bats, however, and managed a scoreless seventh to extend its state stay in Gering.
“They fought hard every pitch,” the coach added.
After Hickman earned a two-run lead during the top of the first inning, Post 154 scored every inning to win. It trailed 3-2 going into the bottom of the third frame, but led from there.
Christensen led Blair at the plate, driving in five runs on two hits. His third-inning double cleared the bases.
POST 154 JUNIOR LINE SCORES
Monday
West Point 10, Blair 2, 5 inn.
BLAIR 1 1 0 0 0 — 2
WPOINT 4 1 0 3 2 — 10
Sunday
Blair 12, Hickman 10
HICKMAN 2 0 1 1 0 6 0 — 10
BLAIR 1 1 3 3 3 1 X — 12
