Cardinals, NBH-1 take second place in home tourney

The Office Shop Cardinals Major League team and the North Big Horn No. 1 Minor League team took second place at the School’s Out Tournament Friday-Saturday in Lovell. Games were played at the East Little League Complex and at the Constitution Park field.

The Cardinals started off pool play Friday by defeating the Cody Stampede No. 1 team 4-3 at the East Little League Complex.

Ralph Moreno went 2-2 at the plate with a single and a double and scored a run. Jess Wambeke went 1-3 with an RBI single that brought in two runs.

Wambeke was on the mound for one inning and struck out two batters and allowed a hit. CJ Pickett relieved Wambeke and pitched 1 1/3 innings and allowed three walks and struck out one batter. Branson Robison relieved Pickett and pitched the rest of the game, striking out seven Cody batters and allowing three walks, three runs and five hits.

[caption id="attachment_9891" align="alignright" width="347"] North Big Horn No. 1 batter Jayden Snyder slides into home plate during a School’s Out Tournament game Saturday at the East Little League Complex as North Big Horn No. 2 catcher Carsyn Weber tries to apply the tag in time. NBH 1 defeated NBH 2 9-6 to finish second in the tournament.
Sam Smith photo[/caption]

“All three pitchers pitched well,” coach Justin Moss said. “Jess Wambeke came up with a clutch hit. It was a good win and it’s been a long time since we beat Cody.”

Next, the Cards defeated Worland 6-4 to take the number one seed out of the A pool going in to bracket play.

Trace Moss went 3-3 with two singles and an RBI single and scored a run. Zane Horrocks went 1-2 with a single and scored two runs. Wambeke went 1-2 with an RBI double and also scored a run.

Horrocks pitched 3 2/3 innings and struck out nine Worland batters and allowed four walks, four runs and three hits. Zeke Newman relieved Horrocks and pitched 1 1/3 innings, striking out one batter and allowing a hit and a walk.

“They overcame their mistakes, never got their heads down and made some big plays at the end,” coach Bill Pickett said.

The Cowley Lumber Indians started pool play by falling to the Cody Stampede No. 2 team 17-0 at the Constitution Park field.

“We got hits, but we didn’t hit the ball enough for back to back,” coach Doug Arnold said. “Cody is a solid team. You’ve got to earn your runs against them. They hit well, pitch well and field well; they are well coached. George Higgins was fabulous on the mound. He pounded the strike zone and didn’t walk a batter.”

Next, the Indians defeated South Big Horn 19-9. Tyler Nichols went 2-4 at the plate with a single and an inside-the-park homerun. Dallen Mangus also went 2-4 with two doubles and scored a run. Lane Herman went 1-1 with a two-run RBI double and scored three runs.

“It was a nice complete game,” Arnold said. “We got key hits at the right time, we defended well and our pitchers were efficient.”

Saturday bracket play

Bracket play began Saturday with the Cards defeating the Indians 11-1 to advance in to the championship game.

Moss pitched four innings for the Cards, striking out five batters and allowing two hits, two walks and a run. He also went 2-3 at the plate with an RBI single and an RBI triple and scored two runs. Horrocks went 2-2 with a single and a triple and scored three runs.

Robison and Newman went 1-2 with Robison hitting an RBI double and scoring a run and Newman hitting an RBI single and also scoring a run.

“It was just a good job by our kids,” Moss said. “Branson and Zeke have been in a slump and got some good hits today. We had three triples, which was really good.”

For the Indians, Tyson Christiansen went 1-2 with a single and scored the lone run, and Mangus also went 1-2 with a single. Herman pitched 3 2/3 innings, striking out three Cardinal batters and allowing seven hits, nine runs and a walk.

“Lane Herman pitched three solid innings,” Arnold said. “We played good defense for three innings, but we didn’t get it done in the fourth.”

In the championship game, the Cards fell to Cody Stampede No. 2 19-3 to take second in the tourney. Horrocks went 2-2 with a homerun in the first inning and a single. Wambeke and Moss went 1-2 with RBI singles.

CJ Pickett started on the mound, striking out two batters and allowing five hits, five runs and two walks. Wambeke relieved Pickett and pitched 2 1/3 innings, striking out three Cody batters. Newman relieved Wambeke and finished the game, striking out two batters and allowing a walk.

The Indians fell to the Cody Stampede No. 1 10-7 to finish in fourth place in the tourney.

“It was by far the most complete game we’ve played except for one notorious inning,” Arnold said.

Tuesday games

On Tuesday, the Indians fell to SBH 8-4 at the East Little League Complex. Nichols went 1-3 with a triple and scored a run and Dallen Mangus also went 1-3 with a double and a run.

Higgins pitched 3 1/3 innings and struck out five batters and allowed a hit, a run and a walk. Chance Abraham relieved Higgins and pitched 1/3 of an inning and struck out two SBH batters and allowed three hits, seven runs and a walk.

Tyson Christiansen relieved Abraham and pitched 1 2/3 innings, striking out two batters and allowing three walks and a hit. Arnold finished the game, pitching 2/3 of an inning, striking out one batter and allowing two walks.

“Tonight, we held South Big Horn to five scoreless innings, but we still had that one bad inning,” Arnold said. “I give the SBH pitcher credit for keeping our batters off balance with a variety of pitches.”

The Cards faced Otto on Tuesday in Otto. No score or results were available before press time.

The Cards will face Powell in Powell today (Thursday) at 6 p.m. then host a doubleheader against Powell on Saturday at 9 and 11 a.m. at the East Little League Complex.

On Monday, the Cards will face South Big Horn in Greybull at 6:30 p.m., will meet Powell Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the Constitution Park field and will then face Worland at 8 p.m.

The Indians will travel to Worland for a doubleheader today (Thursday) at 5:45 and 7:15 p.m.

Friday, the Indians will face Otto at the Constitution Park field at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, the Indians will face Powell at the East Little League Complex at 1 p.m.

On Monday, the Indians will travel to Otto for a 7 p.m. game, and on Tuesday, the Indians will face Worland at the East Little League Complex at 6 p.m.

Minor League

The North Big Horn No. 1 team, consisting of players from the AMCOL Red Sox, the Lovell Dental Dodgers and the Bank of Lovell Pirates, opened up round-robin play falling to Worland 13-9 Friday in the first game of the School’s Out Tournament.

“We actually played really well,” coach Shem McArthur said. “We missed a few at bats, but overall, for playing Worland, we played well and it was a learning experience for the kids.”

The North Big Horn No. 2 team, consisting of players from the Wilson Brothers Construction Tigers and the TCT West Angels, fell to South Big Horn in a close game 8-7.

“Our kids played good together,” coach Jeff Samson said. “We just couldn’t quite hold on for the win.”

Round-robin play continued Saturday with North Big Horn No. 1 defeating South Big Horn 9-1.

“We had excellent pitching and finally got our bats going in this game,” McArthur said.

NBH No. 2 team fell to Worland 24-0.

The two minor league teams finished up round-robin play with NBH No.1 defeating NBH No. 2 9-6 to take second in the tournament.

On Tuesday, the Dodgers defeated Otto 9-4 in Otto.

The Pirates fell to SBH 12-7, also on Tuesday, at the East Little League Complex.

The Tigers defeated the Red Sox 8-4 at the Constitution Park field on Tuesday.

The Dodgers will face the Angels today (Thursday) at the East Little League Complex. Also on Thursday, the Red Sox will face the Pirates in Cowley. Both games are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.

On Friday, Otto comes to town to face the Angels at 5:30 at the Constitution Park field. The Tigers and the Dodgers will also play on Friday at 6 p.m. at the East Little League Complex.

Saturday, the Angels and Pirates will host teams from Powell as the Dodgers, Red Sox and the Tigers will travel to Powell with games starting at 9 and 11 a.m.

Monday, the Tigers will face Otto in Otto at 5:30 p.m.

On Tuesday, the Angels will face the Pirates at 6 p.m. at the East Little League Complex and the Tigers will face the Red Sox in Byron at 6 p.m.

By Sam Smith