Worth County and Northeast Nodaway’s Little League teams are in the finals Tuesday after they both won their semifinal round games last night.
Previously, Northeast Nodaway beat one of the King City teams 21-6 after falling behind 3-0 in the first inning. Worth County beat the other King City team, scoring four in the first, two in the second, and four in the third. King City scored one tally in the fourth, but Worth County answered it to win 11-1. Owyn Wuillay crushed a double to right center in the first that brought in two runs, while Brock Healy dug out a pitch for an RBI double in the second and Mason Hiatt ended it in the fourth with a triple which turned into a score when King City mishandled the cutoff and the ball got away as Mason crossed the plate.
That pitted Worth County against Platte Valley and NEN against Albany.
The Albany game had the potential to be a good game as the Warriors put Stanberry away easily in the four versus five game 11-2. They were peaking at the right time. But Wyatt Scadden opened the Bluejay first with a monster shot that went clear to the wall and he was already rounding third by the time the left fielder got to the ball to make it 1-0. Bentin Roberts got a single and took third on an error as another run scored, and Roberts came home on a wild pitch. Jackson Taylor walked and Jace Burns turned on a high pitch and crushed an opposite field double to left field to score another run to make it 4-0.
With two outs in the second, the next 11 Bluejay batters reached safely as Wyatt Scadden doubled to keep the inning alive. Brady O’Connell singled and took second on a wild pitch, scoring on Liam Cordell’s single. Bentin Roberts’ pop fly double put runners on second and third, and Jackson Taylor walked. Jace Burns got his second extra base hit, crushing a double to left center to score all three runs. Gracin Runde and Landon Moore walked and Brock Adwell provided another big blow as he singled and the ball got away from the center fielder as three more Bluejay runs scored to make it 12-0 after two.
But Albany was not finished, and three walks loaded the bases for Freeman, a big kid who promptly clubbed a double to right center to make it 12-2. T.J. Anthony grounded out to cut it to 12-3.
With two outs, Jace Burns once again showed his speed and beat out an infield hit to keep the inning alive. He stole second and third and then Gracin Runde stretched a single into a double as Burns scored to reestablish the tun run cushion after three.
Liam Cordell shut down the Warriors in the fourth to preserve the win and allow the Bluejays to go home early.
We were halfway home to a Worth County-NEN showdown, but sometimes, getting there can be an adventure as a tough Platte Valley team stood in the way of Worth County. Platte Valley had lost by only one run to the Bluejays earlier in the year.
Sure enough, the first two blue shirts walked on 3-2 pitches, Redden scored off a wild pitch, and the third batter, Grady Gockel, hit a screamer off pitcher Brock Healy’s bare hand and into center for a base hit. Later, McQueen grounded out to score another run and Platte Valley led 3-0. It would have been worse, but then Tiger catcher Jarrett Gilland gunned down Nolan Wallace trying to steal second to get out of the inning.
Jordan Dannar crushed a pop fly double behind second base to start the Tiger first. Hudson Cameron and Brock Healy walked, and Jordan Dannar stole home on a return throw to the pitcher to cut it to 3-1.
Tiger pitcher Brock Healy settled down in the second and worked around a walk to strike out three batters. Both pitchers battled a tight strike zone all game, and the Tigers walked seven times in the second inning, forcing in four runs to take a 5-3 lead.
Holaday walked to start the third for Platte Valley and then Grady Gockel hit a single that got away from Tiger right fielder Owyn Wuillay. But Owyn stuck with the play and uncorked a perfect throw to pitcher Brock Healy, who threw a perfect relay to nail Holaday at the plate. Later, an error would score Gockel from third to cut it to 5-4, but the Tigers were able to survive a scare and preserve the lead.
Mason Hiatt singled with one out, Cole Hardy reached on an error in the Tiger third, and then Clayton Oberhauser singled in Hiatt to make it 6-4.
Brock Healy ran out of pitches in the fourth, but Jordan Dannar was able to work around a walk by striking out Gockel, Platte Valley’s best hitter, to preserve the two run cushion.
With one out in the Tiger fourth, Brock Healy doubled and went to third when the cutoff throw got away. Tucker Fletchall’s pop fly dropped behind short and Healy scored to make it 7-4. Weston Hill singled up the middle. Owyn Wuillay forced Fletchall at third, but Jarrett Gilland took a close pitch for ball four and Mason Hiatt singled to score all three baserunners to make it 10-4.
Jordan Dannar got two outs to start the Platte Valley fifth, but then Nolan Wallace walked and Everett Hayden crushed a shot down the right field line. But Owyn Wuillay made a great play to hold him to a single, and Dannar kept Platte Valley off the scoreboard when Landon Holtman went around for strike three.
Tucker Fletchall reached on an error to put the Tigers ahead 11-4 as Hudson Cameron scored before the game was called due to the two hour time limit.
Worth County will play Northeast Nodaway Tuesday at 5 pm in Ravenwood for the championship. Last year’s game between the two went nine innings.
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