Seniors Ty Hallberg, Zach Faucher and Tristan Fuhrman played their final Fort Calhoun High School baseball game Friday during the Class B District 4 Tournament at Elkhorn North.
The Pioneers lost to Wahoo/Neumann/Lincoln Lutheran 8-1, closing out the spring with a 5-15 record. A five-run, bottom half of the second inning cost them. Three of the Warriors' runs crossed home plate on a pair of passed balls and an error.
“We had a lot of energy, but once we made an error it kind of all just fell apart in that second inning,” Faucher said.
Coach Roy Prauner's team was looking for its way out of the frame.
“I was just waiting for our opportunity to, maybe, turn a double play or get a little easy play — like a little blooper,” Furhman said.
Hallberg said he and fellow infielder Austin Welchert, meanwhile, were striving to keep their team confident.
“We were just trying to keep everyone up and not let them get down,” Hallberg said. “It was the beginning of the game still.”
FCHS' recovered and improved from there defensively. It gave up two more runs in the third inning, but none after as the teams played a full seven-inning postseason game.
Though the Pioneers' pitching and fielding improved, they were still only able to plate one run against Wahoo. Hallberg, Furhman and Sam Genoways loaded the bases during the top of the third frame when Sam Halford tallied a sacrifice fly.
A diving Wahoo catch in the outfield later ended the inning — Calhoun's lone scoring frame.
“I feel like we didn't completely capitalize on the first-pitch strike because it was almost every time,” Hallberg said. “(The pitcher) was just spoon-feeding you.”
Faucher, Welchert, Hallberg and Genoways all notched hits, but the Pioneers were unable to string enough of them in a row.
“We would have runners on every inning, but we just couldn't get them in,” Faucher said. “Couldn't find a way.”
As a result, the Pioneers left the field on the wrong side of an 8-1 ballgame. All told, though, coaches and players know the FCHS baseball team was better in May than it was in March.
“I think from where we started, there's been a drastic improvement,” Furhman said. “It's just been everyone.”
“In the beginning we were just trying to figure out where everyone was kind of going to go,” Hallberg added. “Pretty much everyone was at a new position in the beginning, but we figured it out. Now, we're just getting better and better, honestly.”
Summer baseball is next, but three Pioneers still played their final spring high school games Friday at Elkhorn North. Faucher said he enjoyed the run that just ended.
“I couldn't be happier with my coaches and teammates,” he offered. “It's a great four years.”
It wasn't all good, though.
“Well, pretty much three, I guess,” Faucher said. “COVID.”
FCHS' seniors lost their sophomore seasons in 2020, but went out in 2022 with their heads held high.
