The Fort Calhoun Senior Legion baseball team left the state Friday and Saturday, starting the Dakota Classic in Harrisburg, S.D., with one win and two losses.
Zig Drywall opened the tournament Friday with a 7-6 walk-off win. Even with Pierre, S.D., at 6-6 during the bottom of the seventh inning, JT Mlnarik provided the game-winning hit.
The Pioneers had trailed the home-state team 5-0 at one point, scoring their first run during the bottom of the fourth inning. Coach Jerry Wellwood's team then scored five runs during the bottom of the sixth to take a 6-5 lead before Pierre evened the game — briefly.
Post 348's Jordan Back went 1-for-4 with a double, plating three of the Pioneers' seven runs. AJ Duros and Josh Miranda added RBIs, too, while Mlnarik finished 2-for-3 at the plate overall. Eric Koterba scored the winning run.
Fort Calhoun's Colin Bolay and Chase Premer added hits during the victory as well.
On Saturday, though, Zig Drywall lost a pair of games. First, they lost a 3-2 game to a Nebraska neighbor, Bennington. Andrew Namuth plated the Pioneers' first run with a second inning single before Chase Premer tied the game at 2-all during the sixth frame with his own RBI single.
The Badgers, however, scored the game-winning run during the top half of the seventh to win.
Fort Calhoun's second game of the day wasn't as close. The tourney host — Harrisburg — bested Coach Wellwood's team 9-0 in five innings.
Post 348 allowed one first-inning run before the home squad took control with a five-run second frame.
The Pioneers' tourney stay was to continue Sunday before they next play 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Waverly.
Post 348 comeback falls short
Ashland built a 5-0 lead June 12, but the Zig Drywall Seniors battled back. They scored four runs during the fourth inning and another in the seventh, but, ultimately, still fell short on the road, 7-5.
Namuth went 1-for-4 with a team-best two RBIs, according to Ashland statistics, while Miranda also notched an RBI. Sam Genoways, Kenny Wellwood and Duros had hits, too.
Post 348 used four pitchers in defeat with Colin Bolay notching five strikeouts across two innings of mound work.
Lightning halted play at one point during the game, delaying it 30 minutes. The matchup was completed, though, with the Calhoun Seniors suffering their ninth loss of the season before the South Dakota trip.
POST 348 SENIOR LINE SCORES
Saturday
Harrisburg (S.D.) 9, Fort Calhoun 0, 5 inn.
FC (7-11) 0 0 0 0 0 — 0
HARRIS 1 5 0 1 2 — 9
Bennington 3, Fort Calhoun 2
BENN 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 — 3
FC (7-10) 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 — 2
Friday
Fort Calhoun 7, Pierre (S.D.) 6
PIERRE 0 1 3 1 0 0 1 — 6
FC (7-9) 0 0 0 1 0 5 1 — 7
June 12
Ashland 7, Fort Calhoun 5
FC (6-9) 0 0 0 4 0 0 1 — 5 5 1
ASH 1 0 4 1 0 1 X — 7 10 2
