A pair of sacrifice flies and an error in the middle innings led Gretna East to a 3-1 win over North Platte in the B-3 District final to punch their ticket to state in their inaugural season.
“I’m just excited for the players,” Griffins head coach Darrell Everhart said. “They have worked so hard in the offseason. And they believe, we have to play a game of chaos because we're not big guys. So they just hustled, they worked their butts off. Thanks to all the parents, they've been putting (in) a lot of hours, helping the kids get to the practices, get to where we needed to be.” So it just means a lot because these guys really work hard and hard work pays off.
In the bottom of the third, Carson Hermann drove in Colton Nicholson. After a triple by Jensen Albers to deep right center field the next inning, Seth Kraegel doubled the Griffins lead.
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An error on a throw down to third in the fifth scored Nolan Green.
“We try and try to hit more than what we seem to be doing,” Everhart said. “So we have to find ways to just generate runs. And so we call it ‘creating chaos.’ And that's a fake steal, it's a fake bunt-steal, you know, do a double steal, and see if the other team will open up an opportunity for us and that's where we got fortunate.
A solo home run by Caden Joneson to left – the Bulldogs first home run of the season – pulled North Platte closer.
The Bulldogs threatened with runners on first and second in the inning, but Trevor Cox got a flyout to left and a strikeout.
“I was like, I gotta take a deep breath here, had to throw strikes and let my defense work,” the starting pitcher said.
Everhart said the mental work is something the Griffins talk about and work on in pregame.
“(We tell them) to relax and to breathe,” he said. “And so when that happens in a game like that, we want every one of our players, and Trevor is very good at this, just telling himself, ‘Breathe, relax, trust the process.’ And he did, he did a wonderful job.”
The Griffins starting pitcher was also quick to credit the defense behind him.
“Everything was working, but I got a great defense behind me so it's pretty easy to throw when they’re as athletic as they are and they make plays,” he said.
Cox earned the win in six innings pitched with one earned run and nine strikeouts.
“Trevor Cox is a competitor,” Everhart said. “He wants the ball every time and when he feels it, he gets in the zone, he just wants to throw and he just wants to get everybody out as he can. And so he does a heck of a job. He works hard.”
When Cox was pulled after the sixth inning for Chase Neneman – who earned the save by retiring the side in the seventh – Cox was hesitant to leave the game.
“I love that because that's a competitor,” Everhart said. “He’s an amazing kid too, wonderful kid.”
Heading into the state tournament, which begins Saturday, May 11, the Griffins have two players – Cox and Easton Leahy – who were starters for Gretna’s state-qualifying team last year.
“We have two guys that were on the team last year that had gotten a little taste of state and they said at the beginning of the season, ‘all we want is to get back to state,’” Everhart said. “‘We want to do that,’ and nobody else really knows what that means. So we I'm just excited for so many of these guys to get there so they can feel that and then feel like hey, we can do this.
North Platte (10-3) 000 001 0 – 1 6 3
Gretna East (16-7) 001 110 x – 3 3 0
Platteview wins first district title at Buffalo Park
A dominant start by Bryson Banks after a shaky first inning led Platteview to their first district championship win with a 2-0 victory over Mt. Michael Benedictine.
“It's special in many different ways,” first-year head coach Mike Renner said. “One, we have nine seniors on our team that came really close to getting there (last year). I think it was a 2-1 Roncalli win. They got in (as wild card) and Brian Dutcher was the coach then, Brian's really started this. It's always special when you win a district championship, this is our first in school history.”
Springfield, home of the 2018 American Legion state champions, had yet to host a district final win, but the Trojans put it together in front of a packed Buffalo Park.
“We had some ups and downs this year, it was a roller coaster ride,” Renner said. “And, you know, we ended up I think we're now eight out of nine… So we're on a pretty good roll right now.”
Trojans starter Banks evaded an early jam in the top of the first, getting a strikeout after loading the bases.
After the first, Banks settled in.
“Trust the fielders behind me and rely on my stuff to get ahead early in counts,” he said. “And then finish it when I needed to.”
Striking out seven batters over the first three innings, the Trojans and Knights held scoreless until an infield RBI single by Tucker Riha in the bottom of the fourth.
The first was the most important, Renner said, before the Trojans added a second on an RBI double by Easton Harris in the sixth.
“I always feel you want to be the first one to score, because everybody's on edge when it's 0-0,” Renner said. “And then, even if it's just 1-0, which we ended up at, automatically that team that scored to make it one nothing kind of takes a deep breath, looks at each other and says, ‘Let's go, let's go, let's go.’”
Banks went nearly spotless the rest of the way, striking out 10 and surrendering just one hit in a complete game shutout.
Going into the state tournament, Banks said the recent success on the mound from him and No. 1 starter Ethan Loffer – who Platteview didn’t even use during districts – has the Trojans prepared.
“It's gonna help me keep rolling into the tournament,” he said. “And me and Ethan will be able to just keep on doing our thing and winning games.”
Renner is also confident.
“I think we're gonna win it.,” he said. “I think I'm all for it. I think we're gonna win it. I think we're definitely, if we're not a team to beat, we're one of them. And everybody's got to play on the same size baseball field now, so we're ready to go after it and get everybody out. Take it to the field, see what happens, but I like our shot.”
Mt. Michael (12-12) 000 000 0 – 0 1 1
Platteview (14-9) 000 101 x – 2 8 0