Free bases propelled the Blair Senior Legion baseball team to an 8-1 win Thursday in Fort Calhoun, while their own pitcher threw a gem.
Tanner Jacobson struck out nine Zig Drywall Post 348 batters across 6 1/3 innings, allowing a single run during the first frame when the Pioneers' Sam Genoways hit an RBI double. Other than that hard knock to centerfield, the right-hander allowed just one more swing by Ty Hallberg to result in a Fort Calhoun batter on base.
Walks by the home team's Chase Premer, Genoways and Zach Faucher didn't result in any runs either.
“You've just got to keep a clear head and never let a walk or a nice hit affect you,” Jacobson said. “You've just got to keep throwing strikes, and you've really got to trust your defense.”
Post 154's fielders weren't as busy as they could have been Thursday because of the winning hurler's preferred pitch.
“Fastballs. Nothing but fastballs,” Jacobson said when asked what worked best. “Curve ball was there, too, but when they're not hitting the fastball you just keeping going to it.”
The Bear wearing No. 22 earned the win throwing to catcher Nate Wachter, who was making her first summer ball appearance behind the plate.
Fort Calhoun's starting pitcher, Justin Myer, meanwhile, threw to Premer in his first time on the mound since the 2021 American Legion season. He was effective early, inducing three-straight groundouts to open the game and allowing just one Blair run — which was scored by Conner O'Neil on Wachter's double swing in the second inning — through three frames.
“It was kind of like I blacked out for the first few innings. I was just going and going,” Myer said. “And then I start thinking and, you know, over-thinking. You just kind of get out of your rhythm.”
He was replaced on the mound after 3 2/3 innings and could only watch as the Post 154 Bears scored four runs during the top of the fifth inning.
Ethan Baessler notched a single to start the decisive Blair frame before Dylan Swanson and Morgan Rump walked to load the bases with one out. From there, O'Neil's swing was impeded by the Fort Calhoun catcher's glove, Wachter was hit by a pitch, Greyson Kay walked and Tyler Andersen earned a free base on a full count pitch off of the plate.
The result of their efforts? A 5-1 lead.
“Nothing we can do about the strike zone shrinking or changing,” said Myer, who played first base during the inning. “There's nothing we can do about it. We've just got to get used to it and throw strikes.”
Coach James Bilslend's Post 154 ballclub added three more runs during the sixth inning for a seven-run win over coach Brandon Wynn's bunch. O'Neil notched an RBI single, Rump scored on a passed ball and Kay registered a sacrifice fly.
From there, Blair played games on Friday and Saturday, while Fort Calhoun's Senior lineup had the weekend off.
Bears drop pair of 1-run games
The Blair Seniors lost a 3-2 game to the Millard Sox Gold on Friday before Saturday's 4-3, eight-inning defeat to Columbus Cornerstone.
Wachter led the Bears against the Sox, notching two hits and both Post 154 RBIs. Swanson, Rump, O'Neil and Andersen notched hits, too, but it wasn't enough.
Millard earned the one-run victory with a go-ahead score in the fifth frame after Wachter tied the game during the top half.
Against Columbus, Rump threw seven innings, allowing just three earned runs. The game went eight, though, with the road team earning a one-run victory.
The Post 154 Bears trailed 3-2 entering the bottom of the seventh inning, but Wachter sent the game into an extra inning with his sac fly to right field. The contact scored Baessler, who finished the game 4-for-4 with three runs scored.
Rump also had three hits and two RBIs, but Blair dropped to 2-3 this season.
Pioneers drop Ashland game
A day before facing Blair, the Fort Calhoun Seniors lost a 10-6 home game to Ashland. The Bluejays jumped out to a 7-0 lead and held off the Pioneers late.
Avery Quinlan pushed across Post 348's first run with a sacrifice during the fourth inning. Tristan Fuhrman raced home on a passed ball, too, before Kenny Wellwood and Hallberg scored two more runs in the fifth. Myer plated the latter with a single.
Then, during the bottom of the seventh frame, Genoways and Myer scored Fort Calhoun runs before their team's comeback fell short.
The Fort Calhoun Juniors, meanwhile, also lost to Ashland. The Bluejays' Gabe Mayer threw a no-hitter during the 11-0 victory, according to the Bluejays Broadcasting Network.
