As the defending state champions, the Malcolm Legion juniors team entered the state tournament in Imperial with a target on its back.
After a 12-3 win over Valentine to open the tournament, Malcolm faced the host team in a rematch of the 2022 state championship game.
“Playing on your home field is a big advantage,” Malcolm head coach Tanner Soderberg said. “The Imperial crowd gets involved in the game. They line the golf carts up three deep, set up the tents for shade, back the pickups outside the fence to sit on the tailgates. It’s quite the atmosphere. There had to be close to a thousand in attendance for this one.”
Neither the atmosphere nor the Imperial batters were a match for Mason Wisnieski. The Malcolm ace was in command from the start as he mowed down the Longhorns in a second round, 13-0 win on July 16. Wisnieski allowed just two base runners – one was hit by a pitch and the other reached on a dropped third strike – over two-and-two-thirds hitless innings.
Wisnieski was helped by his offense – and the Imperial defense – as Malcolm took advantage of a number of errors and jumped out to a 7-0 lead after three innings.
“We jumped on their number one pitcher (Jaret Peterson) who was throwing in the mid-80s,” Soderberg said. “Our guys fed off the energy. Probably the most complete team win we’ve had this year. It was a good time for everything to click.”
Carson Frank picked up where Wisnieski left off on the mound, allowing one hit and striking out five in two innings.
Malcolm (23-2) was set to face Palmer-Wolbach-Greeley (13-6) in July 17’s winner’s bracket final. PWG earned wins over Tecumseh and Dannebrog-Cairo-Boelus over the weekend.
“PWG has a lineup that puts the ball in play,” Soderberg said. “We’ll see their top pitcher.”
Malcolm beat PWG 13-1 and Crofton 13-4 to enter the championship game with no losses in the double-elimination tournament. Its opponent for the championship is PWG.
The tournament wraps up on Wednesday, July 19.
“We have our pitching lined up for the week,” Soderberg said. “We have guys who want to win. We can do something special these next few days. We are playing real good baseball.”
