The North Platte First Nationals hosted its 2014 Great Plains Health Junior Senior Tournament over the weekend and the NP Seniors defended its home turf with a championship victory.
The rain that poured Wednesday night changed the schedule for the tournament on Thursday and as a result the North Platte Seniors (20-10) didn’t get to play Ogallala during the tournament, but that didn’t stop them from winning three games during the tournament.
The First Nationals played Edgar Friday night and wasted no time jumping out to a 6-0 lead in the first inning of a 10-0 win. The game lasted just three innings as North Platte scored four more runs in the second inning to get the dominant win. Jace Barker went 1-2 in the game with two runs batted in and Drew Callaghan went 1-2 with a double and two runs scored. Marcos Silos earned the win on the mound, giving up just one hit.
North Platte played Laramie, Wyo. on Saturday night and won 11-1. The First Nationals led 4-0 after two innings, added two runs in the fourth inning and scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth to get the run-rule victory. Riley Vierya pitched a complete game gem while earning the win. He gave up one run on five hits while striking out three batters.
North Platte pounded out three extra-base hits in the game. Alec Wesslund was 2-4 with a double and two RBI. Alex Harms also hit a double, going 1-4 with an RBI and Jack Kenny went 3-3 with a triple and two runs batted in.
Laramie got a chance at a rematch with the First Nationals by earning the No. 2 seed during round robin play. North Platte was the No. 1 seed for Sunday’s championship game. The Sunday afternoon game proved much closer than Saturday night’s as North Platte won 4-3. The First Nationals scored a run in each of the first three innings to take a 3-0 lead before Laramie scored its first run in the fourth inning. Laramie tied the game at 3 with two runs in the top of the sixth inning. North Platte loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the sixth inning thanks to a walk, a hit by pitch and a single. After a strikeout gave Laramie two outs in the innin Darian Allberry stepped to the plate with a chance to give North Platte the go-ahead run. Allberry watched four straight pitches to take a base on balls and get the game-winning RBI as Austin Chitty scored from third.
The one-run lead was all Kenny needed as he came in to close out the game and earn the save on the mound. Luke Volz started on the mound and earned the win after pitching six innings and giving up three runs, one earned, on six hits. Volz also struck out five batters compared to just two walks.
North Platte next plays on Tuesday, June 24 at Kearney. The First Nationals beat Kearney at home earlier this season, 6-5. The first pitch is scheduled for 8:00 pm Tuesday night. The next home game for North Platte is Wednesday, June 25. The First Nationals Juniors and Seniors host Overton. The Juniors play at 5:30 with the Seniors getting underway at 8:00 pm at Bill Wood Field.
The North Platte Juniors went 3-0 during the Great Plains Health Junior Senior Tournament as well. The Juniors improved to 17-5 by beating Lincoln East B 8-3 then sweeping Gretna in a Saturday morning doubleheader, 9-3 and 10-7.