McCook Legion Seniors lose five close games

MNB hosts Class District 6 tourney

By JOHN J. MESH Gazette Sports Editor

Glass half-empty: The McCook National Bank American Legion Seniors lost all five of their games this weekend.

Glass half-full: The Seniors lost five games by a total of six runs.

The McCook Seniors lost to Alliance 10-9 Friday night at Alliance.

Saturday, McCook lost to Laramie, Wyo., 8-6 and 11-10 at the Twin Cities Tournament at Scottsbluff.

Sunday, the Seniors lost to Twin Cities 7-6 in 10 innings and Arvada, Colo., 14-11 in nine innings.

"We played really good baseball," said McCook Seniors coach Tye Hallowell, whose team dropped to 24-24. "We are still confident because we are playing such good baseball.

"Any time you play good competition, it's going to make you a lot better. We are playing really well on defense, we are pitching well and hitting well.

"Big innings hurt us over the weekend. If we shut down the big innings, we will be in pretty good shape."

McCook hosts the Class B District 6 Tournament Thursday through Sunday at Jaycees Sports Complex.

The tournament starts with a first-round game between Lexington and Kearney County.

The winner plays McCook at 8 p.m. Friday.

Alliance 10,

McCook 9

Derick Lorentz pitched for McCook. He allowed 11 hits, struck out two and walked six.

The Seniors scored one run in the top of the first inning, three in the third, three in the sixth and two in the seventh on 13 hits.

Al Shiers went 4-for-5 with a double and three runs-batted-in and scored twice.

Matt Serbousek and Lorentz each had two hits. Both of Lorentz' hits were home runs and he drove in three runs. Serbousek doubled.

Alliance scored scored two runs in the bottom of the third, six in the sixth and two in the seventh.

Laramie 8,

McCook 6

Holthus pitched for the McCook Seniors and took the loss. Laramie scored two runs in the first, one in the second, three in the third and two in the fourth on 13 hits.

Shiers and Holthus hit back-to-back doubles for the Seniors' first run in the first. Eric Anderson singled and scored on Quentin Pohl's double in the second.

McCook then added three solo home runs -- Serbousek in the fifth, Jared Muehlenkamp in the sixth and Holthus in the seventh. Lorentz tacked on an RBI single.

Laramie 11,

McCook 10

Laramie scored four runs in the third, one in the fourth and six in the sixth on nine hits.

Pohl and Walter pitched for McCook.

McCook scored one run in the first inning, two in the fourth, four in the fifth and three in the sixth on seven hits.

Holthus and Muehlenkamp each had two hits. Serbousek scored three runs, Walter two and Muehlenkamp two. Serbousek walked twice.

Twin Cities 7,

McCook 6

Twin Cities scored one run in the first, two in the second, two in the fourth and two in the fifth. McCook scored four in the second, one in the fourth and one in the sixth.

Twin Cities scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the 10th.

Serbousek pitched nine innings. He allowed six runs on six hits, struck out 10 and walked four. Eder pitched the final inning and got the loss. He walked two and allowed one hit.

Shiers, Holthus and Matt Beckenhauer each had three hits. Muehlenkamp and Pohl each had two hits. McCook had 16 hits total.

Arvada 14,

McCook 13

Arvada scored four runs in the second, six in the fourth and three in the sixth.

McCook answered with one in the first, one in the second, two in the fourth and five in the seventh.

The two teams combined for 34 hits -- Arvada 18 and McCook 16. Serbousek belted a three-run homer to key the Seniors' five-run seventh and singled. Shiers had three singles and Holthus two doubles.

Muehlenkamp tripled. Eder, Walter and Lorentz doubled. Beckenhauer pitched for McCook.