As he stepped up to the plate, Jordan Back told himself he better not go 0-for-3 to start the Juneteenth Bob Gibson Classic.
The Fort Calhoun Senior Legion baseball outfielder didn't, delivering the go-ahead double Thursday at Omaha Buena Vista. Zig Drywall Post 348 started the four-day tournament 1-0 as a result.
Back's team went 2-1 on Friday and Saturday, too, advancing on in tourney play. Sunday results will appear in the Washington County Enterprise on Friday.
To start Gibson Classic competition, though, the Calhoun lineup beat the New Zealand Triple Stars 4-2. The international matchup started with New Zealand out front, 2-0, before coach Jerry Wellwood's team scored one run apiece during the third and fourth frames to tie the score.
Kenny Wellwood first scored on a throwing error after AJ Duros' bunt. Next, Alex Christensen bunted and scored Sam Genoways on another error.
The 2-2 ballgame stayed that way until the sixth inning when Back stepped up to the plate after both Genoways and Alex Christensen earned their places on base. So, with two outs, it came down to one of the most-experienced Zig Drywall batters — a 2024 FCHS graduate.
“I've been in that situation a bunch of times, so all I needed was confidence,” Back said.
He hit the ball to deep centerfield, plating two runs for a 4-2 lead. It stuck, too, with Post 348's Nathan Kramer closing the game on the mound after a strong start from Levi Lasher.
“Our pitching was great,” Back said. “Our pitching and our defense.”
Without either, he didn't think his team would have been able to beat its opposition from the opposite side of the world.
“Our bats weren't getting going,” Back explained. “We weren't driving in runs and doing our jobs, so our defense and our pitching really carried us through that game.”
On Saturday, Calhoun split tournament games with Texas Rangers Youth Academy and Buena Vista. First, against the Rangers, Post 348 built a 4-0 lead, but couldn't hold off the out-of-state squad.
JT Mlnarik, Chase Premer and Kramer plated runs during the first and second innings before Texas outscored Zig Drywall 7-1 the rest of the way.
Then, against Buena Vista, Fort Calhoun got off to another hot start. It scored six first-inning runs and comfortably held off the home team, 12-3, in five innings.
Duros started off scoring with an RBI double before Kramer did the same to score him. Christensen's sacrifice made it 3-0, and Logan Schwab doubled to get the score to 5-0 before Lasher capped first-frame scoring with a single.
Post 348 added to its lead with four runs during the third inning before its two runs in the fifth pushed its margin of victory out to nine runs.
The next day, Saturday, Zig Drywall notched its third win of the Gibson Classic, besting ETC Knights Black 12-6. Coach Wellwood's team scored six first-inning runs for the second-straight game and never looked back.
Premer, Genoways and Back each hit homers, while Declyn Otte secured the pitching win with six strikeouts across four innings. Mlnarik had four strikeouts in two innings of relief, too.
ZIG DRYWALL SENIOR LINE SCORES
Saturday
Fort Calhoun 12, ETC Knights Black 6, 6 inn.
FC (9-8) 6 0 1 3 0 2 — 12
ETC B 1 0 3 2 0 0 — 6
Friday
Fort Calhoun 12, Omaha Buena Vista 3, 5 inn.
FC (8-8) 6 0 4 0 2 — 12
OBV 2 1 0 0 0 — 3
Texas Rangers Youth Academy 7, Fort Calhoun 5, 5 inn.
FC (7-8) 2 2 0 0 1 — 5
TRYA 0 3 1 0 3 — 7
Thursday
Fort Calhoun 4, New Zealand Triple Stars 2
NZTS 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 — 2
FC (7-7) 0 0 1 1 0 2 X — 4
