The Blair High School baseball team ended its Senior Night game early Tuesday at Vets Field.
The Bears (10-7 overall) scored eight first-inning runs for the second-straight game and beat South Sioux City by run-rule, 15-0. Senior pitcher Shea Wendt hit a homer with a bat in his hands and won the five-inning game with 11 strikeouts.
The Creighton University recruit's classmates contributed seven more hits and RBIs, too. Seniors Lee Chavez-Lara and Bo Nielsen had two RBIs apiece, while Greyson Kay, Hunter Travis and Kaden Sears had one each. Joe Rodriguez and Brayan Caraveo combined to go 2-for-2 at the plate, too.
Blair's student manager — Cailey Anderson — is a senior as well.
Junior Nate Wachter, meanwhile, went 2-for-3 and finished with a team-best three RBIs against the Cardinals.
The Bears were scheduled to play Crete on Thursday and next compete 6:30 p.m. today against Nebraska City at Vets Field.
BHS turns free bases into runs
Struggles at the plate in consecutive losses to Elkhorn North, Norris and Bennington didn't follow the Blair Bears to Omaha Gross on Monday either. Coach John Roan's team scored eight runs during the first inning and beat the No. 6 Cougars on the road, 10-2.
Wachter highlighted the eight-run victory — the Bears' first in four games — with a fourth-frame home run over the left field fence in Omaha. The Gross outfielder lost view of the ball in the night sky and raised both shoulders in a shrug as the slugger rounded the bases.
“First pitch, I was expecting an off-speed and I got it,” Wachter said. “Saw what I wanted and took a hack.”
The winning effort started with the first inning, though, when Blair scored eight runs despite only two hits by Wachter and Rodriguez. Tanner Jacobson — the winning pitcher — Dylan Swanson and Travis all drew walks, while Travis, Sears, Wendt and Brady Brown were hit by Gross pitches.
BHS's win was its ninth of the season, while the Cougars dropped to 8-4 overall.
“We knew that we're a way better team than what we've been showing, and we knew we had to really stick it to them tonight,” Wachter said. “It just felt really good to be able to put 10 runs on those guys.”
BHS BASEBALL LINE SCORES
Tuesday
Blair 15, South Sioux City 0, 5 inn.
SSC (0-12) 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 1 0
BHS (10-7) 8 1 6 0 X — 15 12 0
Monday
Blair 10, No. 6 Omaha Gross 2
BHS (9-7) 8 1 0 1 0 0 0 — 10 6 1
OG (8-4) 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 — 2 2 4
