The Mike Collins Memorial Tournament didn't start how the Fort Calhoun Senior Legion baseball team wanted it to.
The Zig Drywall Pioneers lost their first matchup with Laramie (Wyo.) despite going into the sixth inning with a 3-1 lead at Elkhorn Mount Michael. The 5-3 Friday afternoon loss gave Post 348 a new perspective on what needed to be done.
“Coming into these next two days, I think we just need to play a bit harder,” starting pitcher Colin Bolay said. “Execute things a bit more when we're on offense and just come out ready to play from the first second we arrive at the ballfield.”
Saturday came and Post 348 delivered. It beat Springfield Post 143 10-7 in six innings, setting itself up for Sunday success against both the Millard Sox Gold and ETC Knights Black.
Calhoun earned its win against Springfield with three runs during the bottom of the sixth frame. The scores broke a 7-7 tie.
AJ Duros produced the go-ahead RBI single before Kenny Wellwood added a two-run double for good measure.
At the start, the Pioneers overcame a 2-0 first inning deficit with four runs of their own during the bottom of half of the opening frame. Wellwood, Sam Genoways and Jordan Back all notched RBI singles during the inning before Back scored the 4-2 advantage on an error.
Six runs later, the Zig Drywall team celebrated a Mike Collins victory. Wellwood finished with three RBIs, while Back had two.
“Top of our order took over,” coach Jerry Wellwood said. “We grinded out a lot of good (at-bats).”
JT Mlnarik notched the pitching victory, too.
“Really good team win,” Coach Wellwood added. “We needed it badly.”
A day earlier, Calhoun led Laramie late with its pitcher delivering.
Joining Post 348 for the summer season, it's not unusual for Bolay to throw against batters he's never faced before. His Fort Calhoun teammates can fill him in on the opposition in most situations, but, against a team from the Cowboy State, he had to have one main objective.
“Throwing strikes is, obviously, the main goal,” Bolay said.
The right-hander struck out three batters during the third inning and two in the fourth, though, Laramie did score to even the score at 1-1.
“Fastball was definitely there today,” the pitcher said. “They didn't know how to deal with a high pitch. They were just swinging at the high fastball.”
Bolay went low with a curveball from time-to-time, too.
As a result, Zig Drywall built a 3-1 lead through five frames. Genoways plated the first Calhoun run with an opposite RBI single during the third inning.
The infielder was involved in the Pioneers' production of its second and third runs in the fifth frame, too. First, a Laramie infielder dropped Genoway's two-out pop fly as Duros crossed home plate.
Then, after a Josh Miranda single, Genoways scored on a throwing error.
Ahead 3-1, though, Bolay hit the first Laramie batter he faced with a pitch during the sixth inning. From there, Laramie notched two RBI swings against the starter before belting another against Fort Calhoun's relief pitcher, Miranda.
Now trailing by two runs, Fort Calhoun flew out and struck out twice during the bottom half before the game ended by time limit.
Post 348's Mike Collins Tournament results from Sunday will appear in this Friday's Washington County Enterprise.
Waverly shuts out Post 348
Though pitchers Declynn Otte, Genoways and Wellwood kept Waverly in check, the home team did an even better keeping the Post 348 Seniors at bay.
Waverly earned a 3-0 home win June 19, shutting out a Zig Drywall team that had scored seven runs in its most recent game. The loss was Calhoun's 12th of the summer season.
The home squad took its lead, 2-0, during the second inning before adding a third run in the fifth.
Post 348 had seven frames to produce its own runs, but fell short.
POST 348 SENIOR LINE SCORES
Saturday
Fort Calhoun 10, Springfield 7, 6 inn.
SPRING 2 0 3 2 0 0 — 7
FC (9-13) 4 0 3 0 0 3 — 10
Friday
Laramie (Wyo.) 5, Fort Calhoun 3, 6 inn.
LARAMIE 0 0 0 1 0 4 — 5
FC (8-13) 0 0 1 0 2 0 — 3
June 19
Waverly 3, Fort Calhoun 0
FC (8-12) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0
WAVERLY 0 2 0 0 1 0 X — 3
