Furnas County Juniors reach Legion Area 7 championship series

RAVENNA -- The Furnas County Junior Legion team will tangle with the Shelton-Gibbon Juniors in a best of three game series for the right to travel to Gordon for the Class C State Tournament.

Furnas County defeated the Alma Juniors in second round action of the Area Seven Tournament Tuesday night at Ravenna.

An overpowering performance by pitcher Waid Vontz and a 13-hit attack over five innings sent Alma packing with an 11-0 loss.

Vontz faced the minimum number of hitters over the 4 1/3 innings.

He allowed one scratch single (the runner was caught stealing by catcher Jackson Johnson), fanned eight and walked none.

Anthony Lytle worked the final 2/3 inning to preserve the win.

Led by the Beaver City connection of Mike Powell and Gaven Fults, FC scored four runs on five hits in the second inning.

The hitting barrage continued through the fifth when the game was called on the 10-run mercy rule.

Fults connected for a towering two-run home run in the third and an RBI single in the fourth. Powell was 2-for-3, two runs scored and one RBI.

Arapahoe's Tony Braithwait slammed a solo home run in the fifth and went 2-for-4.

Vontz went 1-for-3, one run scored and one RBI. Lytle went 2-for-4 with three runs scored.

Blake Maaske 1-for-2, two runs scored and two RBI). Brett Cribelli went 2-for-3 with one run scored.

The FC team carries a 15-7 record into the championship series with Shelton-Gibbon (24-2). The first championship game will begin at 8 p.m. Friday at Ravenna.

The second game of the championship series will be 4:30 p.m. on Saturday.

If a third contest is needed, it will be played at 4:30 p.m. Sunday.