Backed by the confidence of winning a combined nine straight Legion and high school state titles, the ballplayers from Malcolm are not afraid to take on new challenges. Their most recent: facing off against a strong field of Class A teams in Lincoln’s annual Mike Peterson/Coach K Tournament.
It was a weekend that exposed areas for growth. The Malcolm Seniors finished 1-3, including two shutout losses.
“We have lots of guys hoping to play at the next level, and tournaments like this give them a chance to be seen by college coaches,” Malcolm head coach Tanner Soderberg said. “These Class A teams apply pressure in ways we don’t always see in a Class C schedule. They’ve been exposed to situations and baseball IQ that make the margin for error really small—but it’s good baseball.”
Malcolm opened the tournament June 26 with a 5-0 loss to Pinnacle Bank (Lincoln Southwest). Andrew Jackson held the Clippers to just three hits while striking out nine in a game called after five innings due to a torn up turf mound at Den Hartog Field.
Once the mound was repaired, Malcolm faced Lincoln Northeast’s Judds Bros. and dropped a 6-3 decision. Mason Wisnieski hit a solo home run in the loss.
The lone win of the weekend came in an 11-4 victory over Rapid City’s Senior Legion team. Wisnieski homered again, while Carson Frank struck out four across five innings to notch his third win of the summer.
Pool play wrapped up with a 4-0 shutout loss to Papillion on June 28. Malcolm failed to advance to Sunday’s placement round.
“It was a good experience playing teams like Southwest, Northeast and Papillion,” Soderberg said. “We saw a pitcher committed to Iowa Western, faced a Rapid City team that travels the Midwest, and went up against a tradition-rich Papillion program.
“We had to earn every out. When you give good teams more than three outs in an inning, things get rough. We’re not playing our best baseball right now, but we’re learning what needs to improve.”
After suffering their first loss of the season the previous week, the Malcolm Juniors got back on track. They routed Plattsmouth 17-1 on June 25, then pulled out a wild 14-10 win over Brester Construction (Lincoln Christian) on June 28.
The Malcolm Reserves competed in the Omaha South Reserves Tournament but went 0-3 with losses to Gross Catholic, Omaha South, and Omaha Northwest.
The Reserves (1-11) have a full slate this week, with home games against Lincoln Southeast and Kearney, a road game at Omaha South, and four games in the Millard Sox Tournament against Omaha Westside, Millard Sox Black, Norris, and Millard Sox Gold.
The Juniors (20-1) host Standing Bear and Seward on Tuesday and Wednesday, July 2 and 3. The Seniors (9-5) follow those two games.
“We’ve got plenty to work on before area tournaments,” Soderberg said. “Right now, we’re committing too many errors and having too many unproductive outs. Our pitchers also need to throw more strikes. We’ve got time—but not much. We need to tighten things up.”
