Amateur baseball roundup for July 17: Bankers slip past Kimball/White Lake on walk-off in Pony Hills clash
Jul. 18—PLANKINTON — A ninth-inning error allowed the Plankinton Bankers to swipe a 3-2 victory from Kimball/White Lake in a meeting of the Pony Hills' top two teams on Sunday night.
Pitching and defense ruled the clash of the Pony Hills elite, as only three of 18 half-innings featured scoring, including a scoreless stalemate until the sixth inning.
Josh Engquist scored the winning run for Plankinton on a batted ball by Trevor Salmonson, capping a night that included two hits and eight strikeouts in eight innings for Engquist. Travis Gant led the Bankers with three hits and also picked up a pitching win with a one-inning relief outing. Alex Loes added two hits, while Cole Knippling and Chad Cody each had a run batted in.
Eathen Gaulke had two of the Nationals' six hits, as Dylanger Pierson homered in the sixth inning to drive in both runs. Brian Zeman got the start and went six innings, striking out four and allowing just one run. Zak Wallner was credited with the loss in a seven-strikeout performance over 2 2/3 innings.
The Plankinton Bankers improved to 11-2 in the Pony Hills ahead of a meeting with the Plankinton Gold Sox, while KWL dropped to 11-3.
PLATTE — Alexandria charged ahead 8-0 after four innings and never looked back, taking down Platte in Sunshine League action on Sunday.
Cole Wenande and Jerrod Zens helped push the Angels out to their early advantage with home runs that drove in a total of four runs in a six-run frame for the visitors. The homers were part of a three-hit night for Wenande and a two-hit, four-RBI outing for Zens, while Tyson Gau and Jordan Gau each added three hits. Ethan Davis tossed a complete game with eight strikeouts to pick up the win.
Grant Doom had two hits and two RBIs, as Ryan Allen drove in the other two runs for the Killer Tomatoes, who scored all their runs in the sixth inning. Five pitchers pieced together the game, totaling five strikeouts.
CORSICA — The bats warmed up late for Winner/Colome, as the Pheasants used nine runs in the sixth inning and after to pick up an eight-inning road win over Corsica/Stickney in a Sunshine contest on Sunday.
Five Pheasants notched multiple hits, led by four off the bat of Austin Richey and three from Chandler Bakley, as Winner/Colome piled up 15 hits as a team. Richey, Derek Graesser and Austin Calhoon each had three RBIs. J.J. Harner homered and drove in two runs while striking out eight batters to earn the eight-inning complete-game victory on the mound.
Aaron Groeneweg paced the Horned Frogs with two hits while also driving in one run. Luke Bamberg pushed the other run across, as Nathan Blom had four strikeouts but was credited with the loss after six innings of work.
HUMBOLDT — Salem didn't allow a run until the ninth inning, holding off the Hartford/Humboldt Wood Ducks in Cornbelt League action on Sunday.
Kyle Tuschen recorded three hits while C. Cheeseman and TylerEarls each had two hits. Bailey Mennis struck out five in a complete game effort.
The Wood Ducks' Preston Riddle pitched eight innings with eight strikeouts.
